Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

In the media, rural migrants are often seen as a homogeneous social group, displaced from hometowns, economically marginalized, and deprived of urban citizenship. Anything but freedom characterizes their subjectivities. In recent years, however, migrant workers have played a leading role in urbanizing small towns and cities. My two-year ethnographic research closely documents the phenomenon of “double dwelling,” in which rural migrants settle into the rental housing of Beijing’s urban villages, on the one hand, but own empty houses in rural villages and counties, on the other. I employ the idea of dwelling to conceptualize the interrelationship between identity and place as well as existence and space. Rather than being static, floating, or unfinished, double dwelling is dynamic, restricted by the household registration (hukou) division but also continually remaking the rural-urban divide. It is rooted in various sites, neither here nor there but always here and there. Migrant workers create and search for the nature of dwelling. To doubly dwell is to build and rebuild identities and existence. The dissertation engages with the study of class politics by reconsidering the role of housing in class formation. On the one hand, home-making practices bring new opportunities to migrant workers. While in Beijing, the housing conditions of migrant workers suggest a common ground on which a new social class of migrant tenants may form. Also, “self-help urbanization” from below is marked by significant migrant homeownership. Thus, holding an urban hukou is not the only criterion for becoming urban. On the other hand, the dynamics of bottom-up urbanization and state-led urban policies reconstruct double dwelling. The government-directed urbanization programs imply a specific imaginary of urban lives that conflicts with migrants’ claim to the city. Urban policies may hold the process of proletarianization back. Lastly, I examine how the divergent even seemingly contradictory developments of class politics and urbanization are embodied in the freedom and resignation of migrant workers. A dialectical relationship between freedom and resignation, I argue, mirrors the tension between strong economic growth and tightening political control in China. I explore this relationship in migrants’ extended identities in the space of suspension, in their endeavor to build a community on bandit land, in the furnished but empty houses, in the reconciliation between migrant desire and the institutional barriers, and, lastly, in migrant aspirations for living at the center of the country yet in conflict with the state’s population control. Becoming urban is a process in which migrant workers come to terms with the bitter reality of society through strength and freedom.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

La ricerca indaga il rapporto tra la popolazione immigrata e la casa, attraverso una ricognizione della condizione attuale nel Comune di Milano. L'indagine prende in considerazione sia gli aspetti economici e di mercato delle abitazioni che le politiche pubbliche attuate in Italia. Si affronta l'intreccio di trend sociodemografici che caratterizzano la società postmoderna quali l'invecchiamento della popolazione e l'urbanizzazione, così come gli aspetti di impoverimento di ampi strati della società, tra cui gli immigrati. Si evidenziano i tratti della situazione milanese, in particolare delle sue implicazioni territoriali e si portano tre casi studio di interventi abitativi in tre distinti momenti storici, quali esempi di buone pratiche. / The research studies the relationship between the immigrants and the housing in the context of the Municipality of Milan. It takes into account both of the economic aspects and the creation of a modern real estate market and the limits of the welfare system, in particular of the social housing. The research continues with the analysis of some main trends of contemporary post-modern society, such as the urbanization, the ageing and the impoverishment of parts of the population. The research focuses on Milan, in particular on the spatial effects of these aspects and it presents three case study of the history of Milan considered best practices of welfare.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Architecture, Planning & Design / John W. Keller / Some parts of rural America are experiencing unprecedented demographic and cultural changes as immigrant settlement patterns shift from traditional gateway cities to rural regions that have enticing economic opportunities. In particular, southwest Kansas has become a magnet for immigrant workers and their families. Between 2007 and 2008, Finney County became a majority-minority county (Callebs, 2009). However, lack of affordable housing and limited housing stock has strained communities and become an obstacle for newly settling immigrants (Stull, 2011). This study aims to redress the limited research on immigrants in rural regions and focuses specifically on the cultural experiences of Finney County Hispanic immigrants regarding integration into the local housing community. This qualitative case study is designed using the housing career framework (Murdie, 2002) to capture the factors that influence the housing experience of Hispanic immigrants. The 25 participants were recruited using snowball sampling and convenience sampling techniques. Based on the participant’s language preference, the in-depth interviews were conducted in English or Spanish. This study has found that the mission of community planning has to be a multifaceted process to address the varied needs of immigrant families. Community planners and policy makers can use the information this study provides to better serve the immigrant Hispanic community, which is expected to grow over the coming years.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

This research presents an overview of ethnic residential segregation in London, England, from 2001 to 2011 using four different methods of measurement. The purpose of the study was to both examine changes in the level of segregation among different ethnic groups between census dates and to compare various methods of measurement. Using the Index of Dissimilarity, Poulsen et al.'s (2001) typology classification and two different local statistics (Getis-Ord G* and Anselin Local Moran's I), the levels of concentration of the five main ethnic minority groups in London were measured for data from the 2001 and 2011 censuses. The five ethnic minority groups studied were: Black African, Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. Of the five populations analyzed, only the Black Caribbean population showed any decrease in its overall level of segregation, while the other four all saw slight increases in segregation over the period. After comparing the four methods used, it was determined that while all offer a different perspective on the segregation of groups across space, the Anselin Local Moran's I statistic provides the most detailed result of variation in concentration across space.