Marjolijn Das

Life events and the gap between intention to move and actual mobility

Life events are frequently mentioned as a reason why people do not behave according to their mobility intentions. However, there is little empirical evidence concerning the role of life events in the discrepancy between stated mobility intentions and actual mobility behaviour. The authors clarify the role of life events in this discrepancy using a longitudinal dataset from the Netherlands, in which the Housing Demand Survey 2002 is enriched with register data from the Social Statistical Database. Union dissolution, union formation, and childbirth trigger moves among people who had initial intended to stay in the current home. These events also act as an extra stimulus to move for those who already intended to move for reasons other than household or job change. In contrast, the event of losing a job prevents people from realising their intention to move. The results also suggest that the majority of the moves after union dissolution are made by people who did not have an initial intention to move.

Adaptive behaviour in urban space: Residential mobility in response to social distance

The social relationship between an individual and their residential environment is shaped by a range of housing market rules and regulations, by residential choice and by constraints. This paper elaborates on that relationship by focusing on the distance between an individual’s (and his/her household) social position and the social position of the neighbourhood of residence. Through the analysis of large-scale longitudinal register data for each resident in the four largest cities of the Netherlands, we studied the relations mentioned, as well as the residential moves triggered by such relations, as well as the outcome effects on individual-neighbourhood relations in the destination neighbourhoods. We found that the larger the social distance (positive or negative) between an individual and the median social position of their residential neighbourhood, the higher the odds that the individual would move from that neighbourhood. Those individuals that moved tended to select destination neighbourhoods that reduced their social distance. Our findings offer new input for debates and policies relating to de-segregation and social mixing.

Social Mobility:The Influence Of The Neighbourhood

Neighbourhoods in The Netherlands differ strongly in social compositions and in the socio-economic perspectives of their residents. Increasing fears for diminishing social cohesion stimulated policy makers to focus on bettering perspectives for residents in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood intervention strategies in The Netherlands often concentrate on stimulating social and socio-economic mix, by physical restructuring of the neighbourhood. Social mix is assumed to have a positive effect on the upward social mobility of residents because it leads to positive role models in the neighbourhood and creates social bridges. We studied the effects of neighbourhood characteristics - indicators for social level and for social mix - on the income development of its residents between 1999 and 2005. We used an integral dataset, register-based and covering the entire Dutch population: the Social Statistical Database of Statistics Netherlands. Multilevel regression analyses showed a small, significant effect of a number of neighbourhood characteristics: income mix, mean income level and, surprisingly, ethnic mix, were positively related to the income development of residents aged 25 to 49. However, neighbourhood effects were very modest compared to the large influence of individual characteristics. Policymakers in Western Europe and North America involved in urban redevelopment programmes should be aware of that. Keywords: urban policies, neighbourhoods, social mobility, social networks, socialisation, segregation.