Understanding residential mobility: Why the African context matters

Residential mobility in a Sub-Saharan African (SSA) context is substantially different from in the Global North. This paper provides three position statements to substantiate this claim. The first relates to residential mobility dynamics and posits that in SSA they are characterized by a much more t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of urban affairs 2023-03, Vol.45 (3), p.335-352
Main Authors: Keunen, Els, Ley, Astrid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attachment
Cities
Context
Function
Governance
Households
Inequality
Living conditions
Markets
Mobility
Real estate
Residential mobility
Social exclusion
Social networks
Social organization
Sub-Saharan Africa
translocality
Urban areas
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Residential mobility in a Sub-Saharan African (SSA) context is substantially different from in the Global North. This paper provides three position statements to substantiate this claim. The first relates to residential mobility dynamics and posits that in SSA they are characterized by a much more transient and mobile population who frequently move to, from, between and within urban areas. Secondly, formal mechanisms that enable access to decent living conditions in the city are largely absent as compared to most of the Global North context and, as a consequence, poor households have to resort to other options to find a place in the city. Thirdly, real estate markets in SSA are less transparent as social networks interplay with market mechanisms and markets often function on the edge of or outside formal regulatory frameworks. The second part of the paper reflects on the implications of these differences for the African city. It argues that (1) translocal living reduces place attachment to the city, (2) processes of residential sorting and ethnic exclusion aggravate spatial inequality, and (3) limited spatial governance leads to developments that go beyond the capacity to sustain the city.
ISSN:0735-2166
1467-9906
DOI:10.1080/07352166.2022.2063134