SIXTH INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS CONFERENCE

WORKSHOP 55: Housing and social integration in gateway cities

Thursday, November 29, 2001
14:00 - 17:30


ORGANIZERS

David Ley
Department of Geography,
University of British Columbia,
217-1984 West Mall,
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 Canada
Tel 1-604-822-3268
fax 1-604-822-6150
dley@geog.ubc.ca

Lars-Erik Borgegard
Institute for Housing Research
University of Uppsala
Box 785, S-801 29 GAVLE, Sweden
Tel +46 26 14 77 78
Fax +46 26 14 78 02
lars-erik.borgegard@ibf.uu.se

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

We are proposing a workshop for the Rotterdam conference examining the housing and neighbourhood contexts of immigrant integration in gateway cities, the large metropolitan areas that are major immigration destinations. The workshop will trace immigrant integration into national societies by tracing their housing careers, obstacles to their insertion in the housing market, and characteristics of their neighbourhood context. Discussion will include some of the following themes:

-Immigrants and housing affordability
-Immigrants and house prices
-Housing discrimination
-Reception/resistance to immigration at the neighbourhood scale
-Immigrants and public/social housing
-Immigration and the internationalisation of housing markets

The policy relevance of these topics is readily apparent, as issues such as affordability and discrimination provide obstacles to integration, while ownership is commonly an indicator of successful integration. Effects of internationalising housing markets involve several policy issues, including resistance of the native-born. The presentations will relate to the following conference themes: Citizenship, equality and diversity; Local integration policies; Migration and the cultural transformation of cities.

Panelists represent the realms of research, policy, and implementation. Presenters are drawn from five countries in Northwest Europe and North America to permit meaningful international comparison. The scholars are leaders in their fields; some have not previously attended Metropolis events. All speakers are familiar with policy research and the policy mandate of Metropolis.

The workshop has been awarded two x 1.5 hour sessions for seven presentations and three discussants as well as interaction between panelists and the audience. Two sessions permit 15-20 minutes per presenter, and 5 minutes per discussant.

STRUCTURE

Session I: Housing Experiences of Immigrant Households

Chair: David Ley (Canada)

Presenters:

1. Robert Murdie (Canada) "Housing affordability and Toronto's rental market: Perspectives from the housing careers of Jamaican, Polish and Somali newcomers"
2. Lars-Erik Borgegard and Urban Fransson (Sweden) "Immigrant housing careers in the Stockholm region"
3. Francine Dansereau (INRS-Univ de Quebec, Canada) "Housing conditions of visible minorities in Montreal"

Discussant: Helena Duroj (Sweden)
Eyob Naizghi (MOSAIC, Canada)

Session II: Housing and Immigrant Integration

Chair: Lars-Erik Borgegard (Sweden)

Presenters:

4. Ronald van Kempen (Netherlands) "Immigrants and social housing in Dutch cities"
5. Bill Clark (USA) "Immigrant homeownership and middle class identification"
6. Paul White (UK) "Immigration and a dual housing market: the Japanese in London"
7. David Ley (Canada) "Immigration and the internationalisation of housing markets: the cases of Vancouver and Toronto"

Discussant: Andreas Carlgren (Sweden)