GGR 357 H1F Geography of Housing and Housing Policy

1. GGR 357 H1F Geography of Housing and Housing Policy May 12, 2008INTRODUCTION TO HOUSING HOUSEHOLDS & HOUSING DR. AMANDA HELDERMAN

2. Introduction • The lecturer: Dr. Amanda Helderman • The syllabus: available hard-copies in class • The literature: see syllabus and slides • The assignment: will be made available online • Timelines • Academic conduct • Interpretations of the concept of housing and the importance of studying housing • Households and housing

3. Contact information Contact info: Dr. Amanda Helderman Office: Sidney Smith Hall, 5.XX Contact: Just before and after each session E-Mail: Helderman@geog.utoronto.ca Website:(TBA)

4. Course topics/ syllabus • Households and housing (today) • Tenure choice and socio-economic inequalities • Intergenerational transmission of homeownership • Unequal opportunities and social exclusion • Segregation on the housing market • Neighbourhood transitions • Access to housing: housing allocation • Housing affordability and quality • The meanings of home and attitudes towards homeownership • The role of the state and other actors in the public domain

5. Literature • Text book: • Hulchanski, D. and M. Shapcott. 2004. Finding room: Policy options for a Canadian rental housing strategy. Toronto : University of Toronto Press. (ISBN: 0-7727-1433-9) • Additional texts: • Listed in syllabus • Available through course website: http:// (TBA)

6. Text book sale • Hulchanski, D. and M. Shapcott. 2004. Finding room: Policy options for a Canadian rental housing strategy. Toronto : University of Toronto Press. (ISBN: 0-7727-1433-9) • Available through lecturer • $15.00 • Exact change only, on Wednesday

7. More announcements • Additional reading in the syllabus is required reading • Dare to be critical of the readings! • Text book • Papers from international journals

8. Assignment • Individually written, unique research paper • Demographics and housing issues in Torontonian neighbourhoods • Immediately relevant topic to this course • Due Date: June 20, 2008 • Do not exceed 1,500 words! • Hard copy and digital copy (word only) • The paper should at least describe the demographic, socio-economic and physical characteristics of the area • Demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the neighbourhood: http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/ • Physical characteristics of the area: map • ALL RELEVANT LIT SHOULD BE USED!

9. Assignment • The assignment will be available on the course website • See syllabus • Writing courses • Be aware of waiting times! Contact the writing centre ASAP • Assistance from instructor (at least two weeks in advance): • By providing 1-page draft outline well in advance of appointment after class • By appointment after class • By email: Helderman@geog.utoronto.ca

10. Timelines • MIDTERM EXAM: Monday June 2, 2008, this room • DUE DATE PAPER: Friday, June 20, 2008 • Drop box Office of Geography/ Program in Planning • Name student, student number, my name, course • June 23-27, 2008: FINAL EXAMINATIONS: • Exact date to be announced

11. Academic conduct • Doubt about proper academic conduct? • See undergraduate handbook • Paper/ written assignment • Original work for this course only (see handbook) • Appropriate referencing (see course website) • No wiki-pedia! • Individually written, unique paper • Authentic work

12. Academic conduct • Exams (midterm and final) • Two hours • No cheating (obviously!) • No aids • Doctor’s notes within reasonable time • 2 short answer questions, 3 essay questions of which 2 must be answered • No points for questions not answered

13. Concepts of housing • Why is housing important? ?

14. Concepts of housing • What is housing?

15. Concepts of housing • Basic concept of housing often refers to “shelter” • Housing sector: housing is a physical product of a large sector of the economy • Housing market: virtual market in which housing changes owners and occupants • Housing stock: existing housing units in a certain area of different types, not all equally accessible for everyone

16. Concepts of housing • Alternative definitions/ meanings: • Physical product/ facility: “bricks and mortar”

17. Concepts of housing • Commodity/ Economic good: exchange good • Investment good: asset

18. Concepts of housing • Sector of the economy: industry/ construction

19. Concepts of housing • Social/ collective good: in social networks and in consumption of services • Building block for neighbourhoods

20. Defining Housing • Complexity of housing: all alternative definitions are applicable at the same time, some meanings are separated and confused  • Broad definition: BUNDLE OF SERVICES (for builders, owners and renters) • Physical facility • Shelter • Consumption of services: public, schools, environment, etc. • Location/ accessibility

21. The services delivered by housing Access to/ occupancy of housing delivers: • Shelter from the elements • Value/ wealth  equity for owners • Shelter from ‘taxes’  e.g. capital • Accessibility to services (e.g. schools) • Accessibility to work • Accessibility to neighbourhood • Social status • Right to privacy/ exclusion Services… Role of location!

22. Inputs and services

23. The importance of housing • Why is housing important and why is housing a unique commodity? • High cost • Durability • Fixity (location) • Limited adaptability • Complex and diverse housing stock • Links to services • Imposed by government regulation • Externalities/ exogenous influences • Importance to quality of life • Importance to self identity

24. Segmentation of housing • Immobility and physical durability of housing limits the degree of substitution possible between different types and styles of housing • This may lead to the segmentation of the urban housing stock and the operation of sub-markets • This restricts choices open to some consumers of housing • Recurring theme in housing research, and also in the next few classes

25. The importance of housing • Housing is the built environment for intraurban migration and mobility • Housing competes with other uses in the urban land market for accessibility and space • Housing is the principal mechanism through which urban neighbourhoods change, and one of the stimulants of change (session on neighbourhood transitions) • Moves of households/ activities, demographic change • New (demographic/ economic/ social/ cultural) developments • Aging of real estate • Fluctuations in house prices

26. Literature Basic Housing Concepts • Bourne, L. (1981), Concepts, Context and Information. In: The Geography of Housing, chapter 2. • Of interest in this chapter: Hägerstrand’s time-space theory • Slides and literature will be made available through course website • URL will follow on Wednesday

27. Households and Housing • Immigration – household formation - housing demand • Concepts for residential relocation • Residential relocations and life course theory • Moving distance and motives for moving

28. Introduction Popular topics in recent research • Labour market interactions • Decision making • Housing choices • The importance of the micro level • The importance of the macro level

29. Household and Housing • Why is it important to study households and housing? • Households create a set of circumstances in local housing markets by their combined behaviour • Matching process: adjustments in housing consumption usually takes place through residential relocations • Important for understanding housing market dynamics

30. Residential relocations • Dissatisfaction • Life events/ triggers • Macro level factors

31. Consecutive homes People generally move: • From smaller to larger dwellings • From rented to owner-occupied dwellings • From apartments to single family dwellings • Housing satisfaction: Each home is assumed to fit the household’s need better than the previous home • Benefits should outweigh the costs to undertake a move • Expanding households: Need for space • Incomes rise with age: resources accumulate over time

32. Models for housing market behaviour Traditionally in terms of streams of relocations, and origins and destinations (aggregate patterns): • Gravity models • Push/pull models • Markov Chains

33. Gravity models: interactions between places • Assumptions based on the characteristics of places: • Size of places • Distance between places

34. Push/pull models: flows of individuals • Assumptions based on individuals assessments of: • conditions that push the person to consider moving; • attractions of the place of destination; and • intervening factors that affect the cost of the move

35. (Recurrent) Markov chain: aggregate model “Models moves between different homes and calculates probabilities of moving to each home in the chain”

36. Moves/ residential mobility Vacancy Example: hermit crabs

37. Other approaches • Micro-economic approaches • Life cycle/ Life course perspective

38. (Individual) economic approaches • Sjaastad: “The costs and returns of human migration” • Migration as an investment in human capital • Anticipated stream of benefits alternative location vs. obtainable benefits current location • Migration as an adjustment mechanism that may narrow geographic income differentials • Opportunity costs • Monetary and non-monetary (psychological) costs Larry Sjaastad

39. Economic decision making Monetary Non-monetary -Moving costs -Attachment to home -Foregone earnings -Travelling -Job search -Training for new job

40. Non-monetary costs • Psychological attachment to the home: -Place of family tradition -Familiar environment -Status -Personal adjustments in the home -Identification with the home as a safe place from which to venture out into the world

41. Life cycle approach Rossi, 1955, Why families move “Changes in the household lead to adapting the housing situation to new needs in the household”

42. Life cycle approach Brown & Moore, 1970 • Dissatisfaction/ stress to be relieved by relocating • Decision is a two step process • Relocation decision • Search for and evaluation of alternative dwellings (place utility: site utility and situation utility) • Dissatisfaction due to changes in the household and macro factors are not the only factors determining a relocation decision…

43. Life course perspective Incorporates life cycle perspective, individual economic perspective, and macro factors Parallel careers in which triggers for moves may occur: Household career, Labour career, Educational career and Housing career. Offers the opportunity to link demographic events with demographic behaviour with the goal to uncover causal processes

44. Cohabation Child birth Remarriage Divorce/ separation Widowhood HH Jobchange Jobchange LB Enrolling into higher education ED HS Life course, parallel careers Child birth

45. Life course: paradigm shift in the social sciences New! • Convergence of theory and empirical work • Devoted attention to the individual household • Brought the topic of residential relocations into the centre of housing studies • Linking individual action with social change and social structure • Demographic events introduced as milestones and critical transitions in people’s lives • UNIVERSAL: these events apply for almost everyone, and occur everywhere and throughout history

46. Life course perspective • Young adults (20-35) are by far the most mobile segments of the population • Still shaping their parallel careers • Larger probability that they go through an important transition that requires a residential move • Average mobility decreases while the individual progresses through the life course stages

47. Life course stages Life course stages: • Home making • Child bearing • Child rearing • Post child

48. Moving distance and motives • Most moves are short distance moves • Predominant motive: adjustment of housing characteristics • For shorter distances, job change may not be necessary • Changing jobs may necessitate a move • Long distance moves may be facilitated by employers and governments

49. Moving distance and motives other job frequency household housing distance

50. W H NH The environment of the home (Partial displacement) After: Roseman, 1971