Ongoing research. Class and housing access in Zurich. By Beatrice Meloni (PhD student, DAStU, PoliMi)
Seminario Permanente di Sociologia Urbana – Permanent Seminar of Urban Sociology (SPSU) of the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST) is a monthly seminar to discuss books of relevance to urban sociology and the international debate, as well as ongoing research.
This appointment of SPSU is devoted to the presentation and discussion of the ongoing research by Beatrice Meloni (PhD student, DAStU, PoliMi) How and why class matters to gain housing access for migrants in Zurich urban area.
The housing accessibility issue is exerting pressure in several European cities, and migrants are recognized as one of the most vulnerable groups in the housing market: academic research points to specific barriers they encounter accessing dwellings, leading to worse, more precarious, less affordable, and more segregated housing solutions. However, so far, the relationship between housing accessibility and migration phenomenon has been mainly studied from the perspective of the unprivileged and using ethnicity and legal status as main lenses. Not much research has been performed on housing access for migrants from a class perspective. To close this gap, this research elaborates on housing accessibility and migration by class, focusing on the urban rental housing market. More precisely, first, it investigates how migrants access housing by looking at four different conditions: political-legal, urban-spatial, socio-economic, and racial-cultural. Second, it gives empirical insights into the differences between lower- and upper-class migrants in the Zurich metropolitan area, an economically competitive context witnessing a polarized immigration influx and a severe housing pressure. Specifically, I ask: What are the conditions under which lower- and upper-class migrants gain access to the urban rental housing market? To answer the research question, results are collected through thirty-two in-depth qualitative interviews with experts, stakeholders, and users involved in the Zurich rental market. Findings show that economic conditions play a more prominent role. Class – understood from an intersectional perspective – thus matters in gaining access to housing and I elucidate on why and how.
The discussion may take place either in English or in Italian, depending on participants' preferences.
SPSU is organized by M. Bolzoni, F. Borreani, S. Crivello, G. Semi
For more information: magda.bolzoni@polito.it
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