Beyond social mix? Towards a policy of social mobility

Elise SchillebeeckxThe National Homelessness Conference15/11/2012 - Glasgow

2

Structure

• Social mix• Integration through segregation?• The urban zone of transition• The social mobility approach• The social mobility approach: a first evaluation

3

Social mix: a recurrent policy theme

• Social mix is about mixing different types of residents within a certain area

• Types of residents:

-Socio-economic mix -Mix of lifestyles

-Ethno-cultural mix -Mix of age groups

• Mix within certain area:

-city -district

-street -block

• Social mix versus segregation

• spatial dimension of social inequality

• role of housing in translating social into spatial exclusion

4

Social mix: a recurrent policy theme• Different motives and assumptions behind social mix

• Solution for segregation of the working class

• Struggle against (ethnic) segregation (and racism)

• Reversing the exodus out of the city, attracting middle class double-income families

• Neighbourhood effects

• But:

Disadvantaged neighbourhoods still exist

Exodus out of the city still continues

Assumptions about positive neighbourhood effects contested and/or not scientifically proven

Often more negative (displacement of original inhabitants, loss of social cohesion, ...) than positive

consequences

5

Integration through segregation?

Bron: Burgess, E.W. 1928. "Residential segregation in American cities." The Annals of the

American Academy, CXXXX:105-115.

• Chicago School – first half of the twentieth century

• City grows in concentric circles

• Social groups have tendency to cluster in different

zones

• Spatial segregation as something 'natural' (link with

ecology)

• Transition Zone plays crucial role

6

The zone of transition

• ‘In-between’ zone under pressure from the expanding economic heart of the city

• Low quality of the living environment

• Lack of investment

• Poor housing conditions

• 'Marginal’ zone in the city

• Dual function:

• Port of first entry

• Transition function

7

The zone of transition popularized

#1. Arrival City – Doug Saunders

• Story of massive migration from the countryside to the city in the 21st

century

• Arrival Cities are a platform for social mobility and economic integration,

thanks to:

• the presence of social networks

• informal economy

• cheap housing

• Services/facilities for migrants

• Disadvantaged neighbourhoods are often very promising and full of

possibilities

• Success / failure of arrival cities depends on local and supra-local policies

8

The zone of transition popularized# 2. The social mobility approach– VROM Council

• Introduced in ‘Stad & Stijging’ (‘city and uplifting’) - in 2006 by the Dutch Council for Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment

(VROM-Raad)

9

The social mobility approach

• Dutch urban renewal policies characterized by the dichotomy physical projects (increasing quality of

housing stock and living environment) and social projects (quality of life, social cohesion)

• The social mobility approach wants to put the focus on the ambitions of the local inhabitants to

climb the social ladder

• And subsequently tie those socially mobile residents to the city

• Social mobility = social-economic emancipation, self-realization and a feeling of social security

• Demands a different method for the measurement of poverty?

• Longitudinal rather than cross-sectional analysis!

10

The social mobility approach

• Policy goal before: attract middle class from outside the city

• Policy goal now: gradual and slow creation of a middle class from within the existing population

• HOW?

• 4 social mobility routes, different

steps on the ladder

• Identification of opportunities and

barriers

• The policy makers should add steps

to the ladder

11

The social mobility approachHousing: possible steps on the ladder

From being homeless to having a roof over your head

From being illegal to being legal

From renting to buying

From small to large in rent or buy

From a multi-family house to a single-family unit with a garden

From rent to buy, from a single-family house to a multi-family house, from large to

small

Improving the living environment, moving to another neighbourhood

12

The social mobility approachHousing

Obstacles

• Lack of diversity in bottom part of the housing

market (cf. figure)

• Financial constraints

• Segregation on the housing market

• Allocation criteria and waiting lists social housing

• …

Opportunities & Recommendations

• Adding more (flexible) steps to the housing ladder

(houses for starters, temporary housing, …)

• Greater diversity in lower segment

• Experiment with new buy/rental systems

• …

Source: Platform 31 (2012). Social mobility– theme ‘Housing’ (report) http://www.kei-centrum.nl

13

The social mobility approach

Binding the socially mobile residents to the city?

• Socially mobile needed to let others climb on the social ladder-> continuation of social

networks, stability and economic capacity and capital (cf. ‘organically’ grown social mix)

• But ‘Up & Out’ remains the general trend

• What do socially mobile residents demand from their living environment? What would be

needed to make them stay?

14

The social mobility approach

Binding the socially mobile residents to the city?

• VROM-council= it is not about social cohesion, but about familiarity, recognition and about

feeling at home

• 4 conditions for binding people to their neighbourhood:

- Space for the own lifestyle

- A manageable environment

- Surrounded by familiar strangers

- Identification with the environment

15

The social mobility approach

In sum, the VROM Council advocates for:

• An urban policy that starts from a social agenda to develop social, physical and

economic interventions

• A rupture with the sectoral approach

• A transversal urban renewal policy

16

The social mobility approach

From a critical view

• Stimulating social mobility≠ fighting social inequality

• The ladder remains unchanged

• Meritocratic model – responsibility is placed to a great extent upon the individual

• Risk that political mobilization and collective power to change society completely disappears from the

picture

• Underexposure of non-economic dimensions of social mobility –> social mobility has also an expressive

dimension (cf. Thys et. al, 2004) = progress in the area of emotional wellbeing

17

The social mobility approach : an evaluation

#1: ‘ A new round, new chances. Upward and downward social mobility in perspective’ (Dutch Council for

Societal Development, 2011)

• Education as the main engine for social mobility, but education also the new dividing line on the labour market and in

society in general

• Growing belief amongst Dutch population in social

mobility

• 4 developments that affect the promise of social

mobility:

-Downward social mobility (esp. amongst men) regarding

educational attainment

-Impact of social origin remains

-Increasing path dependency

-Increasing competition on the labour market

18

The social mobility approach : an evaluation

• Is social climbing always desirable / necessary?

• Attention needed for appreciation of various positions in society

• Possibilities of horizontal career perspectives

deserve attention as well

• Too little attention for participation and active citizenship

19

The social mobility approach : an evaluation

#2: Social mobility: between dream and deed (Platform Corpovenista, 2010)

• Evaluation of 16 social mobility projects initiated by various housing corporations:

- ‘Your own home’: initiated by 11 homeless people

- ‘Empowerment’: youth programme in Amsterdam

• Increasing social mobility = long-term and slow

process, many immeasurable and immaterial steps

• Greatest effects on the level of (social) housing

complex and street, district level rather limited

• Importance of continuing upward social mobility

route after projects have officially ended

20

The social mobility approach : an evaluation

• VROM council puts too much emphasis on government

control

• Social mobility approach too often assumes a linear

route, sometimes one takes steps down the social ladder

21

 

• Thank you for listening

• Elise Schillebeeckx

- OASeS, Centre on Inequality, Poverty, Social Exclusion and the City (University of Antwerp) http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=*OASESE elise.schillebeeckx@ua.ac.be