Showing papers in "Population Space and Place in 2019"

Spatial segregation and migration in the city of Athens : Investigating the evolution of urban socio‐spatial immigrant structures

Abstract: Migration has long had an impact on spatial segregation within the metropolitan area of Athens. This process has also been affected by local economic restructuring mechanisms, which, in recent years, have evolved within the context of the 2008 economic crisis. This study attempts to shed light on the evolution of the spatial segregation of immigrants within the metropolitan area of Athens, during a period of a rapid urban transformation, using data from the last two census waves (2001 and 2011). Given that previous evidence indicates both vertical segregation in the immigrant labour market structure and diffused immigrant settlements, the work presented here investigates the ways in which urban migrant structures have evolved through local economic restructuring processes, as well as throughout space. The study presents a set of quantitative urban segregation indicators, covering the aspects of evenness, exposure, concentration, and centralisation. It also captures the most significant occupational changes between different migrant‐status groups (non‐EU and EU immigrants), during a crucial period for Athens. Evidence indicates that there has been an overall raise in immigrant settlement segregation, accompanied by an increased centralisation trend. Moreover, the urban transformation through economic restructuring that took place in Athens, following the general EU trend towards a knowledge‐based economic model, has altered the immigrant labour market structure, leading to vertical segregation patterns, driven by professionalisation.

Between disruptions and connections: “New” European Union migrants in the United Kingdom before and after the Brexit

Abstract: This paper examines the pre- and post-Brexit experiences and perspectives of migrants from three “new” European Union (EU) countries—Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia—who are living and working or studying in the London area. Deploying the key concepts of power-geometry and relational space, the analysis explores the way that Brexit impacted the migrants' connections to the U.K. “bounded space” and their ongoing mobility behaviour and plans. Empirical evidence comes from 35 in-depth interviews with migrants, most of whom were interviewed both before and after the referendum of June 23, 2016. We find that migrants are unequally positioned socio-spatially to deal with the new power-geometries resulting from Brexit, and we detect diverging trajectories between the more highly skilled and high-achieving EU citizens and the more disadvantaged low-skilled labour migrants. First, we probe the uncertainties brought about by juridical status, related to the length of stay in Britain. Second, we explore personal and professional connections and disruptions. Third, we question how the power-geometries of time, juridical status, and personal/professional connections/disruptions shape future mobility plans.

Belonging in Brexit Britain : Central and Eastern European 1.5 generation young people’s experiences

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the experiences of young people born in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) who are part of the 1.5 migrant generation living in ‘Brexit Britain’. We focus on two key themes: 1) young people’s feelings of belonging to Britain, their countries of birth and Europe, and the ways in which these have been impacted by the EU Referendum result; 2) young people’s future plans, in an intergenerational context, with particular regard to their feelings of belonging and the ruptures of migration and Brexit. Britain’s decision to leave the EU caused uncertainty for CEE 1.5 generation young people at a time when many of them were consciously reflecting on their beings, becomings and belongings. The majority of young people asserted a sense of belonging to Britain whilst simultaneously feeling a sense of ‘in-between-ness’. Many young people wanted to remain living in Britain, at least in the short term, and felt a sense of belonging to Britain. Our focus on the potential intergenerational impact of Brexit suggests that CEE young people and parents may view possibilities for the future differently; we examine some of the key reasons for these differences from the young people’s perspectives.

Employment, education, and family: Revealing the motives behind internal migration in Great Britain

Abstract: Distinctions between internal migration and residential mobility are often formed with reference to assumed differences in motivation, with migration typically linked to employment and educational motives and shorter distance mobility to housing and family. Using geocoded microdata, this article reveals how employment-led migration represents only a minority share (approximate to 30%) of total migration events over 40 km. Family motives appear just as important, even at distances >= 100 km, with the desire to live closer to non-resident family/friends being the most frequently cited family submotive. Estimated propensities to undertake employment and educational-related migration fit very closely to predictions of human capital models of migration, being highest among young, residentially flexible and highly educated individuals. Migrants citing family-related motives are disproportionately drawn from midlife and later-life phases, with family shown to be a key motive among migrants with care-related needs (e.g., parents with children) or access to fewer resources (e.g., social renters and low educational attainment).

Rescaling belonging in “Brexit Britain”: Spatial identities and practices of Polish nationals in Scotland after the U.K. Referendum on European Union membership

Abstract: This paper discusses how the 2016 U.K. Referendum on European Union membership has shaped the spatial identities and practices of Polish nationals living in Scotland. On the basis of original qualitative data collected in Edinburgh after the referendum, we make two key arguments. First, the referendum was a catalyst for Polish nationals to rescale spatial identities and challenge normative definitions of nationalism and citizenship. We highlight the role of emotion as a key driver in this process, showing that multiscalar attachments to place and strategies for onward mobility, adaptation, and integration after Brexit are constructed through emotionality. Second, the paper argues that Polish nationals' spatial practices have been shaped by anti‐immigrant discourse and sentiment surrounding the Brexit vote. In particular, local public spaces are viewed simultaneously as sites of potential conflict and sites of meaningful intercultural engagement and everyday citizenship. A broader aim of the paper is to advance feminist theory and praxis in population geography through a focus on nonhierarchical and relational scales of experience to better understand migrant identities and practices in a changing Europe.

Migration in China: A cohort approach to understanding past and future trends

Abstract: Internal migration trends in China are well documented, but existing studies rely almost exclusively on period measures applied to cross-sectional data. To examine long-term trends, this paper adopts a cohort perspective and analyses migration levels and patterns and reasons for moving for cohorts born between 1935 and 1974. It applies a series of newly developed cohort measures to nationally representative migration histories retrospectively collected as part of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2014. It then develops cohort projections of migration from birth to age 60 for cohorts born between 1955 and 1994. The results show modest but rising levels of migration underpinned by a reduction in lifetime immobility and a rise in repeat movement, largely caused by an upswing in employment-related moves and return migration. Cohort analysis reveals more stable trends than period measures, while showing significant sex differentials that have persisted across successive cohorts.

Generational differences in spatial mobility: A study with mobile phone data.

Abstract: This article focuses on generational differences in spatial mobility. Assuming that the ability to cope with the social transformations related to growing mobility varies significantly across generations, we use mobile positioning data collected in Estonia during 2014 providing four main indicators, namely, the number of locations visited and the distances between visited locations, within Estonia and abroad. The results indicate that spatial mobility declines linearly with age; however, a high degree of heterogeneity exists within age groups. Whereas the spatial mobility of the most active members of the younger generation takes place mostly within Estonia, among the most active older generation focus their activity beyond its borders. The study reveals "delayed mobility" patterns among the most active groups of the older generation and a new "immobility culture" among the younger generation in terms of cross-border activities in a transition society.

Settlement intention of migrants in the Yangtze River Delta, China: The importance of city‐scale contextual effects

Abstract: Millions of Chinese migrants have moved from the countryside to cities to seek job opportunities and a better life. Under the policy shift from ‘land‐based urbanisation’ to ‘people‐oriented urbanisation’, it is important to understand what determines migrants' settlement intentions. Although previous studies have primarily focused on socio-demographic impacts on settlement intention, the role of city‐level contexts is understudied. Drawing upon data, the 2015 Migrant Dynamic Monitoring Survey in the Yangtze River Delta, this paper addresses this gap by examining the impact of contextual features in host cities, including population size, employment structure, wage levels and house prices on migrants' settlement intentions. We find that house prices are negatively associated with migrants' decision to settle, and wage levels have a positive effect on migrants with tertiary education. Cities with over 10 million residents or high administrative status are particularly attractive to migrants wishing to settle in urban environments.

Comparing the fertility of Ghanaian migrants in Europe with nonmigrants in Ghana

Abstract: The fertility behaviour of migrants is often studied by examining migrants and native nonmigrants in the country of destination. To understand the mechanisms for migrant fertility, it is important to know what distinguishes them from the population they originate from. The Ghanaian sample of the "Migrations between Africa and Europe" project allows us to contrast the fertility of those who never emigrated from Ghana and Ghanaian migrants who are residing in the UK or the Netherlands. First, we estimate discrete‐time hazard models of first birth to evaluate whether first birth timing is influenced by migration. Second, we apply Poisson regression techniques to examine differentials in completed fertility. We find that Ghanaian migrants postpone first childbirth compared with nonmigrants. Differences are largest at ages 20 to 24 for women and 20 to 29 for men. Ghana experiences a typical brain drain, which means that especially the highly skilled emigrate. In our sample, this is particularly true for women. Education seems to be an important determinant of the postponement of first childbirth in Ghana, although we cannot clearly attribute migrants' later first births to their higher level of education. However, our findings on completed fertility reveal that migrants have fewer children than nonmigrants and this difference diminishes considerably if we take into account their level of education. Apparently, migrants do not fully catch up after postponing first childbirth and end up with a lower number of children by the age of 40.

Under one roof? Left‐behind children's perspectives in negotiating relationships with absent and return‐migrant parents

Abstract: Children-whether left behind or as migrants-have remained largely invisible in Southeast Asian migration scholarship. Their experiences and perspectives on migration, as well as how they demonstrate agency within the limits of culturally/socially constructed childhoods influenced by a "hybridisation" of global and local conditions, are often overlooked in favour of adults'. This article addresses this research lacuna by focusing attention on how left-behind Indonesian and Filipino children between 9 and 11 years of age engage and react to the changes in their everyday lives brought about by both parental migration and parental return. Using both quantitative and qualitative data collected from a larger study on child health and migrant parents in Southeast Asia with return-migrants, left-behind carers, and children, this article highlights the experiences of left-behind children by revealing their agency and creativity in managing changes in their daily lives due to the frequent and transient comings and goings of one or both parents.

Spatial demography: A unifying core and agenda for further research

Abstract: With increases in the availability of geo‐referenced data, there has been a push for developing better methods to study demographic processes across space. This paper reviews the recent developments in “spatial demography” and argues that an important aspect has been neglected, namely, the focus on the dynamics and interactions of population change across space, which is an area that should be central to the field. Frameworks for analysing spatial demography were first proposed in multiregional demography. This paper revisits these methods and then describes how methods developed by geographers, economists, and other social scientists for analysing spatial data may be better integrated to study spatial population dynamics.

Frequent border-crossing children and cultural membership

Abstract: Special Issue: Situated agency in the context of research on children, migration, and family in Asia

A subregional analysis of family change: The spatial diffusion of one-parent families across Italian municipalities, 1991-2011.

Abstract: This paper documents the expansion of new family patterns in Italy by scrutinising the spatial diffusion of one-parent families across Italian municipalities for the period 1991-2011. We apply a hierarchical Bayesian model to the data of the last three Italian Population Censuses, acknowledging that variation cannot be broken down into temporal and spatial effects because space-time interaction is at the very heart of family changes. Our results illustrate substantial subregional and sub-provincial heterogeneities in the spatial organisation of family systems, patterns that might have gone undetected had larger territorial units of analysis been considered. In addition, we show that especially socio-economic factors were associated to the diffusion of new family forms. This paper challenges international scholarship that caricatures Italy as a monolithic, homogeneous family-oriented country.

The Marche: Italy's new frontier for international retirement migration

Abstract: Within the linked fields of population, migration, and ageing, international retirement migration (IRM) has emerged as a strong focus for empirical research. Thus far, the classic studies have been on European North–South IRM, with a specific concentration on iconic regions such as the Costa del Sol, southern France, and Tuscany. But the geography of IRM is constantly changing, as prior destination regions become “saturated” and perhaps too expensive, so that new “frontiers” are opened up. One such frontier is the Italian region of Marche, now seen as a cheaper and more “authentic” region than Tuscany. This paper uses interview narratives from 69 older age British, Dutch, and German people who have relocated, as either permanent settlers or seasonal residents, in the Marche, in order to answer two questions. The questions relate first to the main drivers of IRM at the decision‐making level and, second, to the experiences of living there, including advantages and disadvantages. We find the participants for the most part engaged in active ageing, growing their own produce, and joining in local community life and are appreciative of the beauty of the hilly landscape. However, “full” integration is hampered by language and cultural barriers, whereas the bureaucracy is their main complaint.

Unpacking distinction within mobility: Social prestige and international students

Abstract: Author thanks the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for their funding on this projec

Infant mortality in mid‐19th century Amsterdam: Religion, social class, and space

Abstract: This study uses a unique historical GIS dataset compiled from birth, death, and population register records for infants born in the city of Amsterdam in 1851 linked to micro-level spatial data on housing, infrastructure, and health care. Cox's proportional hazards models and the concept of egocentric neighbourhoods were used to analyse the effects of various sociodemographic characteristics, residential environment, water supply, and health-care variables on infant mortality and stillbirth. The analyses confirm the favourable position of the Jewish population with respect to infant mortality as found in other studies and show the unfavourable position of orthodox Protestant minorities. Infant mortality rate differences are much smaller between social classes than between religions. The exact role of housing and neighbourhood conditions vis-a-vis infant mortality is still unclear; however, we ascertained that effects of environmental conditions are more pronounced in later stages of infancy and less important in the early stages of infancy.