New-Build Housing, Mobility and the Life Course a Study of Housing-Driven Economic Growth Strategy in Doncaster
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New-build housing, mobility and the life course A study of housing-driven economic growth strategy in Doncaster By: Amy Clare Beckett A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Urban Studies and Planning 2018 Supervised by Dr Nicola Dempsey and Professor Ed Ferrari Abstract By implementing housing strategies which focus improving provision for more affluent groups, policymakers may hope to alter the demographic mix of a locality with the aim of stimulating economic growth to compete more effectively in a globalised world. This thesis examines the potential role of high-end new-build housing as part of a ‘bootstraps’ (Eisenschitz and Gough, 1993) local economic growth strategy in the context of ‘austerity urbanism’ (Peck, 2012). To explore these issues, the thesis employs a mixed-method, biographical approach to examine inward and internal migration into new-build homes in Doncaster, a post-industrial metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire. In doing so, the research provides a story of Doncaster, its neighbourhoods and its residents, exploring the ways in which individual, shared and collective narratives combine to influence household needs and preferences, and ultimately mobility outcomes. The empirical findings of this research suggest that targeted high-end new-build housing is insufficient as a policy mechanism to attract the substantial inward migration of middle-to-high income groups in Doncaster. Here, the potential economic benefit associated with a housing-based urban competition strategy appears not to have been met in empirical outcomes. In addition, whilst new-build housing provided a welcome addition to local market for more affluent existing residents and newcomers, findings suggest a policy focus on more affluent groups has the potential to exacerbate local spatial inequalities and threaten social cohesion by creating new opportunities for the segregation of more affluent groups. Through analysing the factors that contribute to these empirical outcomes, the research highlights the dynamic and embedded nature of decision-making. In turn, the findings of the research suggest a need for a more relational approach to understanding mobility decision-making. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Table of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 11 1.1 A changing housing field ....................................................................................................... 12 1.2 Neoliberalism, local government and regional spatial development ................................... 15 1.3 Competition for mobile capital and investment ................................................................... 16 1.4 Growth in ‘places that don’t matter’ .................................................................................... 17 1.5 Footloose firms and human capital ...................................................................................... 18 1.6 Research aims and approach ................................................................................................ 18 1.7 Structure of the thesis .......................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 2 Pursuing local economic development ............................................................................. 25 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 25 2.2 The rise of neoliberalism ....................................................................................................... 25 2.3 Central-local government relations ...................................................................................... 26 2.4 Uneven spatial development, agglomeration and New Economic Geography (NEG).......... 27 2.5 Peripheral post-industrial places, entrepreneurship and economic recovery ..................... 30 2.6 Responsibility for growth: bootstraps, boosterism and urban competition ........................ 32 2.7 Housing as a driver of inward migration in lagging regions .................................................. 33 2.8 Chapter summary.................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 3 Intervention, mobility and neighbourhood change over time ......................................... 36 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 36 3.2 Filtering and submarkets ...................................................................................................... 36 3.3 Uneven spatial development, segregation and concentrated deprivation .......................... 37 3.4 State-led and new-build gentrification ................................................................................. 40 3.5 Area-based initiatives ........................................................................................................... 41 3.6 Chapter summary.................................................................................................................. 45 Chapter 4 Conceptualising mobility: micro processes and decision-making .................................... 46 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 46 4.2 Economic rationality models ................................................................................................ 46 4.3 Geographical and life cycle approaches ............................................................................... 50 4.4 Structure and agency: sociological interpretations of the housing market and its actors ... 52 3 4.5 Life course models and the pathways approach: linking lives through time and space ...... 55 4.6 Chapter summary.................................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 5 Conceptual framework ..................................................................................................... 62 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 62 5.2 Chapters, themes and spatial scales ..................................................................................... 62 5.3 Conceptual framework: Relationships between spatial scales, mobility and new-build housing .............................................................................................................................................. 62 5.4 Empirical and theoretical research foci, aims and objectives............................................... 68 5.5 Chapter summary.................................................................................................................. 69 Chapter 6 Introduction to Doncaster and study sites ....................................................................... 70 6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 70 6.2 The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster .............................................................................. 70 6.3 Location of Doncaster ........................................................................................................... 71 6.4 Character, culture, and public space .................................................................................... 73 6.5 Modern economy and industry: Employment and skills ...................................................... 74 6.6 Local Politics and governance ............................................................................................... 77 6.7 Regional governance and Sheffield City Region ................................................................... 78 6.8 Approaches towards local growth ........................................................................................ 80 Major development and future growth plans .................................................................................. 80 6.9 Housing, Local housing policy and housing market growth ................................................. 81 6.10 Selection of Doncaster as a site for research ........................................................................ 85 6.11 Selection of new-build developments within Doncaster ...................................................... 85 6.12 Introduction to new-build developments ............................................................................