In recent years, academic research has observed how home-making processes and strategies (mostly of young people) have been observed to change and how housing needs are today fulfilled differently than in the past (e.g. remaining in the private sector [‘Generation Rent], postponement of home-ownership, downsizing, co-living) (e.g. Coulter & Kuleszo 2024, McKee et al. 2017, Ronald et al. 2016,). This changes mainly occur due to the contemporary ‘housing crisis’, observed globally and in most European countries (Aalbers 2015). Housing aspirations are thereby often stable over time, even though unable to be fulfilled, orientating towards aspirations of the past (Crawford & McKee 2018; Preece et al. 2020). Equally, research has found evidence on changing residential patterns in the context of diverse crisis, e.g. the financial crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic leading to movements down the urban hiearchy (Gkartzios 2013; Stawarz et al. 2022).
In the session, we aim to gather research that is dedicated to questions of (changing) residential and housing aspirations and preferences over Europe. The session aims to jointly discuss research focusing on changing aspirations, preferences and trajectories, both concerning housing types and the residential location. The session intends to put the spotlight on different challenges in different locations and spatial contexts over Europe and discuss not only different trends and challenges, but further also reflect on different methodological approaches, different concepts and methods with the aim to benefit from this exchange for future research and implications for policy and practice.
We address researcher and authors that are active in research (basic and applied research) on the following topics (although not limited to these):
- Patterns of residential im/mobilities and housing preferences or aspirations
- Novel methodological approaches on how to measure housing/residential aspirations: qualitative and quantitative methods
- Conceptual reflections on residential and/or housing aspirations or preferences
- Residential and housing aspirations by socio-economic status or by ethnic groups
- Societal and planning implications on changing aspirations and patterns
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Global Influences on Migration Patterns: Dynamics and Developments in the Vienna Metropolitan Region over the Past 20 Years
Max Aichinger, Peter Görgl
Modul5, Austria
The past years were characterized by events that influenced and still influence global, national and regional migration flows. How do wars, pandemics, economic crises, etc. affect migration patterns at the urban regional level? For the Vienna urban region, answers can be given because the settlement development there has been monitored and evaluated for 20 years.
Which migration flows determine urban-regional growth, which demographic patterns are stable and which change? What direct or indirect influence do global events and megatrends have on settlement development in the Vienna urban region?
We report on the latest monitoring of the Vienna urban region (2023/2024) and take a look back at previous monitoring to determine whether and to what extent global events have an impact on migration patterns.
This is a report from applied spatial research, with a focus on answering specific questions relevant to planning policy in the Vienna urban region. Therefore, there is no dedicated theoretical framework. The “theoretical position” in the analysis and interpretation of the results is, however, that the urban region is a functionally and structurally highly interconnected network in which the city is the main node, but would not be viable without its surroundings. This is associated with cooperative and cross-border planning approaches and the necessary change in the planning culture and policy at all spatial levels in the urban region of Vienna.
The monitoring is based on two main areas of analysis. Firstly, a quantitative analysis of settlement development with a focus on population development, demography and migration. This is followed by a cartographic analysis of settlement development, which, in addition to these topics, also deals with commuting relationships, urban-regional interdependencies, settlement structures, building land reserves and spatial types in the study region.
The final monitoring in 2023 will also conclude with a formulation of urban-regional challenges.
The studies are based on population data at the 1km-grid level, as well as migration and commuting relationships between the 273 municipalities in the study region. Furthermore, data on public transport and other socio-economic indicators were included in the study.
Changes in the residential movements in the Budapest metropolitan area. Accelerating suburbanization and/or reurbanisation?
Julia Schuchmann
John Von Neumann University, Hungary
During the last three decades the most spectacular urban development processes was observable in the Budapest Metropolitan area: The residential suburbanization. Until now the capital city of Budapest and its functional urban areas concentrate the 27% of the Hungarian population and 45% of the national GDP. The Budapest metropolitan area is the only region in the country that shows massive population growth during the last decades. This population gain comes from two migration processes (Schuhmann, 2024)[1]. The one is the residential suburbanization, the second the increasing immigration from the other regions of Hungary towards the capital regions. The spectacular population growth in the outskirt areas of Budapest can be explained by the changes in the residential preferences as well. Due to the many problems of the inner areas of Budapest (noises, traffic, problems of urban transportation, lack of green spaces, homelessness, rising price of housing, impacts of the climate change on urban spaces etc.) a major part of the citizens decide to move out from Budapest to the suburban zones. During and after the Covid-19 pandemic based on the relevant data we can experience an accelerating residential suburbanization (Szirmai-Schuchmann-Uzzoli, 2023)[2]. The main aim of the presentation is to reveal the major changes in the residential suburbanization in the metropolitan area of Budapest. To highlights the social-spatial inequalities in the residential preferences, and also to discover the reasons.
[1] Schuchmann, Júlia (2024): The Regional Inequalities between the Budapest Metropolitan Region and the Large Urban Regions in Hungary In: Caragliu, Andrea; Martins, Elisabete (ed.) Proceedings: 14th World Congress of the RSAI: Sustainable Regional Economic growth: Global challenges and new regional development trajectories Angra do Heroísmo, Portugália : Regional Science Association International (RSAI) (2024) pp. 313-318. , 6 p.
[2] Szirmai, V ; Schuchmann, J ; Uzzoli, A.(2023):The social-spatial features of the Covid-19 pandemic : the formation of new disability issues (global and Hungariantrends)
FOGYATÉKOSSÁG ÉS TÁRSADALOM: A FOGYATÉKOSSÁGTUDOMÁNY ÉS A GYÓGYPEDAGÓGIA FOLYÓIRATA 1 pp. 41-52. , 12 p. (2023)
Long-term Growth of Urban Areas as a Function of their Location Attributes
Boris A. Portnov
University of Haifa, Israel
In recent decades, urban growth has been geographically uneven across the globe, with some places experiencing rapid population increases and other places being in decline, effectively losing their share in the national urban hierarchy. Many major population centres of the world and their imitate suburbs, rapidly growing in the past, were among places with declining population shares, whereas most rapidly growing locations have been slightly remote from major urban areas. The reasons for these changes are not completely clear, and the present study investigates this phenomenon. The study was carried out in several phases. First, urban areas around the world were identified by the density of the world’s population using satellite imagery. The population change in each urban area was estimated next by comparing its population size in 2000 and 2020, while referencing this change to the total urban population of the country as a whole. The changes observed in each urban area were then encoded as a dichotomous variable: a positive change (that is, an improvement in rank) in the national hierarchy between 2000 and 2020 (1) or a negative change, that is, a deterioration in the national urban ranking (0). These changes were then linked to several performance measures and important location determinants were identified by stepwise regression analysis. The models were estimated first with the main effects only and then jointly with the main effects and interaction terms. Then, each factor identified as important was analysed to determine its value in a way that is in the highest share of urban areas that exhibit a positive change in population share (PSC). The location of an urban area on one of these ‘optimal bends’ was considered a location advantage or a disadvantage otherwise. The total number of LP advantages was then calculated for each urban area and the proportional shares of urban areas with positive PSC were estimated for location counts. The analysis was carried out separately for the entire global urban system and western Europe separately. In both cases, the probability that an urban area exhibits a positive PSC was found to increase with the number of locational advantages the place has, effectively highlighting the importance of an integrated location package for urban growth.
Mapping residential preferences regarding Europe: Insights into Canada’s and Czechia’s young adults’ perspectives
Daniel Doležal1, Damian Collins2, Petr Šimáček1
1Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; 2Human Geography Program, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
This study explores residential preferences and housing aspirations of first-year university students through a method combining sketch mapping and comparative analysis. Focusing on students from two distinct academic and cultural environments—Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia, and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada—the research examines how young people conceptualize their ideal places to live within the geographic boundaries of Europe.
Theoretical foundations draw on the concepts of housing pathways, perception of space, and neighbourhood effect, with particular attention to the potential impact of proximity bias in the Czech student sample. For example, it might be expected that Czech students show stronger preferences for nearby European regions (e.g., Germany or Slovakia) due to geographic familiarity or socio-cultural ties, reflecting the influence of the neighbourhood effect. Methodologically, the study employs a mixed-methods approach: qualitative insights from students’ justifications for their choices are combined with GIS-based quantitative analysis to identify spatial patterns and regional trends.
The core research question asks: To what extent do socio-cultural and geographic contexts shape residential preferences among university students, and how do these preferences reflect broader societal patterns? Using sketch maps as a data collection tool, participants outlined specific regions across Europe they associate with positive or negative residential aspirations. These areas were scored on a Likert scale and annotated with keywords or short explanations. Respondents were also asked to rank the three best and worst countries in Europe for permanent living based on their subjective evaluations.
Preliminary results suggest universal preferences, such as favouring more developed regions, but also potential variations that could be linked to differing socio-cultural contexts of Canada and Czechia (e.g., language proximity). The neighbourhood effect appears particularly strong among Czech students, whose preferences are influenced by proximity and familiarity, in contrast to the more globalized outlook of Canadian students. These findings offer valuable insights into how young people navigate housing aspirations within Europe and contribute to discussions on how housing policy and education strategies can better address diverse needs.
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