New-build housing, mobility and the life course: a study of housing-driven economic growth strategy in Doncaster

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. In 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.