How Do Housing Strategies Stretch Housing Positions?

Abstract

The neighbourhood of Whitechapel serves as a relevant example of how minority housing strategies affect the structure of a neighbourhood, in terms of both social practices and responses to modern urban trends such as demographic pressures and sharing economies. To better identify stretching mechanisms that exploit group-specific social codes, the revealed housing strategies are divided according to the principal axis—horizontal or vertical—on which they operate. Issues of identity and belonging, the links between vertical and horizontal differentiation at the single unit, building and neighbourhood level, and minority housing strategies along these axes, intensify spatial competition between the groups occupying Whitechapel. The housing strategies of various ethnic groups to maintain, reproduce and even expand their group's and household's housing position in a high-demand area reflect residential dynamics as a result of residential choice and marginalisation. These complimentary housing strategies operate at the individual residential units while maximising resources within the building and across the neighbourhood through territorial and spatial practices. Since the interactions within or across mechanisms intensify the built environment, it is appropriate to refer to the aggregate results under the heading ‘Stretch’.