Residential Solutions of the Undocumented Population

Abstract

Social identities and networks within ethno-religious communities create explicit and implicit social orders that drive residential dynamics. Yet, we know little about the impact and projections of these orders on our cities’ patterns and the opportunities that they offer when addressing socio-spatial challenges. The assemblage of individuals’ preferences, for example, to live on the upper floors of buildings or coreside with one or more families in the same residential unit, has a significant impact on our cities’ development and infrastructures. However, as such patterns cannot be identified on maps or in censuses, planners, and policymakers lack knowledge on the influence of systematic non-economic residential preferences of groups on the city’s structure. As most of the undocumented migrants live within their communities, the central role of ethnic networks as “active entities” is thus revealed. Undocumented migrants are able to access and use networks in different ways to mobilise resources and in particular, residential solutions in the private rented sector. Cultural differences may severely affect the benefit of certain policies which may not be endorsed or even rejected by many individuals. The urban policy should take these issues into consideration.