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Department of Spatial Planning
2021 - 2023

Analysing Moving Decisions of Former Slum Dwellers after Resettlement (DFG Walter Benjamin Programme)

This research project explicitly investigates people who have decided to leave or not to move to housing, which they received in the context of state-led housing programs in Ethiopia, Morocco, and South Africa. Despite their crucial relevance for understanding the effectiveness of state-led housing programs addressing inadequate and informal housing, academia has so far disregarded these population groups due to challenges of locating and accessing such dispersed people.

The objective of this research project is to analyse post-resettlement mobility, asking why people move further, where they move to, and under which conditions they live after the second move. Through biographic forms of interviewing, the project sheds light on residential trajectories and subjective decision making in order to understand people's lived experiences of and aspirations towards adequate and affordable housing.

Small state-built houses at a street with children in the Lahae area in Johannesburg © Raffael Beier
State-built dwellings in Lahae, Johannesburg (2020)

Project partners

Publications

Here you will find scientific publications that have been produced as part of this research project. You can find comprehensive publication lists on the individual profile pages of all team members.

  • Spire, A. and Beier, R. (2024) 'Rester citadin malgré tout. Penser les citadinités à travers l’expérience des réinstallations urbaines, à partir de deux villes africaines.' Annales de géographie 755, pp. 75-98. https://doi.org/10.3917/ag.755.0075
  • Beier, R. (2023) 'Autoritäre Individualisierung. Zum Wandel von Konflikten im Zuge von Wohnungsbau- und Umsiedlungsprogrammen in Marokko', Psychosozial 46 (4), pp. 66-76. https://doi.org/10.30820/0171-3434-2023-4-66  
  • Beier, R. (2023) 'Housing Pathways of the "Missing People" of Public Housing and Resettlement Programs: Methodological Reflections', Urban Planing 8, (4). http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/up.v8i4.7058
  • Beier, R. (2023) 'Why low-income people leave state housing in South Africa: progress, failure or temporary setback?', Environment and Urbanization, 35 (1), pp. 111-130. doi: 10.1177/09562478221146395.
  • Beier, R. (2022) 'Interview Guides - DFG Project "Analysing Moving Decisions of Former Slum Dwellers After Resettlement"', Eldorado, http://dx.doi.org/10.17877/DE290R-22915

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