Mobilities | Sabina Maslova
2021
Sabina Maslova and others
The study investigates the housing needs of highly mobile transnational professionals, highlighting that traditional housing markets often fail to accommodate the unique requirements of this group. Based on 65 semi-structured interviews conducted with migrants from Western countries in Moscow and London, the research identifies three key factors influencing their housing demands. Firstly, economic flexibility drives a preference for shared living arrangements over individual rentals. Secondly, the nature of their work leads to time constraints that affect their housing choices. Lastly, despite their transient lifestyles, these professionals seek physical comfort, access to amenities, and a sense of community in their living arrangements. While existing literature acknowledges these needs, this paper emphasizes the necessity of examining them within the context of mobile living, thereby addressing a significant gap in research on housing for transnational professionals.
ABSTRACT
Most housing forms and living arrangements in contemporary cities are designed for settled populations, and housing markets poorly address the needs of mobile population groups. This paper explores the housing forms and living arrangements which emerge from the conditions of temporality and mobility and are practised by the middle-income group of high-skilled transnational professionals. The study is based on 65 semi-structured interviews with migrants from Western countries in Moscow and London. Three inter-related factors of highly mobile living are found to shape the particular housing demands of this migrant group. Firstly, the need for economic flexibility determines the preference for sharing options rather than for individual renting. Secondly, the travelling pattern of their jobs imposes time-related housing limitations, and their life-course stage may require flexibility. Thirdly, this migrant group expresses requirements for physical and functional comfort of housing, as well as access to amenities and a sense of community, despite their detached lifestyles. However, although most of these housing needs are known in the literature, they have not yet been examined in relation to the mobile living of transnational professionals, and this paper illuminates this research gap.