Is There Room for Families in the Inner City? Life-Stage Blenders Challenging Planning

Johanna Lilius

Housing Studies, 2014, vol. 29, issue 6, 843-861

Abstract: This paper addresses the phenomenon of families returning to inner cities. With evidence from the first qualitative study done on families residing in inner-city Helsinki, it demonstrates that urban living reduces the sharp divide between life before having children and family life. Urban parents stay in the city much for the same reasons they first moved there: because they are attracted to population density, good amenities and good public transport. Living in the city enables a lifestyle where different life stages blend into each other. The paper, however, reveals that there is a lack of understanding among city planners and politicians about family needs in the inner city. By adopting a framework of the reviewed literature, the paper draws on the argument that modernist ideals on proper family living still prevail. The paper suggests that planning must acknowledge that exclusionary life stages are eroding and creating a need to facilitate multiple forms of lifestyles.

Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02673037.2014.905673 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:chosxx:v:29:y:2014:i:6:p:843-861

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/chos20

DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2014.905673

Access Statistics for this article

Housing Studies is currently edited by Chris Leishman, Moira Munro, Ray Forrest, Alex Schwartz, Hal Pawson and John Flint

More articles in Housing Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().