Research Proposal Presentation Title

An investigation of the impact of immigrant population on local housing availability in Vancouver

Student researchers

Zihan Wang

What is your research question?

What is the impact of Vancouver’s immigrant population on local housing availability?

Research proposal keywords or concepts

Immigrant population; Housing availability/affordability; Urban inclusiveness

How would you summarize your proposed research idea?

In Vancouver, the increasing trend in the immigrant population has increasingly affected the internal structure and the real estate market and has possibly led to non-ideal housing availability. (Moo & Skaburskis, 2010; Lundy 2020). The proposed research study in this presentation attempts to discover the impact of the immigrant population on housing availability in Vancouver, so as to promote the restoration of a balance between immigrants and local housing availability.

Where is the literature gap and how does your proposed research attempt to fill that gap?

Much of the current literature pays particular attention to analyze a numerical relationship between immigrants and homeless people, housing conditions, or local house prices (Valente, 2008; Moos & Skaburskis, 2010; Akbari & Aydede, 2012; Teixeira, 2013; Francis & Hiebert, 2014; Ley, 2020). There has been no direct and systematic qualitative investigation of the impact of immigrants on housing availability in Vancouver. In exploring this, an interview-based qualitative approach will be adopted to obtain individuals’ views on the impacts.

Why is this gap worthy of research?

The findings of the proposed study will provide new insights into the relationship between immigrants and the city's internal structure, thus helping promote the construction of balance and inclusiveness within the city. Filling this gap will also provide a structural framework as a model for future researches.

What future change could this research possibly contribute to, related to sustainability?

In the long-term, the present study could raise the possibility to the idea of promoting urban inclusiveness while developing the balance between immigrants and housing availability. Overall, this study could support the 11th of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which is making cities and human settlements both inclusive and sustainable.

What made your group interested in and/or what excites you about your proposed topic?

My interest in this area developed when I was trying to rent an apartment for my upcoming university life in Vancouver. It is well known that immigration has become a significant part of Canada's national identity (Teixeira, 2017). However, it appears to me that the current situation in Vancouver is that with the increase in the number of immigrants, the availability of housing continues to be low, and the house prices remain high. As a potential immigrant in the Vancouver area, I hope to discover the impact of immigrants on local housing availability.

References

Akbari, A. H., & Aydede, Y. (2012). Effects of immigration on house prices in Canada. Applied Economics, 44(13), 1645-1658. doi:10.1080/00036846.2010.548788

Francis, J., & Hiebert, D. (2014). Shaky foundations: Refugees in Vancouver's housing market. Can. Geogr., 58(1), 63-78. doi: 10.1111/j.1541-0064.2013.12056.x

Ley, D. (2020). A regional growth ecology, a great wall of capital and a metropolitan housing market. Urban Studies, 58(2), 297-315. doi:10.1177/0042098019895226

Lundy, M. (2020). Immigrants drive canada's urban growth as housing costs linked to toronto, van- couver, montreal exodus: The three largest canadian metropolitan areas continue to see a net loss of people within their respective provinces, raising concerns about deteriorating afford- ability.

Moos, M., & Skaburskis, A. (2010). The globalization of urban Housing Markets: Immigration and changing housing demand in Vancouver. Urban Geography, 31(6), 724-749. doi: 10.2747/0272-3638.31.6.724

Teixeira, C. (2013). Living on the “edge of the SUBURBS” of vancouver: A case study of the Housing experiences and coping strategies of recent immigrants in Surrey and Richmond. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 58(2), 168-187. doi:10.1111/j. 1541-0064.2013.12055.x

Teixeira, C. (2017). New Canadians' Settlement Experiences in Vancouver's Suburbs, with Sug- gestions for Policy Directions Regarding Rental Housing and Community Services. Papers in Applied Geography, 3(3-4), 339-354. doi:10.1080/23754931.2017.1345691

Valente, M. (2008). THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTH ASIAN IMMIGRANT OLDER ADULTS IN GREATER VANCOUVER, BRITISH CO- LUMBIA: A COMPARISION BETWEEN OLDER ADULTS IN ETHNO-SPECIFIC SE- NIORS' HOUSING AND COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS. Journal of Ar- chitectural and Planning Research, 25(1), 54-75.