GY1004

Nick Drake

The housing market is based on two main principles. Choice or no choice. In this I mean that for many people they have the option of purchasing a house in a particular area according to their specific requirements. However many others do not have the luxury of choice and so live where it is possible.

With choice comes the ability to choose, and with this very word, choose we can see that people may choose to live in a particular area if they have this choice.

In English, what are the reasons for particular social distributions?

The housing market operates within a demand and supply cycle. Imagine the demand for housing considering the market is filled with people with varying incomes, life-styles, life-cycles and many other specific needs, education, healthcare, shopping facilities, R+R availability, proximity to employer etc, demands of transport infrastructure, proximity to family members; there are many different factors each of which may affect the decision on a chosen location and the subsequent social distributions within this location.

However even though everyone’s wishes may be different, with a different amount of importance given to each factor, many groups of people will have similar requests on location and so may coincidentally be placed together. E.g. if I moved into a house because my primary concern was for location as close to a specific transport link then my neighbour whose other requirements may be completely different to mine may live next to me for the same reason. This illustrates that even though everyone’s needs are different, social grouping occurs because of a particular need and/or wish having more importance than others.

For the purpose of this essay, I shall be concentrating on social patterns within cities. I shall classify a city as from the CBD outwards to the furthest suburbs.

The housing market influences to a great deal the distribution of social areas within a city however there is another side to consider. Everyone has a perceived place in society according to B.T.Robson in Urban Social Areas 1975. Robson believed that people of similar status tended to group together because of their embedded self-placement within society. For instance a wealthy businessman may not choose to locate in a lower-class area due to his perceived higher value above them. This then causes a vicious circle; As soon as this businessman chooses another location because of perceived value, his space will be filled by a person whose perceived value is similar to the one already living there and so a small group then develops, and more people with the same perceived value move in and all the time the wealthy businessman has gone elsewhere and is helping to establish a wealthy area.

Beshers (1962) believed that underlying one’s perceived social standing, "is the attempt to perpetuate social status distinctions by living near one’s own ‘kind’". This is the result of both the housing market and one’s particular perceived social standing. For instance, Cox in 1973 argued that, "people with a higher income may seek to pre-empt locations with positive externalities and leave areas with negative externalities to poorer households". This means that areas with better schools, better healthcare, more pleasant environments, low industry, good cultural amenities will become not a choice for everyone but a limited choice for a certain few.

Immediately we see the choice issue arise again. For the people with choice, the operation of the housing market encourages social grouping. Often, the people who have the choice of where to locate, also have the wealth to maintain and develop the area. This is where infrastructural advances are made, the latest technologies may be found, and business investment occurs. For instance, an expensive car manufacturer will not locate it’s showroom in a poor area because the money needed to buy purchase an expensive car will most likely be found within a higher-class wealthier social area.

Agglomeration of industry may include not only factories locating near others for reasons of reduced transport cost or J.I.T. manufacturing but it may also include high street and service industries locating near each other. For instance, analysis of a wealthy towns shopping facilities would indicate a greater density and frequency of cafes, bars, high end designer fashion, expensive home stores, high end food shops than available in a perceived poorer area.

The housing market is like a business and businesses survive on their ability to offer the right product to the customer. Applying this into a housing market context, although a particular area may not have a partciular type of cultural amenity available there will be many people to whom this is of no concern. And so like in business, a product or house may attract a certain type of person according to it’s USP’s (unique selling points).

Similarly, the life-cycle of the purchaser is another significant point to mention. If economically dependent under the age of 16 then usually, location is not an issue. However once economically active, people may have to travel daily into and out of the city and so may live in the satellite suburbs. The operation of the housing market has little to do with this factor because this is merely proximity of location to work and is not influenced a great deal by the perceived social status of the person. Elderly people who have the choice, may wish to locate in an area with the right cultural amenities for them, along with pleasant surroundings and may often be found by the sea-side.

Once again we see that through the operation of the housing market, people are distributed in particular areas, although the reasons for this distribution may include the particular prerequisites of this social group.

The distribution of social groups within a city will also depend on the historical usage of the area. For instance within the inner city locations, it may be very difficult to specifically request a type of property due to limitations on development due physical spatial constraints. However in the suburbs, the distribution patterns of residential areas may be different due to the specific requests of the people building on green-field sites. And so, the operation of the housing market in this instance plays a significant role in determining the spatial distribution of social areas. Local councils also have a great deal of control over building projects in order to maintain the class of residents and keep out people who do not fit into this wealthier social group.

Another aspect of distribution of social groups within cities is that of race. The first immigrants who settle within an area will usually locate near the city centre (according to the philosophy of the greater distance one emigrates from, the more likely they will end up in a major or capital city) subsequent generations will develop in the locality in within a few generations time, a whole new ethnic group may develop within an area bringing others and indigenous businesses and investment . Is this segregation forced? No because people of a similar social status choose to locate near to each other.

So, the distribution of ethnic minorities may be concentrated in a particular area although this is not the direct result of the operation of the housing market, but because of the location chosen by previous generations.

Ray Pahl suggested in 1969 that, "the key to understanding the social constraints could be found in the activities, policies and ideologies of the managers or controllers of the urban system". Which leads me into my conclusion, the housing market is controlled by personnel from four main areas: finance capital e.g. building societies, industrial capital e.g. developers and builders, commercial capital e.g. estate agents and landed capital e.g. landowners.

The distribution of social areas will be determined by the operation of the housing market. This in turn, is dependent on the wealth of the population and with wealth comes choice. And so, the extent to which a social group may be distributed within a city depends on the individual needs of each person and the careful operation of the housing market to ensure that segregation occurs and continues although not to the dismay of anyone without choice.