Young People and Post-homeownership Housing in London, Amsterdam and Tokyo

Abstract: Homeownership rates have been in decline across high income economies for much of the last two decades resulting in a growing share of young adults in rental housing. This development has had a profound impact on urban housing landscapes, which have become strongly aligned toward the increasingly profitable provision of new kinds of rental housing (especially shared forms) targeted at young urban singles. This presentation explores the shifting orientation of urban housing provision and its influence on the housing pathways and life courses on younger generations in three contrasting, but particularly illustrative cities: London, Amsterdam and Tokyo. While these contexts demonstrate similar trends in terms of housing market pressures and the struggle of younger people to house themselves independently, differences in urban characteristics, housing and policy regimes as well as social and cultural norms surrounding home and family are producing varied, although comparable, outcomes.

About the Speaker:

Prof. Richard Ronald is Professor of Housing and Chair of Political and Economic Geographies at the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). His research focuses on housing in relation to social, economic and urban transformations in Europe and Pacific Asia. He is currently Editor of Palgrave Macmillan's 'Contemporary City' book series and Chairs the board of the 'International Journal of Housing Policy' (where he was formerly Editor-in-Chief).

Richard was a Doctorate and then Postdoctoral Fellow at Kobe University in Japan in the early 2000s before moving to TU Delft (Netherlands) in 2006 and then the University of Amsterdam in 2010. He has also been Distinguished Professor at Hong Kong Metropolitan University and Guest Professor at the University of Birmingham (UK), National University (Singapore), Kyung Hee University (South Korea), and the University of Adelaide (Australia). His most recent book (2023) is titled 'Families, Housing and Property Wealth in a Neoliberal World'.