Residential and social mobility in consolidated popular neighborhoods in Bogotá

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to analyze the social and residential mobility of homeowners in consolidated neighborhoods in Bogotá. The occupational social mobility was analyzed at an intragenerational level by reading their job trajectory, and the owner's residential trajectory was reconstructed before arriving at the current house. With the biographical approach, 341 surveys of owners were conducted in five consolidated neighborhoods in Bogotá. The data lead to the conclusion that the owner´s trajectories are very static, both from the occupational point of view and residential. The reasons for the occupational and residential immobility were found in structural aspects: the low educational level and the small number of job changes added to a low income. Building a large house over a long period and share the house with several households with familiar link ties immobilizes the owners both at occupational and residential levels, except when the owner mobilizes their house as an asset by renting spaces. Finally, we discuss the role of homeownership in the confluency of the social and residential immobility and the reproduction of inequality.

Keywords:
Residential mobility; Social mobility; Popular neighborhoods; Housing policy