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J Hous and the Built Environ (2012) 27:89103 DOI 10.1007/s10901-011-9244-7
ARTICLE
Kirsten Gram-Hanssen Claus Bech-Danielsen
Received: 15 April 2010 / Accepted: 15 June 2011 / Published online: 11 October 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Abstract Housing researchers are increasingly focusing on how different groups of residents use their dwelling and transform it into a home. In this article, we look at the homes of immigrants in Danish social housing. The article is based on qualitative interviews with Somali, Iraqi and Turkish immigrants, and it includes a review of the literature regarding the home in general, as well as a discussion on the home for immigrants. Some authors argue that the home and the meaning of the dwelling are socially constructed rather than depending on universal human needs. This means that immigrants from other cultures might nd another meaning in the concept of home than their Danish neighbours. Thus the main issue for our research is to ascertain the extent to which immigrants are able to identify with their dwelling and to establish home in Danish social housing. Does the meaning of the dwelling amongst immigrants differ from the one we, according to the theory, would expect from other residents? And to what degree does the physical framework of Danish social housing support or maybe conict with immigrants expectations, traditions and routines? Our analysis suggests that the home is as important for immigrants as for their neighbouring residents and that immigrants often attach the same affordances to the home. Our analysis also shows that the establishment of home requires time and that the length of time it takes depends on the number of good experiences when settling in Denmark.
Keywords Home Housing research Everyday life Immigrants Social housing
Qualitative interviews
1 Introduction
In this article we consider the home as experienced by a special group of people, namely immigrants settling in Denmark in social housing. We examine the ways in which this group establishes a home and the problems associated with it. According to Blunt and
K. Gram-Hanssen (&) C. Bech-Danielsen
Danish Building Research Institute, Aalborg University, Hrsholm, Denmark e-mail: [email protected]
Creating a new home. Somali, Iraqi and Turkish immigrants and their homes in Danish social housing
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90 K. Gram-Hanssen, C. Bech-Danielsen
Dowling, one...