Speaker
Description
This article links cross-border residential mobility and housing inequalities by analysing the centre–periphery relationship between Luxembourg and its border regions, identifying a potential research gap at the intersection of border studies and housing studies. It addresses the effects of gentrification and advantageous fiscal policies in Luxembourg on the housing market in the French border region, from the perspectives of housing consumers, private landlords and housing professionals. Luxembourg's dynamic labour market, combined with a housing shortage, is drawing on the border towns’ labour force. Although employed in Luxembourg, these workers often cannot afford to live in the country and thus become cross-border workers. The higher salaries they earn in Luxembourg make housing on the French side of the border more accessible, but this can in turn push up housing prices in the border towns. To explore the synergies and challenges within this border context, semi-structured interviews were conducted in two French towns neighbouring Luxembourg. This article’s contributions are twofold: it explores displacement and gentrification as key housing dynamics in this border context. To better capture these dynamics, the concept of ‘domino displacement’ is introduced, encompassing multiple residential trajectories and types of displacement resulting from housing unaffordability. Furthermore, it explores how domino displacement fosters cross-border gentrification in what is now the economic periphery of Luxembourg, driven by both bottom-up actions, such as the influx of wealthier (atypical) cross-border workers, and top-down state-led urban planning and redevelopment initiatives. These dynamics further accelerate housing inequalities in impoverished border towns.
| Keywords | cross-border gentrification; domino displacement; centre-periphery; border towns; atypical cross-border workers |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
