The effects of housing providers' diversity and tenure conversion on social mix

Abstract

In many countries, achieving social mixing through a mix of housing tenures became a central strategy in socially inclusive urban renaissance initiatives. While several studies have explored the relationship between tenure and social mix, they often treat social and affordable housing as a homogeneous segment, neglecting the diversity of housing providers and their individualized housing allocation strategies. There is limited understanding of the role of diverse housing providers in creating social mix. This paper aims to address this gap by examining how the presence of different types of social and affordable housing providers impacts the level of social mix and the changes in social mix resulting from tenure conversions in the housing stock owned by different providers. Using population census data in 1988 and 2002 from Warsaw, Poland, from two periods characterized by different housing policies and tenures, the paper argues that social mix was primarily associated with a combination of housing tenures and property ownership, but only in 2002. The findings suggest that limitations on tenure conversions are necessary to achieve long-term social mix. In addition, there is a need for affordable housing providers to diversify and specialize in addressing changing housing needs and dynamic housing aspirations.