Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CITY-OF-CARE (Women Caring Networks in Urban Poor Communities: the Gendered Dynamics of Resistance under the Pressure of Financialization)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-11-01 bis 2022-10-31
Key global processes of financial capital markets and securitization have restructured national property and housing systems, making them increasingly interdependent. Welfare retrenchment, product deregulation and financial liberalization each contributed to a dual process of residualized social housing and the expansion and inflation of the private housing market. Residualization patterns also prompted the growth of social inequality, segregation and exclusion within European cities, eventually leading to the re-emergence of the housing question as a key political issue. However, despite a growing scholarship, the extent of the financialization of social housing (FSH) in daily lives and its implications for urban communities are poorly understood. A neglected aspect of research on the impact of FSH is to look at community caretaking and informal sharing networks for mutual aid which develop between multigenerational households against the demoralizing effects of marginalization. Caring as a distinctive, network-based activity is one of the central elements in the survival practices of disadvantaged areas of the city. Yet, it remains a gendered activity that develops between women and their community members under significant structural constraints.
CITY-OF-CARE explores the dynamics of women’s caring networks for mutual aid which develop between multigenerational households in urban poor communities against the inequities of housing financialization. Consequently, the research objectives (ROs) of CITY-OF-CARE are:
#RO1. To investigate FSH in European cities across different socio-political context and welfare regimes.
#RO2. To explore how and to what extend women caring networks enhances social capital in urban social housing communities facing severe economic deprivation produced by FSH.
#RO3. To develop an innovative social network analysis and novel methods to capture the network of cooperating community members supporting each other for survival.
#RO4. To achieve a public policy strategy that effectively promotes the empowerment of disadvantaged local communities and supports gender equality.
CITY-OF-CARE explores the dynamics of women’s caring networks for mutual aid which develop between multigenerational households in urban poor communities against the inequities of housing financialization. Consequently, the research objectives (ROs) of CITY-OF-CARE are:
#RO1. To investigate FSH in European cities across different socio-political context and welfare regimes.
#RO2. To explore how and to what extend women caring networks enhances social capital in urban social housing communities facing severe economic deprivation produced by FSH.
#RO3. To develop an innovative social network analysis and novel methods to capture the network of cooperating community members supporting each other for survival.
#RO4. To achieve a public policy strategy that effectively promotes the empowerment of disadvantaged local communities and supports gender equality.
CITY-OF-CARE takes a “personal network” approach to elicit the dynamics and the relevance of interconnected care providers in tight-knit vulnerable urban communities. This approach views networks from the standpoint of an individual (ego) managing his or her ties with alters.
The research fellow conducted a comparative/mixed-methods research in the two European cities of Milan and Dublin.
The research started off in November 2020 with a review of the available literature and a policy documents analysis to assess the political and institutional landscape, regulatory system, and existing housing policy framework of the European cities under study. Subsequently, a secondary analysis of Italian and Irish open census data bases about poverty rate and life conditions informed the selection of two disadvantaged areas experiencing a housing crisis under the threat of social housing financialization.
Primary data has been collected comparatively with households under the poverty threshold living in the targeted urban communities using a research that combines structured tools (informal network delineation and resource diaries) with participant observation, gender sensitive biographical interviews and semi-structured interview in the third sector in order to obtain both rigorous measurements and interpretative depth. [In Milan the data collection has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and "stay at home" restrictions].
The researcher has also successfully established a consultative local policymakers, stakeholders and women community leaders group (PWCG) in Milan and Dublin during fieldwork activity.
CITY-OF-CARE has been proved to be a very successful project with a notable impact on the academic community and the urban communities participating in the research.
CITY-OF-CARE has been chosen to help make our Cities Climate-Neutral and “Smart”. The European Commission DG Research and Innovation identified CITY-OF-CARE and the innovations created through the project as key enablers to sustainable cities.
Indeed, CITY-OF-CARE dissemination and communication activities have been designed to target the key audiences and stakeholders to maximize awareness of crucial themes in the field of the social sciences - such as housing rights, social determinants of health, and social capital - confiding in the impact that projects like this can have on the communities involved and the public debate. An example of this effort can be given by the community collaborative workshop organized in October 2022 in Dublin 8 in which academics, community members, students, solicitors, housing activists, artists and public housing officers came to work together and share experiences related on housing rights and health.
Contents related to the Dublin research have been already disseminated through different channels like a press release and an editorial article on the Irish housing crisis I have published in the online platform of this Irish national newspaper (30k as audience). I also have an upcoming publication of an edited book (Gold Open Access) with Bristol University Press and two scientific articles under review. Furthermore, some of the CITY-OF-CARE key preliminary outcomes have been published open access on the Horizon Results Platform.
Additionally, I have constantly updated the research communication through the project website (www.cityofcare.org) and all the associated social media channels.
The research fellow conducted a comparative/mixed-methods research in the two European cities of Milan and Dublin.
The research started off in November 2020 with a review of the available literature and a policy documents analysis to assess the political and institutional landscape, regulatory system, and existing housing policy framework of the European cities under study. Subsequently, a secondary analysis of Italian and Irish open census data bases about poverty rate and life conditions informed the selection of two disadvantaged areas experiencing a housing crisis under the threat of social housing financialization.
Primary data has been collected comparatively with households under the poverty threshold living in the targeted urban communities using a research that combines structured tools (informal network delineation and resource diaries) with participant observation, gender sensitive biographical interviews and semi-structured interview in the third sector in order to obtain both rigorous measurements and interpretative depth. [In Milan the data collection has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and "stay at home" restrictions].
The researcher has also successfully established a consultative local policymakers, stakeholders and women community leaders group (PWCG) in Milan and Dublin during fieldwork activity.
CITY-OF-CARE has been proved to be a very successful project with a notable impact on the academic community and the urban communities participating in the research.
CITY-OF-CARE has been chosen to help make our Cities Climate-Neutral and “Smart”. The European Commission DG Research and Innovation identified CITY-OF-CARE and the innovations created through the project as key enablers to sustainable cities.
Indeed, CITY-OF-CARE dissemination and communication activities have been designed to target the key audiences and stakeholders to maximize awareness of crucial themes in the field of the social sciences - such as housing rights, social determinants of health, and social capital - confiding in the impact that projects like this can have on the communities involved and the public debate. An example of this effort can be given by the community collaborative workshop organized in October 2022 in Dublin 8 in which academics, community members, students, solicitors, housing activists, artists and public housing officers came to work together and share experiences related on housing rights and health.
Contents related to the Dublin research have been already disseminated through different channels like a press release and an editorial article on the Irish housing crisis I have published in the online platform of this Irish national newspaper (30k as audience). I also have an upcoming publication of an edited book (Gold Open Access) with Bristol University Press and two scientific articles under review. Furthermore, some of the CITY-OF-CARE key preliminary outcomes have been published open access on the Horizon Results Platform.
Additionally, I have constantly updated the research communication through the project website (www.cityofcare.org) and all the associated social media channels.
The most pressing problem raised by Dr. Manzo for “imagining a City of Care” is how we can better value care, health and wellbeing in city level housing policy development and implementation and particularly in our overall housing, health and welfare service provision.
There are three main impacts of CITY-OF-CARE that also raise wider societal implications.
Firstly, while a large body of research outlines the impact of inadequate housing as a human rights issue, there are fewer studies concerned to integrate housing, health and community wellbeing in public policies where an ethics of care and solidarity is an organizing rationale for public service design. Dr. Manzo’s approach is therefore a novel one as it places care and support, health and wellbeing back to the forefront of housing delivery and provision, particularly social and affordable housing.
Second, this is one of the most promising approaches nowadays for obtaining insights on how to integrate care and support into housing is to identify relevant target audiences within communities and engage with them. Dr. Manzo’s careful approach and her relational personal capacities are outstanding in this regard and reliable to provide the basis for cross-sector learning and collaboration. This is the cornerstone of CITY-OF-CARE outcomes and impacts.
Third, the results from this research will inform policy. Results are being summarised in a policy brief [currently under review in Open Research Europe] and used to inform the housing, homelessness, public health and wellbeing policies and strategies that both Dublin City and Milan City Councils deliver under national policy and funding frameworks. It is also planned that a detailed analysis and project results will be further
developed and presented as an accessible, open access book published with Milan University Press.
There are three main impacts of CITY-OF-CARE that also raise wider societal implications.
Firstly, while a large body of research outlines the impact of inadequate housing as a human rights issue, there are fewer studies concerned to integrate housing, health and community wellbeing in public policies where an ethics of care and solidarity is an organizing rationale for public service design. Dr. Manzo’s approach is therefore a novel one as it places care and support, health and wellbeing back to the forefront of housing delivery and provision, particularly social and affordable housing.
Second, this is one of the most promising approaches nowadays for obtaining insights on how to integrate care and support into housing is to identify relevant target audiences within communities and engage with them. Dr. Manzo’s careful approach and her relational personal capacities are outstanding in this regard and reliable to provide the basis for cross-sector learning and collaboration. This is the cornerstone of CITY-OF-CARE outcomes and impacts.
Third, the results from this research will inform policy. Results are being summarised in a policy brief [currently under review in Open Research Europe] and used to inform the housing, homelessness, public health and wellbeing policies and strategies that both Dublin City and Milan City Councils deliver under national policy and funding frameworks. It is also planned that a detailed analysis and project results will be further
developed and presented as an accessible, open access book published with Milan University Press.