Dwelling habitus and urban out-migration in Denmark

Abstract

This paper examines young Danish families’ motives for leaving the city. By drawing on theories of Bourdieu and Giddens and combining them with a notion of place drawn from human geography, an analytical framework for studying people’s motives for moving is developed. In this framework the concept “dwelling habitus” is central. By applying the analytical framework to the study of Danish middle-income families with children, their motives for out-migrating from Copenhagen are explored. Two broad categories of motives for moving are identified: the housing and the anti-urban. The housing motive is based on changes in housing needs during family formation and on the limited opportunities in the Copenhagen housing market. The anti-urban motive is based on a wish to bring up children in a non-urban milieu. The paper argues that an understanding of motives that focuses on the interrelationship of habitus and sense of place, the “dwelling habitus”, can inform studies of migration processes and make them more nuanced.