Refugee Research Network
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Item Open Access “Hidden Homelessness in Greater Vancouver”(Elsevier, 2006) Fiedler, Rob; Schuurman, Nadine; Hyndman, JenniferWhile homelessness is a growing problem in Greater Vancouver, immigrants are not yet a visible part of the region's homeless. The over-representation of immigrants among the population considered at-risk suggests that immigrant homelessness remains hidden. Using census-based housing indicators, we examine the geographies of immigrants at-risk of homelessness to discern where 'hidden' homelessness might be occurring. Findings indicate that: spatial concentrations of recent immigrants at-risk of homelessness are found in inner suburban locations; in these at-risk areas the vast majority of immigrants are recent arrivals; and recent immigrants are disproportionately excluded from at-risk estimates because they are significantly over-represented among households that have shelter costs that exceed their incomes (which are excluded by the indicator). These conclusions are reached through analysis at the regional and sub-regional scale, which revealed broad trends and patterns, and a second small-area (neighbourhood) scale analysis, a means of better documenting the highly-localized geography of low-cost rental housing, revealing fine-grained patterns of social difference, that in Greater Vancouver identify areas where 'hidden' homelessness may be present.Item Open Access “Improving Census-Based Socioeconomic GIS for Public Policy”(University of British Columbia, 2006) Fiedler, Rob; Schuurman, Nadine; Hyndman, JenniferThere are a number of socioeconomic phenomena that are difficult to discern using only census data. We present an innovative approach developed to discern the spatial dimensions of risk for homelessness amongst recent immigrants in Vancouver, Canada. Dasymetric mapping and a postal survey are employed to improve the resolution and utility of census data. The results illustrate the potential for developing a more nuanced understanding of the spatial dimensions of complex socioeconomic phenomena using a combination of secondary data and primary data. It is argued that higher-resolution data aids in identifying and understanding socioeconomic phenomena that are highly localized and misrepresented by coarsely aggregated data. Finally, the potential for population surveillance is discussed and weighed against the benefits for policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, and researchers.Item Open Access “Size Matters: Attracting Immigrants to Canadian Cities”(Springer Verlag, 2006) Hyndman, Jennifer; Schuurman, Nadine; Fiedler, RobMontreal, Toronto, and Vancouver have attracted most new immigrants to Canada. Small and medium-sized cities in Canada are keen to share the wealth that new immigrants represent, and federal and provincial governments support a more even distribution of settlement. As a result, the idea of attracting new immigrants to smaller locations is a pressing policy issue. This research weighs the characteristics of place that new immigrants consider on arrival. It uses findings from the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (Statistics Canada, 2003) to construct an index that ranks five medium-sized cities in British Columbia in terms of their potential attractiveness to new immigrants. The index created proves robust and reliable from a statistical viewpoint. The study confirms that immigrants are attracted to cities where friends and family or other immigrants live. Moreover, the increase in attractiveness of a city is primarily related to its size. The index is an indicator of the role that population and the extant number of immigrants in situ plays in determining the appeal of smaller cities. From a policy perspective, if governments wish to "spread the wealth" associated with immigration and an expanded labour force, a proactive policy stance that enumerates and communicates the appeal of less prominent communities is vital. This is an important finding, and we offer policy options that account for the relationship of population size to immigrant retention.