• Applies Life Course Cube to residential biographies shaped by temporalities. • Mixed-methods: interviews, and quantitative analysis combined. • Identifies Housing Types with distinct sociodemographic and spatial patterns. • Shows how path dependence, anticipation, and turning points shape residential trajectories. • Results inform housing policy and multifunctional urban planning. Instead of settling in one location for life, people today experience increasing mobility throughout their lives – whether due to family obligations, career changes, or the need to better balance work and private life. Our research employs the “Life Course Cube” ( Bernardi et al., 2019 ) to study the dynamic residential biographies of modern individuals, whose lives are often characterized by high mobility, frequent relocations and temporality. The Life Course Cube is an analytical tool that integrates three key dimensions – Time, Life Domains and Levels – providing a framework to understand complex mobility patterns over the life course. In our study, we examine how different Life-Course-Based Housing Types affect the probability of individuals perceiving themselves as temporary residents. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews in two German metropolitan areas: Frankfurt/Main and Leipzig. Based on the qualitative data, we developed typologies of residential biographies that focus on temporary residents. These types are differentiated by factors such as move frequency, reasons for relocation, distance of relocation, and international experience. We quantified the Life-Course-Based Housing Types using survey data, offering a detailed description of their sociodemographic characteristics and spatial distribution. These typologies served as the foundation for modelling the relationship between biographical mobility and self-perception of temporality. Additionally, we employed qualitative data to explore the underlying motives and contextual factors influencing temporary residential arrangements. This mixed-methods approach enabled us to examine how biographical experiences, frequent relocations, and specific life circumstances influence perceptions of temporality in residential mobility.
Wächter et al. (Tue,) studied this question.