Housing after redevelopment: Where and to what buildings do displaced residents move?

Urban redevelopment often involves the demolition or renovation of the existing housing stock, which can result in the direct displacement of residents. We examine how tenure type, defined as living in for-profit versus non-profit housing, affects the location and the housing characteristics of displaced residents after displacement. Using individual-level data of all residents in the Zurich region of Switzerland, we observe the direct displacement of 12,599 residents between 2016 and 2020. First, we descriptively analyze who is directly displaced and compare their housing situation before and after relocation. Displacement is socially stratified and predominantly affects low-income residents, earning on average only 69.7% of the median income of all movers. Residents without Swiss citizenship were substantially more likely to be displaced (9.6 percentage points). After their displacement, residents consumed more floor space than before. Next, we use propensity score matching to compare displaced residents from for-profit and displaced residents from non-profit housing with a respective comparison group of socio-economically similar individuals who moved for reasons other than building demolition or renovation. We find that displaced residents from for-profit projects tend to move shorter distances and to lower-income areas. They consume less floor space and are slightly more likely to move to post-war buildings (1945–1970). These inequalities in moving patterns are less prevalent for residents from non-profit redevelopment projects. This shows that assistance in finding housing after displacement and non-profit housing more generally can mitigate some of the negative aspects of displacement.