Residential mobility and moving home

This review traces the changing conceptualizations of “mobility,” “place,” and “home” under the new mobilities paradigm, and the effect of this reconceptualization on residential mobility research. The “new mobilities paradigm” describes the (re)conceptualization of the relationship between place and mobility among mobilities scholars (Cresswell, ; Sheller & Urry, ). The reconceptualization of place as linked to mobility led to a more dynamic and inclusive perception of home as a lived experience that can be moved from place to place (Gillespie, ). This review will trace how residential mobilities—or internal (re)locations within one nation state—are discussed as alternate, lived experiences of home by scholars within the paradigm. In the second part of this review, I discuss how the lived experience of home is currently integrated in theoretical and methodological approaches to residential mobility research. In particular, I consider the incorporation of longitudinal, ethnographic, narrative and biographical methods, and emerging geographical research that utilizes life course methodological frameworks to explore the dynamic and lived experience of home. By progressing the understanding of the “mobility of home,” residential mobility researchers can contribute to wider discussions on the influence of mobility on place experiences.