Mothers' integration of work, home and community in master planned communities: what's different?

Abstract

Work/life research needs to incorporate consideration of community issues and is rarely conducted in master planned communities (MPCs). To address this gap the present exploratory study aimed to examine the specific work/life integration (WLI) experiences of working mothers residing in an Australian MPC. Fifteen interviews were conducted with 10 working mothers. Data analysis involved thematic coding of interview transcripts. Findings showed that working mothers in the present study had difficulties, similar to those of working mothers who do not live in an MPC, in undertaking work. Coping strategies, such as working parttime, were used to manage the situation. However, more positively the MPC facilitated a convenient lifestyle, enjoyable family life, the establishment of social support networks and offered affordable housing. Thus it enhanced the home and community components of WLI and appeared to enhance overall WLI satisfaction.Keywords: master planned community; working mothers; work/life integration L'intégration vie professionnelle, vie privée et la communauté dans les lotissements planifiés de grande envergure : Qu'est-ce qui a changé ? La recherche sur la vie professionnelle et la vie privée a besoin aussi d'intégrer les problèmes auxquels la communauté fait face et elle est rarement menée dans les lotissements planifiés de grande envergure. Pour combler ce vide, cette étude examine les expériences spécifiques d'intégration de la vie professionnelle et de la vie privée de femmes travailleuses qui résident dans des lotissements planifiés de grande envergure. Cet article est basé sur un entretien avec 10 femmes travailleuses. Dans l'analyse de données, les transcriptions de l'entretien ont été codées. Les conclusions montrent que les femmes travailleuses dans cette étude rencontrent des difficultés, similaires à celles des femmes travailleuses qui n'habitent pas dans des lotissements planifiés de grande envergure, quand elles entreprennent d'exercer une profession. Pour s'en sortir, des stratégies telles que travailler à mi-temps étaient adoptées. Cependant, de façon plus positive, les lotissements planifiés de grande envergure offre un mode de vie adapté, une vie de famille agréable, l'établissement de réseaux de supports sociaux, et des logements accessibles. Ainsi, ils améliorent l'intégration de la vie professionnelle et de la vie privée à travers ses composants tels que la famille et la communauté. Aussi, ils semblent augmenter de façon générale le niveau de satisfaction de l'intégration vie professionnelle et vie privée.Mots clés: lotissements planifiés de grande envergure; femmes travailleuses; intégration vie professionnelle et vie privée *Corresponding author.

Encountering the Multiplicity of Community in Planning and Designing New Neighbourhoods

“…Consistent with other literature on MPCs, when asked about why they chose to buy a house in Eucalypt Hill the main reason participants gave was affordability (Dowling et al, 2010;Vujinović et al, 2013;Warr & Robson, 2013). Generally speaking, the purchase price of a detached house or semi-detached town house in an MPC is almost half that of a similar size in inner Melbourne.…”

“…In the absence of community place-based ties are appealing because they are more tangible and therefore perceived as more readily able to be acted upon, designed and controlled (Talen, 1999). Some research has found that positive results can arise from such arrangements, including increased interactions between residents, a sense of belonging and overall satisfaction (Goodman & Douglas, 2010;Vujinović et al, 2013). Although constructive, these outcomes have been described as creating a "sense of community" rather than representing a genuine community in its own right (Talen, 1999;Walters & Rosenblatt, 2008;Warr & Robson, 2013).…”

“…(Carol) Relationships and community ties formed through employment illustrate how community is understood and experienced by participants in contrast to the more narrowly defined conceptualisations of community found in the marketing materials. However, work relationships are perhaps more transitory than other community ties; jobs are often frequently changed and people move in and out of the workforce during different life stages, such as when raising children (Vujinović et al, 2013). During these times the importance of relationships with colleagues is likely to be diminished or replaced by others associated with child-rearing, which indicates the fluidity of community ties and how they may shift across time and space during different life stages.…”

“…As MPCs are the predominant form of suburban development in Australian and other cities (Winstanley et al, 2003;Johnson, 2010) questions arise regarding the long-term outcomes of such attempts to build community, and the relationship between place-based and other relational community types (Vujinović et al, 2013). These questions are important to address in order to determine how MPCs intersect with and shape broader understandings, definitions and experiences of community, and how this intersection might impact the social fabric of cities (Warr & Robson, 2013;Tilt & Cerveny, 2013).…”