The effects of information and communication technologies on residential mobility and migration

Abstract

A common presumption is that the widespread adoption of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) over the last several decades enhances residential mobility and migration. This research critically evaluates this presumption from the perspective of the long-term decline in residential mobility and migration in many developed countries and concludes that ICTs are capable of both enhancing and impeding residential mobility and migration. Estimates from an instrumental variable model of residential mobility and migration using data from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study indicate a large negative effect of ICTs on residential change and smaller negative effect on migration.

Why bright city lights dazzle and illuminate: A cognitive science approach to urban promises

“…However, acknowledging cognitive biases is also important to mitigate their negative impacts, namely in the case of urban migration and urban life in general. For instance, while ICT and social media can help support migration decisions by providing better information about the destination (Cooke and Shuttleworth, 2018), thus reducing the risk of failure, it is also true that digital connectivity often amounts to personal information bubbles which restrict access to balanced information. Considering that the levels of risk coming from acting on inaccurate information and the potential impact of wrong decisions vary significantly between more and less privileged socioeconomic groups, this implies more attention to how cognitive features can be purposefully exploited by techniques of manipulation of information and affect the most vulnerable.…”

Living arrangements in later life

“…In addition, it is crucial to 'look beyond the household' (Grundy et al 1999) to document transfers and get-togethers of older adults and their relatives who are living independently of one another. Most older adults live within easy reach of their kin and, contrary to the general assumption of an increasingly mobile society (Cooke and Shuttleworth 2018), there is no evidence showing increased distances between adult children and their ageing parents in recent decades (Geurts et al 2014;Lundholm and Malmberg 2009;Steinbach et al 2020). Modern technology presents a new range of possible options for keeping in touch, making living arrangements less relevant as an indicator of social isolation or support.…”

The mobilities and immobilities of rural gentrification: Staying put or moving on?

“…Migration scholars are now embroiled in seeking to pin down the explanatory factors for the declining rates of internal migration. Cooke and Shuttleworth (2018, p. 1), for instance, examine the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on migration and demonstrate ‘a large negative effect of ICTs on residential change and smaller negative effect on migration’, which is notably contrary to findings from the Swedish context. These different findings are pertinent to many rural places in the United Kingdom where fibre‐optic broadband infrastructure is uneven and still being rolled‐out, and this may indirectly influence rates of rural migration such as individuals and families wanting to reside (and work from home) in more remote rural locations, with less time spent at their workplace in towns and cities but who are dependent on fast broadband speeds (Nelson et al, 2010; Salemink et al, 2017).…”