Sizing home, doing family in Sydney, Australia

Robyn Dowling, Emma Power

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    58 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Large housing is an issue of growing concern across popular culture, academic and policy domains, yet little is known about how and why people live in large houses. This paper addresses this gap, investigating the cultural underpinnings and social practices of large housing through a qualitative study carried out in Sydney, Australia. In these suburban, detached dwellings, large housing is valued for the affordances it provides for enacting visions of home and family. Specifically, it is a strategy for managing the aural and material excesses of family life; it mediates familial relations and supports the production of middle-class identities. These findings demonstrate the myriad connections between familial practices and housing dynamics and adds to a growing confirmation of the cultural inflections of (un)sustainable practice.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)605-619
    Number of pages15
    JournalHousing Studies
    Volume27
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012

    Keywords

    • Sydney (N.S.W.)
    • families
    • housing
    • size
    • sustainability

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