Migrant Housing and Urban Transition Futures

Migrant housing has a paradoxical place within the evolution of the Australian city and the history of Australian housing. Much attention is given to how the house shapes Australian culture and identity, and migration is integral to that narrative. On closer examination, this narrative divides migration of Anglo-Celtic sources from ethnic-minority migrants. The housing of ethnic-minority migrants has attracted negative reactions; it is either aligned with McMansions or omitted from housing examination and understanding. This chapter argues the problem behind the oversight of the urban transitions generated by migrant housing is the ambivalence about whether Australian cities are multicultural. An architectural perspective of post-War housing develops a lens to correct this oversight and provide an approach towards perceiving future urban transformation of migrant housing.