Leaving: Residential mobility and housing conditions in France during the Covid-19 epidemic

ABSTRACT

In the spring of 2020, a national lockdown was declared in France to control the Covid-19 epidemic - the longest and strictest to date. This led to spontaneous population movements, widely publicised in the media as the urban exodus of Parisians. But were departures from large cities to low-density areas the only types of mobility during this period? And what can we learn from housing changes during lockdown about the ordinary residential practices and dwelling conditions of households, as well as about the resources mobilised to cope with these exceptional situations? Based on the EpiCOV survey (Inserm-Drees), conducted in France among a sample of 135,000 people aged 15 and over at the end of the first lockdown, this article examines the different types of residential mobility that took place in the spring of 2020 on French territory. While this study does not predict whether or not these movements are to become permanent, or whether they would be repeated during further phases of lockdown, it highlights the heterogeneity of mobility practices, captured here in terms of distance travelled, changes within the urban gradient, types and conditions of housing, as well as the variety of resources mobilised according to sex, age and social position of individuals. While long-distance mobility more often concerns wealthy populations, local movements are almost as frequent and concern more heterogeneous fractions of the population. © 2023 Geographie-Cites. All rights reserved.