Health, well-being and second homes: An outline of current research and policy challenges
Keywords:
second homes, health, well-being, place and mobility, welfare systems, Nordic countriesAbstract
Healthy living environments and housing conditions are important foci of Nordic health and welfare policies. However, policies and research on living conditions have mostly explored people’s permanent living environments, adhering to thinking about health in terms of fixity in place. What has not been acknowledged is that a considerable amount of Nordic people live in a continuous interaction of more than one place of dwelling. An illustrative example of the significance of mobile lifestyles is the use of second homes. Second home tourism is usually assumed to increase health and well-being. However, research on well-being and the health effects of second home tourism has been limited. In this paper we propose a research framework to approach second homes and well-being by identifying place and mobility as the key aspects in comprehending the relationship between health, wellbeing and second homes. Furthermore, we argue that the mobile lifestyles considerably challenge existing regulatory frameworks and provision of services as multi-local living is not systematically accounted for. Failing to acknowledge mobile lifestyles and multiple dwelling will degrade possibilities to respond to the current and long-term challenges of the distribution of health and welfare.
