Residential Mobility in Venice, 1850-1869
In: Annales de démographie historique: ADH, Band 1999, Heft 1, S. 35-61
ISSN: 1776-2774
This study is based on the population register set up in Venice in 1850 and regularly updated until 1869. It is well known that population registers offer continuous-time information on the life-history of households, recording changes both in their composition and place of residence. Such source material is therefore invaluable in documenting population dynamics at the micro-level. For this analysis a sample including three different areas of the city was drawn upon. Overall, residential mobility was characterized by frequent short-range moves, seldom involving a change in the parish of residence. Logistic multivariate regression is used to test how various factors influenced differential mobility : most of these factors are related to the family life-course. Economic conjuncture likewise had a great impact on mobility, raising the frequency of movement in periods of economic crisis. Also the presence of some close non-coresident relatives, especially mothers and daughters, played a similarly important role in mobility, suggesting the importance of female-oriented strategies in residential choices.