The Meaning of Home: Identity,Belonging and Place-making Among Migrant Renters in Vietnamese Cities

Abstract

This article explores the housing experiences of migrant renters in three major Vietnamese cities—Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang—through a qualitative study of 60 participants combining in-depth interviews and participant observation. The analysis is organized around four thematic domains: meanings and attachments to home, spatial and material practices of place-making, belonging and social embeddedness, and the intersections of housing insecurity with identity and affect. Findings show that migrant renters attribute layered meanings to their rental dwellings, from sites of economic necessity to spaces of family continuity and emotional refuge. At the same time, they actively engage in place-making practices such as personalizing interiors and negotiating shared spaces to create a sense of home despite constraints. Social networks and neighbourhood relations emerge as critical to establishing belonging, though experiences vary across the three cities. Housing insecurity—manifested in unstable contracts, rising rents and limited tenant rights—deeply shapes renters’ identities and emotional well-being, reinforcing a persistent sense of precarity. Cross-city comparisons highlight common vulnerabilities but also demonstrate how urban contexts influence strategies of adaptation and integration. By situating migrants’ lived experiences within broader debates on housing, urban precarity and identity, the study contributes to scholarship on the social meaning of home and underscores the need for more inclusive rental housing policies in Vietnam.