The residential location choice of immigrants: a systematic review and future directions

Immigration is one of the drivers of the demographic, economic, social and physical landscapes of countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Understanding how and why immigrants choose their residential locations and how urban infrastructure, especially transportation, influences the decision remain a research area that is critical but under-explored. Residential Location Choice (RLC) is a crucial focus in transportation planning research, as both land use and residential patterns significantly shape travel behaviour and transportation infrastructure. This study has three main goals based on a systematic review of 84 scientific publications. First, it examines the factors influencing immigrant location decisions, including socio-demographic characteristics, economic opportunities, social networks, housing affordability, transportation networks and institutional policies. Second, it assesses the methodologies and models used in the studies on immigrant residential location choice, and thirdly, it identifies critical research gaps and offers recommendations for future research. The findings reveal that social networks and economic factors facilitate immigrant settlement. We emphasise the need to better understand how immigrants choose where to live based on transportation networks through integrated land use and transport models and the need for a more nuanced understanding of diverse immigrant needs, which is crucial for creating inclusive and considerate policies. We also highlight the need for longitudinal studies and better predictive models to further our understanding of immigrant settlement patterns.