Residential Mobility Decisions of Anglophone Migrants in Douala, Cameroon

Abstract What are the drivers for domestic migration and intra-urban mobility in a Sub-Sahara African context? This study analyses this aspect by looking at residential mobility decisions of Anglophone migrants in Douala. The paper presents factors that influenced migrants to move to, within and out of Douala, as well as what made them decide to stay. Based on a framework of drivers of migration (Black et al., 2011), these factors are analysed at macro-, meso- and micro-level. We argue that at the macro-level, it is mostly political, economic, socio-cultural and security-related factors that influence Anglophone migrants’ residential mobility decisions. At the meso-level, language and ethnicity, social networks and technological advances seemingly facilitate moving decisions, whereas at the micro-level, we argue that it is not only individual or household characteristics, but also events that influence the decision to move. Apart from individual preferences, life course events and external forces playing out at micro-level, these also relate to place attachment and migration aspirations.