Infrastructuring arrival and homemaking in COVID-19 times: Experiences of newcomer Chinese students in Dutch cities

W.H.M. Leung; Aly Amer; Yanbo Hao; Yiwen Wang

doi:10.1002/psp.2835

Infrastructuring arrival and homemaking in COVID-19 times: Experiences of newcomer Chinese students in Dutch cities

W.H.M. Leung^*, Aly Amer, Yanbo Hao, Yiwen Wang

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Amsterdam

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of newcomer Chinese students in Dutch cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, building on three strands of literature on (i) arrival infrastructure, (ii) homemaking and (iii) the nature of conflating digital and offline spaces. Based on qualitative research findings from two research projects, the paper illustrates resilience among the students in infrastructuring their arrival and making a new home in an unfamiliar city that was rather inaccessible due to recurrent social distancing restrictions and incidents of ‘Corona racism’. Narratives of the research participants offer insights into their arrival experiences and homemaking practices in key interlinked life spaces, namely academic, residential and socialising spaces as well as spaces of interactions with the broader (unwelcoming) society. In addition to students' agency, our findings demonstrate the importance of (transnational) communal care and the role of the digital in students' arrival experiences and homemaking practices.

Original language	English
Article number	e2835
Journal	Population, Space and Place
Volume	31
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2835
Publication status	Published - Jan 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Population, Space and Place published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Funding

We are grateful to all research participants who shared with us their experiences and opinions. Our research activities were supported by two research grants from the Migration and Societal Change at Utrecht University, and the Centre for Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam respectively. We thank Ajay Bailey, Irudaya Rajan and other colleagues involved in this special issue, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions.

Funders	Funder number
Migration and Societal Change at Utrecht University

Keywords

COVID-19
Chinese students
arrival infrastructure
homemaking
on/offline geographies
the Netherlands

Access to Document

10.1002/psp.2835Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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Infrastructuring arrival and homemaking in COVID-19 times: Experiences of newcomer Chinese students in Dutch cities

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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