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Socio-Spatial Inequalities and Segregation in Cities: Social Dynamics and Collective Responses

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (21 September 2021) | Viewed by 16059

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ismael Blanco

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Guest Editor

IGOP—Departament of Political Science and Public Law, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
Interests: urban segregation; social inequalities; urban policies; urban governance; social innovation

Dr. Oriol Nel·lo Colom

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Guest Editor

Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
Interests: urban segregation; social inequalities; urban policies; urban governance; social innovation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growth of social inequalities over the last decades has a strong urban dimension, not only because cities are the places where inequalities have grown more rapidly, but also because the physical and social characteristics of different urban spaces have a great influence in the living conditions and social prospects of the different social groups. Urban segregation—understood as the tendency of different social groups to separate across the urban space according to their income level and other related variables—plays an important role in the reproduction of social inequalities. This special issue aims to explore the dynamics of socio-spatial inequality and segregation in major cities across the world, as well as the social and institutional responses that can counteract them. The papers will tackle aspects such as: a) the magnitude and the evolution of residential segregation in large cities and its relationship with social inequalities; b) the differences in the living conditions in different urban areas and their social effects in ambits like housing, work, food, education, childhood and urban mobility; c) the role of community action and solidarity practices in the face of increasing social and urban vulnerability; d) the social effects of the uneven distribution of public resources across different urban areas; e) the role that urban policies can play in counteracting socio-spatial inequalities.

Dr. Ismael Blanco
Dr. Oriol Nel·lo Colom
Guest Editors

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Keywords

urban segregation
social inequality
urban policies
institutional density
solidarity
community action

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 3407 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urban Housing Inequity: Housing Deprivation and Social Response in the City of Naples

by Giovanna Galeota Lanza and Mattia De Martino

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1047; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031047 - 18 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2797

Abstract

The growth of social inequality in recent decades has a strong urban dimension. In fact, cities are places where such inequalities grow quickly, and have a strong influence on the living conditions and perspectives of different social groups. In this sense, urban segregation becomes an important warning in assessing the existence of disparities that affect the most disadvantaged social groups. Therefore, the aim of this research was to outline the evidence of the phenomenon of residential segregation and housing insecurity on a European scale, and to analyze the case study of Naples, Italy, evaluating the presence of the phenomena of urban segregation and housing insecurity within through the creation of a synthetic index: the “Index of housing deprivation in the neighborhoods of the city of Naples”. After analyzing the extent of the phenomena, we took a step further, seeking to understand whether there have been responses from civil society through protest movements. Indeed, another objective of this paper was to understand why, in the city of Naples, there is no strong social response. In order to give an explanation, we will carry out a comparison with the action of the social movements of Barcelona. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Socio-Spatial Inequalities and Segregation in Cities: Social Dynamics and Collective Responses)

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18 pages, 4654 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Urban Planning and Residential Segregation in Brazil—The Failure of the “Special Zone of Social Interest” Instrument in Londrina City (PR)

by Eduarda Marques da Costa and Ideni Terezinha Antonello

Sustainability 2021, 13(23), 13285; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313285 - 30 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3299

Abstract

The objective of this analysis is linked to the discussion of urban residential segregation marked by the Brazilian urban land structure and perpetuated by urban planning instruments at the municipal level. The spatial focus of the study is the municipality of Londrina (state of Paraná/Brazil). We aimed to analyze the relationship between urban zoning and the dynamics of residential segregation, unfolding two foci: verify to what extent the objectives presented in the municipal instrument translate the objectives of the instrument at the federal level (the City Statute–CE) and the national program “My Home, My Life” aimed to provide housing to socially vulnerable populations; the second focus, aims to assess how the planning instrument—the Special Zone of Social Interest (ZEIS), contemplated in the Land Use and Occupation Law and in the Municipal Master Plan of Londrina (PDPML, 2008)—materializes in practice the objectives of promoting equity in access to housing. The results show that although the objectives defined at the federal level are transposed to the municipal level, demonstrating a theoretical coherence between the instruments, there are flaws in their implementation. The case study results show that the urban zoning of Londrina has as a guideline a segregationist territorial ordering, leading to a residential segregation of the population with low purchasing power. On the other hand, the planning instrument that could change this reality is the ZEIS that, on the contrary, reinforced social housing in the periphery, conditioning the right to the city and perpetuating the social vulnerability of disadvantaged groups, in a process common to other Brazilian cities. Such constraints make relevant the establishment of land reserves for social housing based on clear roles of a social and functional mix, reinforced by the combat of vacant spaces and the definition of minimal housing and infrastructure densities to allow urban occupation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Socio-Spatial Inequalities and Segregation in Cities: Social Dynamics and Collective Responses)

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17 pages, 48701 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Distribution of Public Housing and Urban Socio-Spatial Inequalities: An Exploratory Analysis of the Valencia Case

by Alfonso Gallego-Valadés, Francisco Ródenas-Rigla and Jorge Garcés-Ferrer

Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11381; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011381 - 15 Oct 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2281

Abstract

The urban spatial distribution of public housing is not a widely addressed issue in Spain, from a geographical perspective. This paper analyses the spatial distribution of public housing in the city of Valencia (Spain), as well as to identify its relationship with other socio-residential characteristics of the urban environment. Different techniques of spatial point pattern analysis, exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and clustering methods are implemented. We analyse both the univariate spatial patterns of public housing and its relationship with two variables: a low-income population and median monthly rent. Analysis has revealed that public housing follows a pattern of partial agglomeration and mostly peripheral dispersion in its spatial distribution. However, there does not seem to be a univocal and immanent relationship between such distribution patterns and the characteristics of the socio-residential environment. Conversely, it is possible to point to the existence of multiple local forms of association. The lack of a clear pattern may be due to many reasons: the heterogeneity of profiles eligible for public housing, the size of the projects and the spatial dispersion in their location. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Socio-Spatial Inequalities and Segregation in Cities: Social Dynamics and Collective Responses)

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17 pages, 1424 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Do Neighborhoods with Highly Diverse Built Environment Exhibit Different Socio-Economic Profiles as Well? Evidence from Shanghai

by George Grekousis, Zhuolin Pan and Ye Liu

Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7544; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147544 - 6 Jul 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2071

Abstract

The link between the built environment and residential segregation has long been of interest to the discussion for sustainable and socially resilient cities. However, direct assessments on how extensively diverse built environments affect the social landscapes of cities at the neighborhood level are rare. Here, we investigate whether neighborhoods with a diverse built environment also exhibit different socio-economic profiles. Through a geodemographic approach, we scrutinize the socio-economic composition of Shanghai’s neighborhoods. We statistically compare the top 10% (very high values) to the bottom 10% (very low values) of the following built environment variables: density, land use mix, land use balance, and greenness. We show that high-density areas have three times the percentage of divorced residents than low-density areas. Neighborhoods with a high level of greenness have median values of 30% more residents aged between 25–44 years old and five times the percentage of houses between 60 to 119 m² than low-greenness areas. In high land-use mix areas, the share of people that live on a pension is 30% more than the low land-use mix areas. The findings of this study can be used to improve the designs of modern, sustainable cities at the neighborhood level, significantly improving quality of life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Socio-Spatial Inequalities and Segregation in Cities: Social Dynamics and Collective Responses)

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18 pages, 1390 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Social Capital: Higher Resilience in Slums in the Lagos Metropolis

by Olabisi S. Obaitor, Taibat O. Lawanson, Marion Stellmes and Tobia Lakes

Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3879; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073879 - 1 Apr 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3716

Abstract

Different slums exhibit different levels of resilience against the threat of eviction. However, little is known about the role of the social capital of the slum community in this context. This study investigates the factors contributing to slum resilience in the Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria, through a social capital lens. This study first investigates land allocation in slums, then the available social capital, and subsequently how this capital influences resilience to the threat of eviction in slums. Data were collected in two slum communities, in Lagos, through in-depth interviews and focus groups discussion. This study shows that land allocation is done by the traditional heads, contrarily to the mandate of the Nigeria Land Use Act of 1978. Furthermore, there is a form of structural social capital through the presence of government registered community development associations in the slums; however, their activities, decision-making process and the perception of the residents’ towards their respective associations, differs. This led to differences in trust, social cohesion and bonding ties among residents of the slum, thereby influencing resilience to the threat of eviction in slums. Since community group associations, through the appointed executives, drive the efficient utilization of social capital in slums, this study therefore recommends their restructuring in order to support a sustainable solution to the threat of eviction in slums in Lagos. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Socio-Spatial Inequalities and Segregation in Cities: Social Dynamics and Collective Responses)

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