Abstract
Globalization of the urban real estate market, which was originally local, has generated new capital flows worldwide that have reinforced the secondary circuit. Barcelona has not been immune to this process, at least since Spain’s integration into the European Union in 1986. Many legal changes in foreign investment regulations have been introduced in Spain, especially in the housing market. The latest major investments in real estate have been made by former socialist countries, notably the People’s Republic of China and Russia, which both belong to the BRICS group. Chinese localization strategies have been more concentrated. With this theoretical background, the aim of the paper is to analyze the strategies of these recent appropriations of Barcelona’s residential space, in the framework of other economic Chinese investments and in competition with other Mediterranean ports. The main conclusion of this study is related to the definition of arcelona’s Chinatown, its changing location, and processes of social differentiation.
Highlights
This paper explores the characteristics and consequences of globalization of the local housing market in Barcelona, with special emphasis on the very recent Chinese investments
We try to analyze the impact of recent Chinese market socialism [2], and the processes of social differentiation of Chinese people in their residential location in the city
From a methodological point of view, it is necessary to remark on the difficulties of approaching the Chinese reality in Barcelona through the information provided by the Chinese residents or investors
Summary
This paper explores the characteristics and consequences of globalization of the local housing market in Barcelona, with special emphasis on the very recent Chinese investments. We try to analyze the impact of recent Chinese market socialism [2], and the processes of social differentiation of Chinese people in their residential location in the city. Our objective is to define the economic strategies of Chinese investment for the local housing market, and social reactions to the creation of the new types of Chinatown [5]. In Spain, the name of Chinatown was connected to some vice and poor neighbourhoods, where Chinese inhabitants were absent This is the case of Barcelona or Salamanca, where Chinese immigration and investments are quite recent. We present two conclusions about the formation of Barcelona’s Chinatown and the impact of Chinese investments on the local housing market
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