Exclusion of the housing market in Barcelona: effects on the vital trajectories of middle-class people

Abstract

Gentrification in the city of Barcelona has recently positioned itself on the public agenda due to the adverse social effects generated. The growing tourism that crowds the city and the depletion of territorial reserves for new homes, generate a sustained increase in the average rental price. This increase presented in higher proportions than the increase in the average salary of the population, contributes to generate processes of exclusion from the housing market. To analyze these processes, a case study consisting of 20 middle-class selected households that share a cooperative housing project with the main objective of knowing what effects this exclusion has on their life trajectories. The empirical findings show an impact on the vital trajectories through a growing economic precariousness of the home, of uprooting with the territory and deterioration of the sense of belonging, also contributing to chronic stress.