Abstract
AbstractThe present study investigates the relation between urban form and the socio‐economic patterns of the resident population in three southern European cities (Athens, Lisbon and Rome) featured by different processes of urban diffusion. The paper goes beyond the literature on sprawl focused on (residential, income and ethnic) segregation and the different features of the inhabitants of the suburbs and those of the inner cities residents. By integrating multivariate statistics and spatial analysis, a methodology is proposed, based on morphological and socio‐economic indicators available at a fine geographical scale. Results show how urban diffusion processes vary widely according to the context, as does the socio‐economic profile of the actors, stressing the need to think about different ‘southern European alternatives’ of sprawl.
Highlights
The present study investigates the relation between urban form and the socioeconomic patterns of the resident population in three southern European cities (Athens, Lisbon and Rome) featured by different processes of urban diffusion
Results show how urban diffusion processes vary widely according to the context, as does the socioeconomic profile of the actors, stressing the need to think about different ′southern European alternatives′ of sprawl
In this article we focus on the Southern European model(s) of urban diffusion, comparing selected settlements characteristics with the socioeconomic patterns of the resident population in three cities (Athens, Lisbon and Rome) characterized by a diverging urban form
Summary
In recent years there has been a resurgence of comparative urbanism as a main discussion issue in urban studies literature (e. g. Bourne, 2008, Kantor and Savitch, 2005, Kloosterman and Lambregts, 2007, McFarlane, 2010, Nijman, 2007, Robinson, 2006, 2011, Ward, 2010), associated with a calling for ′a comparative approach that acknowledges the territorial and relational geographies of cities′ (Ward, 2010: 483), ′an approach that seeks to move beyond the rather fixed and static theorizations of place, space and scale that tend to continue to characterize much of the comparative urban studies literature′ (ibid: 473). We think that our analysis, focused on three ′strong character′ cases, diversely and strongly attached to their history and presenting different social relations shaping them, reinforces a relational comparative approach (Ward, 2010) These urban regions present diverging form, degree of compactness, population density, demographic trends, economic performances and land-use distribution along the urban-rural gradient. The main actors of this process are young adults who cannot afford to live in the core city, given the high prices of the real estate and the lack of a welfare regime centred on housing (Arbaci, 2008) This process has dramatically modified the ageing structure of the resident population in the core city, as the rate of old people increased more and more in the last forty years. The residential segregation of immigrant households has been highlighted by Mudu (2006) who verifies how the residential choices of young adults’ households tend to coincide both for domestic and immigrants
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