IMMIGRANTS IN BARCELONA:

Transcription

1 IMMIGRANTS IN BARCELONA: RESIDENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND USE OF PUBLIC SPACE Lic. Blanca Gutiérrez Valdivia Dr. Arq. Pilar García Almirall Centre of Land Policy and Valuations, CPSV Polithecnic University of Catalonia, UPC

2 INTRODUCTION Immigration is considered to be a major social phenomenon in the Spain of the early XXI century. The massive influx of immigrants is a fact that is producing structural and irreversible changes in our cities (Blanco, 2000).

3 INTRODUCTION This rapid increase of the immigrants has produced important changes in the physical and social configuration of the Spanish cities

4 INTRODUCTION This research takes as its starting point, the results of a previous research, about segregation and the location of immigrant population on seven main metropolitan areas in Spain

5 INTRODUCTION According to the socioeconomic profile of the population and the housing stock characteristics, the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona was classified into six categories: -Single Family Home -Middle class, secondary education, middle sized dwellings -Low Class, small dwellings from 60s-80s -Deficient Housing -High Class, tertiary education, big dwellings -Old housing, for rent

6 INTRODUCTION There is not spatial segregation, but the immigrants are located in areas with more problems: -old housing with rent tenure -deficient housing

7 RESEARCH QUESTION Know in depth the neighbourhood life, and analyzed the characteristics of the housing of the immigrants and how use public spaces of their everyday environments

8 RESEARCH CONTEXT Scope: Three neighbourhood in Barcelona, where is located a rate of immigrant population over the average of the MRB; with different socio-economic and urban characteristics.

9 RESEARCH CONTEXT El Raval Escorxador Ciutat Meridiana

10 METHOD Quantitative -Statistical data analysis Source: Population and Housing Census, Continuous Census and Cadastre -Mapping of results Qualitative -Participant observation -In-depth interviews to immigrant population -In-depth interviews to key informant

11 RESULTS ABOUT HOUSING 7TH VIRTUAL CITIES AND TERRITORIES

12 ACCESS Tenure: Rent Dwelling Formal housing market (high requirements) Room Informal housing market Social network Main criteria to search: economic and location

13 HOUSING CAREER Before economic crisis

14 HOUSING CAREER Economic crisis

15 HOW ARE THE DWELLINGS The satisfaction with dwelling and the neighborhood is quite high and the valuation of the number and quality of facilities and public spaces is very positive. Lack of lift Lack of windows, ventilation, light, structural problems, noise Housing measure In relation with living conditions, families (or mothers) with children find more problems, since when they share housing do not have space for the right development of children (places to play, do homework...) and in many cases only can use the house to sleep.

16 WITH WHO Kind of migratory project Living with people outside the family unit is very problematic. If they have to share housing they prefer do it with people from their country or religion but does not guarantee to avoid coexistence problems. They share room with family or friends

17 RESULTS ABOUT PUBLIC SPACE 7TH VIRTUAL CITIES AND TERRITORIES

18 WHICH PUBLIC SPACES Daily - Public space in the neighbourhood, close to house Streets, square, parks Informal public spaces: exit of schools or corners Overlooked spaces: groups of young men Eventually - Meeting places of the community in the city: beach, city parks, informal spaces to practice sports

19 WHEN Gender is a determining factor Women Men Use the public space in relation with her gender role: taking care; doing the shopping. Employment situation Kind of migratory project

20 WITH WHOM America Mixed groups of men and women Asia and Africa Groups of women or groups of men Age is also a determining factor, since the younger the population, the most common is the existence of groups of different origin. The access of schools or another facilities are spaces of socialization of people from different origin.

21 CONCLUSION Currently access to housing for the immigrant population is very complicated, for economic and discriminatory reasons. -The informal market rent of rooms is very dynamic and the offer is renewed every few days. The price for a room is quite high, so compared with the price of an entire dwelling it is cheaper to rent a house than a room. The length of stay in a rented room is usually short (months) with the emotional, economic and physical consequences that it entails. Families (and single mothers) with children have more difficulties to find rooms for rent. -The requirements imposed by the formal market to access to a dwelling (bank guarantee, several months of deposit...) are difficult to afford for anyone. For the immigrant population this situation is harder, due to their more precarious employment situations and their lack of social networks that provide financial support. Ethnicity is a factor of exclusion for the access to housing, that remains even if the immigrants have obtained the citizenship

22 CONCLUSION There is a relationship between immigrant population and substandard housing, with two possible scenarios: -Conditions of substandard housing: Objective conditions of substandard housing as structural problems or lack of ventilation, light -Substandard housing situations: The quality of housing is good, but its improper use makes substandard housing, as the overcrowding or the use of spaces that are not intended for housing. Housing is an essential factor for the integration of immigrants. In Spain, registered in the Continuous census of the City guarantee access to universal public services (health and education), however, some homeowners refuse to register their tenants so it provokes a deprived of access for these people to basic services.

23 CONCLUSION As has been determined in the cases studied, in the case of access to housing the variable that determines access to a better or worse housing is the ethnicity linked to social class, whereas in the case of the use of public space the crucial variable is the gender over the origin of the person. In general men are socialized in public while women are socialized in the private and public spaces perform tasks related to their gender role. According to the work done, it has been determined that social cohesion is not a dichotomous variable but there is a progression; there are different degrees of social cohesion. According to this, we believe that we can measure the social cohesion of a neighborhood by the level of interaction with immigrants and Spaniards in public spaces of daily life. Different degrees: segregation, coexistence, integration. The kind of migratory project is key in both, housing career and the use of public spaces of immigrants In relation to the use made of public space has also been shown that in the case of men, different origins are determining the type of use made of public space (Pakistanis, Moroccans... ), predominantly uses related to socialization and leisure. At the same time, most women, whether immigrant or Spaniards, use public space in relation with their gender roles.