Urban Micro-segregation, segregation at the micro scale

This presentation examines cohabitation in the socially and ethnically mixed apartment buildings in the centre of Athens that were constructed with the “land for flat” system, where the phenomenon of vertical social segregation is pronounced. In contrast with horizontal segregation, the vertical one does lead to spatial proximity. Drawing on the microdata collected through qualitative interview research from 54 residents across 28 apartment buildings, collected within the ISTOPOL project ‘Stories of Athenian apartment blocks’ and analysed in the context of the SeDe research programme ‘Segregation patterns and deprivation areas in Athens 2011–2021’, the study investigates whether spatial proximity leads to harmonious or conflictual forms of cohabitation. The findings indicate that cohabitation in vertically segregated Athenian apartment buildings is multifaceted and not one-dimensional. Relationships range from interpersonal to indifferent, distant, or even hostile relations, often shaped by building management issues, residential mobility, and length of residence. By focusing on social relations at the apartment-building scale, the study contributes to the debates on relations in vertically segregated apartment buildings arguing that spatial proximity does not lead to social interaction or improved community relations.

This presentation will examine and map vertical segregation and socio-spatial deprivation trends in Athens

The family multi-storey apartment building is a term that remains mainly in use in spoken discourse. The spatial model which describes it refers to a multi-storey apartment building (ground floor plus two or more upper floors) in which members of the same family reside in its different apartments. Family apartment buildings were constructed either through self-promotion system —usually 2-storey or 3-storey apartment building mainly located in the periphery of Athens— or through the ‘antiparochi’ system —typical apartment buildings in which the extended family owns the majority of the apartments where it resides. The family apartment building constitutes a distinct socio-spatial variation of the post-war Athenian ‘polykatoikia’. Its differentiation is evident in its mode of production and the spatial quality of its apartments. It is primarily constructed to address the housing needs of its members. It is structurally distinct from investment-oriented apartment buildings, with the typical antiparochi building positioned between the two. Focusing on the interior characteristics of family apartment building through self-promotion shows that it is a largely homogeneous residential environment. It is a “Greek” apartment building —with no presence of migrants— where residential use is dominant and owner-occupation is the prevailing residential status. Micro-segregation can be interpreted in different ways. On the one hand, intergenerational social mobility combined with limited residential mobility due to family ties may lead to increased social mix and increased micro-segregation. On the other hand, within the same building, familial co-residence and practices of mutual support generate tendencies of convergence between households —especially during periods of crisis— which may reduce micro-segregation. At neighbourhood scale, residence in family apartment buildings and the sense of collective ownership among family members may act as a barrier against apartment abandonment, vacancy, or conversion into short-term rental accommodation.

Based on qualitative and ethnographic research, the contribution analyses Athens' refugees’ segregation patterns, bringing the attention on link between institutional segregation in extra-urban confinement camps and micro-segregation in the informal housing market, through which a large percentage of the refugees seek refuge in the city. It is claimed that the housing deprivation faced by such group is not the result of either the “financial” or the “refugee” crisis, but of the combined effect of a new model of urban development and a new model of migration’s governance, shaping new geographies of mobility and immobility, at both the urban and the international scale. It is argued that such dynamic not only has radicalized the established pattern of both “vertical” and “horizontal” segregation, but has also promoted the growth of a specific segment of the housing market, the underground short-term rental market, deepening the already established patterns of refugees' socio-tenurial segregation. Finally, the contribution analyses how the emergence of the "underground" short-term rental market overlapped with the development of the "legal" short-term rental market, exploring the paradox of the parallel and overlapping growth of both short-term rentals and (wanted and unwanted) human mobilities. References. Arapoglou, V.P.; Spyrellis, S.N. (2024). Arrival Infrastructures: Segregation of Displaced Migrants and Processes of Urban Change in Athens. Geographies, 4: 182–202. Kreichauf, R. (2018). From forced migration to forced arrival: the campization of refugee accommodation in European cities. Comparative Migration Studies. 6. 10. Tazzioli, M; Garelli, G. (2018). Containment beyond detention: The hotspot system and disrupted migration movements across Europe. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 0(0): 1-19.

This paper examines micro-segregation dynamics in Athens within the "privileged mobility" frameworks. In recent years the Greek capital has become an increasingly popular destination for Erasmus Students (ES), contributing to the reshaping of local housing dynamics in ways that remain largely understudied. Drawing on original survey data collected among ES enrolling in the main Athenian universities (2023-2025), we focused on their residential patterns. This population, staying in Athens for mostly six months, shares elements with short-term rentals (STRs) and with long-term rental (LTRs), while remaining a distinct case from both. We analyse the networks through which ES access housing, the type and amenities of the stock they occupy, comparing their residential strategies with those of Athenian students using 2011 and 2021 census data. This comparison seeks to position them within the vertical hierarchy of Athenian apartment buildings and the micro-spatial qualities produced at different floor levels. Findings reveal that ES access a specific market segment, occupying specific floors and building types, reflecting affordability constraints and informal sorting mechanisms. These micro-scale patterns interact with neighbourhood-level dynamics, raising questions about how spatial proximity to local residents might translate into a socio-economic fracture. Athens represents a compelling case: a southern European city attractive as a year-round tourist destination, where a real estate crisis is emerging alongside tourism gentrification. Findings suggest that student accommodation is market-driven and concentrated in specific neighbourhoods, shaped less by students' social preferences than by a segmented housing supply targeting foreign temporary residents. This produces a dual housing market between lower-income locals and higher-income foreigners, risking generating rent gaps, displacement pressures, and socio-spatial inequalities. This presentation advances debates on micro-segregation by showing how privileged mobile populations constitute a distinct layer within urban residential hierarchies, and by highlighting the role of housing policy and urban context in influencing such processes.

In recent years, many cities and states have developed schemes to attract transnational mobile elites, but the effects of these programmes on urban segregation remain poorly understood. By analogy with the ‘special economic zones’ developed to attract foreign companies, the article proposes the new concept of “offshore residendial zones” to designate areas with special status aimed at attracting international investment in real estate. These ORZs have developed significantly over the past 20 years, particularly in tax havens and city-states (Dubaï, Saint Kitts…), where they are often associated with "golden visa" programmes, offering access to citizenship or residency rights in exchange for property purchases. In just 20 years (2002–2022), in Mauritius - a small, densely urbanised and former sugar island transformed into an international financial center and élite tourist destination - more than 183 offshore residential zones have been launched, generating territorial fragmentation at the local scale, and profoundly transforming patterns of urbanisation and forms of micro-segregation. In fact, most of these areas take the form of small gated communities comprising villas with swimming pools or luxury apartments – standardised and tailored to a mobile, international clientele – and stand out sharply from the local built-up environment in terms of population and architecture, as well as in terms of environmental amenities, the quality of urban facilities and legal status. Our study is based on a mixed method. Between 2023 and 2025, we conducted ethnographic surveys among the ORZ’s intermediaries (policymakers, property developers, wealth managers, etc.) and foreign homebuyers (mainly French and South African). These ethnographic methods were supplemented by cartographic work based on quantitative data (lists of ORZ projects, surveys on the profiles of buyers). The article shows the new patterns of micro-segregation, of socio-racial hierarchies, and of environmental injustice generated by the transnational élite in urban spaces.

Socio-economic segregation is most often studied in large cities, where its development is usually linked to trends in income inequality. Bratislava and Slovakia are usually described as having relatively low-income inequality and low levels of socio-economic segregation. At the same time, recent trends in internal migration suggest that socio-spatial differentiation may be increasing. However, such conclusions strongly depend on the spatial scale at which inequality is analysed. This study examines how different spatial units influence the observed patterns and development of socio-economic stratification and segregation. Using occupational structure as a proxy for socio-economic status, the analysis adopts a multi-scalar perspective, comparing national, regional and sub-local levels. At higher spatial levels, inequality is typically measured by aggregate indicators such as the Gini coefficient, which usually indicate low and stable disparities. However, these measures can hide important differences within large territorial units. To address this issue, the study explores how increasing spatial resolution, from national to intra-municipal levels, changes the interpretation of socio-economic inequalities. While the Gini coefficient captures overall distribution, the localization quotient is used at lower spatial levels to identify spatial concentration of specific socio-economic groups. The combination of these measures allows a more detailed view of both vertical inequality and spatial differentiation. The results show how different spatial scales can lead to different views on inequality trends, including situations where macro-level stability coexists with micro-level disparities. Special attention is given to “hidden segregation”, which becomes visible only at finer spatial scales. Acknowledgement: Funded by the project VEGA 1/0768/24 “Multiscale assessment of spatial variability of social-economic population stratification”.

During colonial rule, urban planning often followed a socio-spatial order intended to segregate colonizers and native populations. Even after the end of colonial regimes, these spatial logics tend to persist and are reproduced over time. This paper examines the urban planning of Heliopolis, a planned district in Cairo developed in the early 20th century, as an early example of such socio-spatial ordering that continues to shape patterns of implicit segregation across the contemporary city. Developed during the British protectorate under Édouard Empain, Heliopolis was conceived as a planned enclave targeting expatriate and upper-class populations. While its architectural identity reflects eclectic colonial interpretations of local forms, this research shifts the focus toward the city’s underlying planning logic and its socio-spatial implications. Heliopolis was structured through a deliberate spatial hierarchy, manifested in differentiated housing typologies and street layouts that reinforced social stratification. These planning strategies produced not only neighbourhood-level segregation but also emerging forms of micro-segregation at the street scale, particularly through variations in street hierarchy, accessibility, and the distribution of more and less affluent residential areas. In this context, spatial proximity did not necessarily translate into social integration. Integrating postcolonial perspectives, this research argues that such implicit segregation logics have been reproduced and adapted across Cairo’s urban fabric. Through spatial mapping of street networks and building typologies, the study identifies comparable patterns across contemporary districts. Preliminary findings suggest that spatial closeness continues to coexist with social distance, with planning configurations sustaining subtle yet persistent hierarchies. The paper contributes to debates on urban micro-segregation and highlights the importance of critically engaging with inherited planning legacies.

Studies on urban segregation have traditionally examined residential patterns and socio-economic characteristics in depth. Nevertheless, segregation is also produced and experienced through everyday practices in public urban space, where the built environment’s characteristics that constitute the city’s urban form shape movement, encounter, visibility, and proximity. However, the explicit role of urban form in urban segregation remains underexplored, particularly within transferable approaches that enable comparative analysis across different urban contexts. To this end, this submission discusses the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological framework(s) for analysing how urban form patterns interact with socio-economic and socio-demographic typologies to shape urban segregation. More specifically, it explores the core components of a comprehensive research approach that is: i) multi-dimensional, addressing socio-economic and socio-demographic typologies as well as urban form patterns (including urban mobility infrastructure); ii) multi-method, combining quantitative geospatial analysis with qualitative and participatory research methods where appropriate; and iii) multi-scalar, both micro-scale analysis of segregation profiles at block level and below; and meso-scale analysis of urban form types and urban segregation at neighbourhood level. The proposed framework responds to a double limitation in existing morphological research on urban segregation: studies that provide broad territorial coverage often lack detailed morphological description, while fine-grained morphological or ethnographic works often remain spatially localised and difficult to compare. By focusing on European urban peripheries, this submission sets the scene for a comparative analysis of socio-spatial typologies relevant to urban segregation, to contextualise a critical approach to (spatial and social) proximity planning. Its contribution is to outline a transferable yet context-sensitive approach for identifying how urban segregation is produced, mediated, or facilitated by urban form at different scales, aiming to challenge the recent proximity planning paradigms, such as the “15-minute” city model, that are largely derived from Western and Northern European case studies dominating planning research.