Residential mobility in medium-sized cities and metropolitan contexts: elements to understand the contemporary urban phenomenon

Abstract

In urban studies, residential and daily mobility is one of the main analytical dimensions to understand the recompositions and social changes that permeate cities today. Thus, in the context of urban transformations, this research aims to analyze, through residential mobility and spatial practices of higher income social groups - living in the south of Ribeirão Preto - SP and in the neighborhood of Saint Antoni in Barcelona - the deepening of the socio-spatial differentiations that delimit contemporary urbanization, even in disparate socio-spatial contexts. Therefore, residential mobility emerges in this research proposal as an element of social distinction by certain groups and an empirical analytical dimension to explain the transformations in urbanization. The hypothesis that is supported is that the residential mobility of the higher income social groups has deepened the socio-spatial differences in the context of contemporary urbanization. Residential mobility will be analyzed through semi-structured interviews and secondary data from statistical sources from both countries (Brazil and Spain), while spatial practices will emerge mainly from qualitative interviews. The analysis of the results will be guided by the comparative method. Through the comparison between the patterns of residential mobility identified by the interviews and the secondary data, it is intended to understand the forms that socio-spatial differentiation assumes in the contemporary world. The comparative exercise will be to understand what is similar and what is inherent to the globally constituted logics, and what precedes the socio-spatial formation and the resistance of the places. (AU)