Neighborhood and population cycles. The sociodemographic renovation in an aging fringe neighborhood: the case of Montbau in Barcelona

Abstract

In recent years, most of the housing estates in urban suburbs created during the second half of the twentieth century have begun a phase of socio-demographic renewal resulting from the mortality of their first residents, a process that brings new challenges at a metropolitan-scale. In this paper, we analyse the demographic transformation of Montbau (Barcelona) through quantitative and qualitative methods. Data show that the renewal of the neighbourhood is taking place in three main areas: rejuvenation of the age structure, increasing diversity of origins and the increase of population with a high-level education. This could be associated with the current Barcelona residential context, which is increasingly selective and exclusive. In the article, we highlight the key role of housing transmission for the transformation of Montbau, a prelude to demographic dynamics that will be reproduced in other neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Keywords: Urban outskirts, lifecycle, residential mobility, socio-demographic transformations, housing, Barcelona