IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v12y2022i1p26-d1020781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Toward a ‘Migrant Trap’? Local Development, Urban Sustainability, Sociodemographic Inequalities, and the Economic Decline in a Mediterranean Metropolis

Author

Listed:
  • Mariateresa Ciommi

    (Department of Social and Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy)

  • Gianluca Egidi

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy)

  • Ioannis Vardopoulos

    (School of Environment, Geography and Applied Economics, Harokopio University (HUA), 17671 Kallithea, Attica, Greece)

  • Francesco Maria Chelli

    (Department of Social and Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy)

  • Luca Salvati

    (Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance, Faculty of Economics, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, I-00161 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

After years following the breakdown of the Great Recession in Europe, crisis-driven urban shrinkage can be adequately investigated considering changes over time in selected demographic indicators, with a specific focus on migration. Using official statistics and a literature review, the present study documents the inherent demographic decline in metropolitan Athens (Greece) as a response to economic stagnation after a long-lasting expansion. The empirical results of our study delineate metropolitan shrinkage in Southern Europe as a process associated with complex socioeconomic conditions leading to (possibly counterintuitive) demographic outcomes as far as migration trends are concerned. Recession has determined unsustainable economic conditions especially for non-native population segments, promoting both class and ethnic segregation. The negative migration balance in the 2010s led to an intense population decline hitting settlements made already demographically fragile because of low fertility and aging. Athens became a sort of ‘migrant trap’, being progressively unattractive for incoming migration flows—both internal and international—and losing an increasingly high number of non-native residents settling in the area, especially during the ‘gold’ decade of the 2004 Olympics. A sudden reduction in immigration rates reflected both economic (recession) and non-economic (population aging, fertility reduction, and childbearing postponement) factors, causing an incipient shrinkage after secular urban growth. The empirical results of our study add to the traditional literature on ‘industrial cities shrinkage’ in Europe and contribute to (re)formulate short- and medium-term development scenarios in large agglomerations, shedding further light on the role of migration in crisis-driven processes of urban decline in Mediterranean Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariateresa Ciommi & Gianluca Egidi & Ioannis Vardopoulos & Francesco Maria Chelli & Luca Salvati, 2022. "Toward a ‘Migrant Trap’? Local Development, Urban Sustainability, Sociodemographic Inequalities, and the Economic Decline in a Mediterranean Metropolis," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:26-:d:1020781
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/1/26/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/1/26/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jordi Bayona-Carrasco & Fernando Gil-Alonso, 2012. "Suburbanisation And International Immigration: The Case Of The Barcelona Metropolitan Region (1998–2009)," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 103(3), pages 312-329, July.
    2. Salvati, Luca & Ciommi, Maria Teresa & Serra, Pere & Chelli, Francesco M., 2019. "Exploring the spatial structure of housing prices under economic expansion and stagnation: The role of socio-demographic factors in metropolitan Rome, Italy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 143-152.
    3. Elena Batunova & Maria Gunko, 2018. "Urban shrinkage: an unspoken challenge of spatial planning in Russian small and medium-sized cities," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(8), pages 1580-1597, August.
    4. Walid Oueslati & Seraphim Alvanides & Guy Garrod, 2015. "Determinants of urban sprawl in European cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(9), pages 1594-1614, July.
    5. Mathias Lerch, 2016. "Internal and International Migration Across the Urban Hierarchy in Albania," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(6), pages 851-876, December.
    6. Lewis Dijkstra & Enrique Garcilazo & Philip McCann, 2015. "The effects of the global financial crisis on European regions and cities," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(5), pages 935-949.
    7. Philippe Bocquier & Rafael Costa, 2015. "Which transition comes first? Urban and demographic transitions in Belgium and Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(48), pages 1297-1332.
    8. Giovanni A. Barbieri & Federico Benassi & Marianna Mantuano & M. Rosaria Prisco, 2019. "In search of spatial justice. Towards a conceptual and operative framework for the analysis of inter‐ and intra‐urban inequalities using a geo‐demographic approach. The case of Italy," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 109-121, March.
    9. Luca Salvati, 2016. "The Dark Side of the Crisis: Disparities in per Capita income (2000–12) and the Urban-Rural Gradient in Greece," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 107(5), pages 628-641, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kostas Rontos & Enrico Maria Mosconi & Mattia Gianvincenzi & Simona Moretti & Luca Salvati, 2023. "Toward a Spatially Segregated Urban Growth? Austerity, Poverty, and the Demographic Decline of Metropolitan Greece," Data, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Luca Salvati, 2020. "Demographic Dynamics, Urban Cycles and Economic Downturns: A Long-term Investigation of a Metropolitan Region in Europe, 1956–2016," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(3), pages 549-575, June.
    3. Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir & Gianluca Egidi & Rosanna Salvia & Luca Salvati & Adele Sateriano & Antonio Gimenez-Morera, 2021. "Recession, Local Fertility, and Urban Sustainability: Results of a Quasi-Experiment in Greece, 1991–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Samaneh Sadat Nickayin & Bogdana Nosova & Rosario Turco & Massimiliano Giacalone & Luca Salvati, 2022. "Demographic Change and the Urban–Rural Divide: Understanding the Role of Density and Agglomeration in Fertility Transitions," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir & Gianluca Egidi & Enrico Maria Mosconi & Stefano Poponi & Ahmed Alhuseen & Luca Salvati, 2020. "Uncovering Demographic Trends and Recent Urban Expansion in Metropolitan Regions: A Paradigmatic Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Rosanna Salvia & Gianluca Egidi & Luca Salvati & Jesús Rodrigo-Comino & Giovanni Quaranta, 2020. "In-Between ‘Smart’ Urban Growth and ‘Sluggish’ Rural Development? Reframing Population Dynamics in Greece, 1940–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Gianluca Egidi & Giovanni Quaranta & Luca Salvati & Rosanna Salvia & Gimenez Morera Antonio, 2021. "Investigating density-dependent patterns of population growth in Southern Italy, 1861–2019," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 11-30, April.
    8. Giuseppe Ricciardo Lamonica & Gloria Polinesi & Luca Salvati, 2022. "Sprawl or Segregation? Local Fertility as a Proxy of Socio-spatial Disparities Under Sequential Economic Downturns," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1129-1160, December.
    9. Samaneh Sadat Nickayin & Francesco Chelli & Rosario Turco & Bogdana Nosova & Chara Vavoura & Luca Salvati, 2022. "Economic Downturns, Urban Growth and Suburban Fertility in a Mediterranean Context," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-26, October.
    10. Rosanna Salvia & Luca Salvati & Giovanni Quaranta, 2021. "Beyond the Transition: Long-Term Population Trends in a Disadvantaged Region of Southern Europe, 1861–2017," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, June.
    11. Leonardo Bianchini & Gianluca Egidi & Ahmed Alhuseen & Adele Sateriano & Sirio Cividino & Matteo Clemente & Vito Imbrenda, 2021. "Toward a Dualistic Growth? Population Increase and Land-Use Change in Rome, Italy," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    12. Tomao, Antonio & Quaranta, Giovanni & Salvia, Rosanna & Vinci, Sabato & Salvati, Luca, 2021. "Revisiting the ‘southern mood’? Post-crisis Mediterranean urbanities between economic downturns and land-use change," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Luca Salvati, 2022. "Endogenous Population Dynamics and Metropolitan Cycles: Long-Term Evidence from Athens, an Eternally Mediterranean City," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 835-860, December.
    14. Gianluca Egidi & Luca Salvati, 2021. "Changes over time in the spatial structure of fertility rates as a dynamic indicator of urban transformations," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 151-172, February.
    15. Salvati, Luca, 2020. "Residential mobility and the local context: Comparing long-term and short-term spatial trends of population movements in Greece," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    16. Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Mariateresa Ciommi & Ioannis Vardopoulos & Bogdana Nosova & Luca Salvati, 2022. "The Medium-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Population Dynamics: The Case of Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-12, October.
    17. Samaneh Sadat Nickayin & Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir & Matteo Clemente & Francesco Maria Chelli & Luca Salvati & Federico Benassi & Antonio Gimenez Morera, 2020. "“Qualifying Peripheries” or “Repolarizing the Center”: A Comparison of Gentrification Processes in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-14, October.
    18. Salvati, Luca & Sateriano, Adele & Grigoriadis, Efstathios & Carlucci, Margherita, 2017. "New wine in old bottles: The (changing) socioeconomic attributes of sprawl during building boom and stagnation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 361-372.
    19. Samaneh Sadat Nickayin & Francesca Perrone & Barbara Ermini & Giovanni Quaranta & Rosanna Salvia & Filippo Gambella & Gianluca Egidi, 2021. "Soil Quality and Peri-Urban Expansion of Cities: A Mediterranean Experience (Athens, Greece)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-12, February.
    20. Jesus Rodrigo-Comino & Gianluca Egidi & Luca Salvati & Giovanni Quaranta & Rosanna Salvia & Antonio Gimenez-Morera, 2021. "High-to-Low (Regional) Fertility Transitions in a Peripheral European Country: The Contribution of Exploratory Time Series Analysis," Data, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-14, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2022:i:1:p:26-:d:1020781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.