Vertical segregation in the apartment blocks of Athens and Budapest: A comparative study

Abstract

Contemporary urban societies are experiencing growing income inequality and rising socio-spatial differentiation. The implication of space in the reproduction of inequality has been extensively discussed in the literature; however, the social consequences of spatial hierarchies at the microscale are largely neglected. Among these hierarchies, the unequal distribution of socio-economic groups by floors in apartment buildings (i.e. vertical segregation) is probably the major form of micro-segregation. In this study, the patterns of vertical segregation in Athens and Budapest were investigated using microdata from the 2011 Greek and Hungarian censuses. The research findings reveal that the level of vertical segregation varies according to the diversity of quality within segments of the housing stock in both cities, with older buildings being more vertically segregated. Moreover, the study demonstrates that despite differences in the broader socio-economic and political framework and housing systems, the vertical segregation of occupational groups follows similar patterns in both cities, where high-status groups tend to occupy upper levels and lower-class people are more concentrated at lower levels. The findings of this study provide an empirical basis for the analysis of social mix produced in different contextual frameworks of vertical segregation and raise questions about urban policies that can reduce the negative effects of micro-segregation for those who enjoy social mix at the expense of low housing quality in the affordable part of the stock.