Residential mobility and economic crisis: new origins and destinations within the Barcelona Metropolitan Region

Jordi Bayona-i-Carrasco, Universitat de Barcelona
Isabel Pujadas, Universitat de Barcelona
Cristina López, Universitat de Barcelona

These last few years, the Barcelona metropolitan region has had two main distinct residential mobility flows, each defining their own spatial patterns. On the one hand, there has been that made up by Spanish people who, since the late 1970s, are moving from the dense metropolitan centre towards its periphery, where they can find middle sized towns and small municipalities to which they are attracted to. On the other hand, since early 21st century, there has also been that of foreigners, who are moving from Barcelona to the densest neighbouring central cities. This paper analyses recent intensity and spatial pattern changes due to the economic and housing market crises. Focusing on the 2009 to 2012 period, it is compared to two previous decades lasting from 1988 to 2008. Our main hypothesis would be that, these last years, flows have slightly diminished but they have had a stronger geographic impact, as spatial trends existing before the economic crisis have become increasingly blur.