Immigration and Population Renewal on a Metropolitan Scale: The Case of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area

Osama Damoun , Center for Demographic Studies
Jordi Bayona-i-Carrasco, Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED), UAB
Andreu Domingo, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

In contexts of high immigration, there is an intense renewal of the population in the neighbourhoods of large cities, which does not affect all ages or all territories equally. The youngest age groups, whether as a result of emancipation, internal or international migration, are the most affected. From a territorial perspective, this renewal takes place in a segmented way, with central areas characterised by a high population turnover and others, in the periphery, with a more stable population. In this context, this proposal studies the demographic dynamics of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, analysed on an infra-municipal scale. Using 2018 as a reference year, it quantifies the weight of migration within the population renewal of the neighbourhoods, based on the identification of individuals who have arrived in the last five years. Secondly, a distinction is made between the impact of intra-municipal, metropolitan and international migration, by considering the total population and the population by place of birth. Finally, three generations of residents are analysed observing the differential impact of this recent renewal on each of them. The first results indicate that 37% of the population would have arrived in the five years prior to 2018 in the neighbourhood where they live. The peripheral neighbourhoods would be the least changing (15.7%), while the historical centre would undergo the greatest degree of renewal (69.7%). Migration would be the main actor in these changes, with an increasing diversification of the population by origin and between generations within the same territory.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe