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Focus Project “Permeability” – Social mixing: permeability and social interaction in socially mixed neighbourhoods

Client:	Own research
Partner(s):	---
Time frame:	05/2014 – 12/2017

Urban development programmes in many European countries target the social mix in deprived neighbourhoods. The objective of this research project is to study the importance of the local context in relation to different forms of inter-household resource transfers. The focus is on recording social network relationships and fleeting contacts between residents from different social classes living in socially and ethnically mixed neighbourhoods.

On the basis of the results of the “Permeability in deprived neighbourhoods” project that was completed in 2013, a case study was carried out in Hanover (in the Linden-Nord and Nordstadt districts) in 2014, looking in depth at the contacts of family households in mixed neighbourhoods. In the context of a quantitative investigation conducted in two playgrounds, playground users were asked about their contacts with other households. This was followed up by in-depth qualitative interviews with family households. To deepen the findings gained in Hannover, a second case study is currently being carried out in Düsseldorf (in the Flingern and Oberbilk districts).

To give the research an international context, the project team organised an international expert workshop in October 2014 in conjunction with the Montag Stiftung Urbane Räume (a foundation promoting urban spaces) and the North-Rhine Westphalia Ministry for Building, Housing, Urban Development and Transport. On the basis of empirical research findings and experience gained in six other European countries, the participants discussed the importance of socially mixed neighbourhoods for inter-group contacts and networks (Programm ). More detailed information on the workshop can be found in the summary, and the associated press release (in German).