1 There goes the neighbourhood? Ethnicization, gentrification and social networks: Comparing two Southern European multi-ethnic neighbourhoods, in Lisbon and Bilbao 1 Rui Carvalho 2 , Jorge Malheiros 2 , Luís Mendes 2 Extended abstract Gentrification, multiculturalism 3 and ethnic heterogeneity may be considered as three of the most distinctive traces of the contemporary social and spatial configurations of major cities, and particularly of their central areas, in advanced capitalist countries. With them, far more complex (territorial, social and cultural) arrangements than those representatives of the modern metropolis have risen, giving room to a more “fragmented city”. One of the most distinct features of this “post-modern” city is the idea of spatial contiguity or proximity without social and/or functional continuity (Barata Salgueiro, 1998). In other words, this would mean that old and homogeneous neighbourhoods, particularly those inhabited by working-class residents and located in inner-city areas, would be progressively dispossessed of some of their traditional social characters – expressed, for example, by the dominance of cohesive and localized forms of social networking and strong and vibrant neighbouring relations – as they would be “invaded” by new residents, either characterized by their (constant pursue of) multiple social and spatial identities and higher disregard for traditional values (i.e. the gentrifiers), or by different cultural morals conveyed by diverse ethnic backgrounds (i.e. the international immigrants). Although gentrification occurs in various ways in different neighbourhoods of different cities, comprising diverse trajectories of neighbourhood change and implying a variety of protagonists, it appears to sometimes follow a stepwise evolution. Normally, a group of early gentrifiers, often classified as “marginal gentrifiers” (Rose, 1984), set up in areas that are still characterised by signs of physical decay, relatively low rents and the prevalence of declining lower classes and ageing population. This picture of the early gentrification areas points to a social atmosphere and to a housing market offer that may also be suitable for immigrants searching for relatively cheap rental houses and central locations with a good access to public transport. Therefore, some neighbourhoods start to experience simultaneous gentrification and ethnicization, this combination leading to an increasing complexity of fragmentation processes that may involve concurrent ethnic and social micro-scale segregation and the development of overlapping webs of social relations. Diversity has been regarded as creating a stimulating ambience for gentrification. Authors such as Ley (1996) and Butler (1997) posit the existence of what they coin as a “new middle class”, one able to exploit 1 This article is an output of the international GEITONIES (Generating Interethnic Tolerance and Neighbourhood Integration in European Urban Spaces) Project, financed by the European Union (EU) 7th Framework Programme, and coordinated by Lucinda Fonseca at the Centre for Geographical Studies (CEG) of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning (IGOT), University of Lisbon. 2 Centre for Geographical Studies (CEG), Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning (IGOT), University of Lisbon. Rui Carvalho: racarvalho@fl.ul.pt; Jorge Malheiros: ogatomaltes@zonmail.pt; Luis Mendes: muis.mendes@ceg.ul.pt. 3 In this paper we address multiculturalism in a soft way, more like a fact ( i.e. as “the increasing cultural diversity of societies in late modernity” – Sandercock, 2004: 16) than an ideology and its inherent political programme.