Remaking urban divides: Shifting patterns of neighborhood differentiation in Bilbao, Spain

Intensifying social and spatial divisions have been on the rise in cities since the 1980s. This trend has evolved in a context of increasing socioeconomic inequality and is exacerbated by the effects of the last economic crisis and austerity policies. Understanding the differential impact of these processes on vulnerable social groups and urban areas is crucial for developing effective policy responses to the challenges of social exclusion and neighborhood decline. This paper examines the spatial dimensions of rising socioeconomic inequality in Bilbao, Spain. Using Census Data and a multivariate approach, it analyzes shifting patterns of socio-spatial differentiation in the city during two decades of intense urban restructuring and regeneration dynamics. The results present a characterization of Bilbao's neighborhoods based on a set of variables that capture various aspects of neighborhood differences, demographics, socioeconomic status and housing attributes, and their evolution, revealing a two-dimensional factorial structure. Neighborhoods are grouped according to these two factorial axes that capture the structure of correlations among the variables. Subsequently, the analysis focuses on a selected number of "extreme" neighborhoods to identify patterns of convergence/divergence and the driving factors behind them, including structural trends and policy initiatives implemented during the two decades considered.