The urban vulnerability in Spain. Identification and evolution of the vulnerable neighborhoods

Abstract

The reality of our cities shows a mosaic of different articulated by transport networks and classified according income levels. The fixed basic patterns that characterize the urban map are areas that were established from the outset to accommodate a population or another and other areas that were abandoned by their initial populations (as historical centers) and at this moment occupy a lower rank in urban segmentation. The amount of social demands and redistribution policies made conform to urban planning (in the best of their identities) as a tool for the development of a project in favor of the "right to the city", avoiding spatial ruptures, and solving the shortcomings necessary equipments and accesses, so that all the spaces were integrated in the city, so that its inhabitants could exercise citizenship status. But the biography of the city itself, developed in parallel, a continuous rearrangement of spaces, so the project that guarantees equal citizenship status is intercepted by the building project that seeks through spatial segmentation and the relocation of its inhabitants according to their maximum benefit income. If we focus on urban planning to seek and to ensure the "right to the city", it must be based on an ongoing project for rebuilding the balance between areas that the market tends to divide and segment. It is therefore necessary to have the map of those areas that have lost or are at risk of losing their place in the city, we call these areas Vulnerable Neighborhoods and we present a method for its determination.