ABSTRACT
Segregation, social polarisation and social exclusion are central concepts in today’s urban debates (Wilson 1987, Sassen 1991, Fainstein, Gordon and Harloe 1992, Massey and Denton 1993, Hamnett 1994a, Marcuse 1996, O’Loughlin and Friedrichs 1996). In many countries these concepts have not only dominated the urban transformation debate for a long time but, according to many people, urban realities too, and they still do. Cities in the western world in one way or another reflect the socio-spatial outcomes of polarisation, segregation and exclusion processes. The outcomes vary according to the character and intensity of the social processes. In their turn these social processes depend upon a wider range of factors and developments. The economic structure of a city and the kind of restructuring that is going on are frequently seen to be among the most powerful forces behind social fragmentation and integration in the urban realm. However, welfare state regimes and the current changes (cutbacks) noticeable in these areas are also thought to be very important. Other related factors are frequently mentioned too, such as the racial or ethnic population division in society, and the reinforcing effect of socio-spatial and ethnic segregation itself.
