ABSTRACT
To what extent are immigrant communities in Spain transforming the architectonic and urban spaces within cities? In what manner are public institutions, designers, and technical specialists dealing with the integration of immigrants through their relationship with the built environment? And how is this subject approached in the teachings imparted in academia? These are some of the questions that induce us to reflect upon the relationship between immigrant communities and their effect on the shaping of cities. During the insertion process into the host country, immigrants face profound changes that affect their emotional well-being, their cultural and social habits, and the manner in which they occupy and live in the city of destination. In this article, I will concentrate on the last of these questions and cover the following topics: How do immigrants select certain areas in the city and certain architectonic typologies as their new dwellings? How do they then invest these areas with new identities? How do they manage the process of integration into, and appropriation of, urban space? How does the existing built environment mediate between the native and overseas populations? And how, in turn, do these relationships affect the built environment?
