Micro-segregation and coexistance in Athens: The debate on segregation and its implications for urban research

This chapter looks at the conceptualisation of micro-segregation by focusing on Athens; a SE metropolis that inspired theoretical and conceptual debates centred around the nexus between social mix and segregation. In Athens, social mix has been rather an unintended consequence of the local housing system and social divisions manifest at the micro scale, vertically, at the scale of the typical Athenian residential building: There, middle and upper classes, (usually Greeks, homeowners) occupy the more privileged apartments in the higher floors, and middle to lower incomes, (usually immigrants, tenants) live in the less privileged, lower-floor and rear-side apartments. Also known as “vertical micro-segregation”, this typical form of coexistence in space is a dominant feature of the city that exists despite social and ethnic mix at the neighbourhood level.