Residential mobility and metropolitan population redistribution: the Madrid and Barcelona cases

Abstract

During the last decades an increase of internal migration dynamics had been observed in the two main Spanish Metropolitan Areas, Madrid and Barcelona, with values three times higher than those observed in the 1980s. Two reasons explain this evolution: the urban deconcentration process, and, during the last decade, the foreignerÍ€™s incorporation to residential mobility. Recently, stagnation or even decrease signs have been observed as a consequence of the recent economic crisis. Through the comparison of internal migratory dynamics using Residential Variation Statistics data, we observe similar patterns in both cases, where most dense and populated cities have lost population, whereas outlying and low populated municipalities have received internal migrants. Residential mobility is the most important instrument in the redistribution process of population at metropolitan level.

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