Abstract

Planners and politicians frequently assert that promoting social mix strengthens  the social tissue of a disadvantaged neighbourhood. Social mix is expected to resolve or avert problems related to spatial segregation. Some expected drawbacks of spatial segregation relate to the ideas about a neighbourhood effect: urban neighbourhoods are expected to have an impact on its residents’ attitudes and behaviour and living in a neighbourhood with a high level of spatial segregation would have a negative influence on the life chances of its population. Since the late 1990s, the social mix concept has increased in importance in urban regeneration and renewal policies in several European countries. The aim of this article is to describe how the social mix concept is used in post-WWII large housing estates in Europe, areas undergoing significant physical, economic, and social change in the past two decades. We describe whether, why, and how social mix is an issue in policies designed to resolve the problems on these estates. Drawing on the situation in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain we show that the level of segregation and the increased attention paid to the social mix concept in policymaking is related to issues regarding the national housing system and immigration.