Fieldwork inhabitants, Antwerp (Belgium)

摘要: There is a growing conventional wisdom in writings on European cities that presents them as centres of ‘super-diversity’(Vertovec, 2007). This refers specifically to their increasing ethnic diversity and to the demographic diversity between and within such ethnic groups. However, cities are becoming increasingly diverse, not only in socio-economic, social and ethnic terms, but also with respect to lifestyles, attitudes and activities. To indicate this enormous diversity, we proposed to use the term hyper-diversity (Tasan-Kok, van Kempen, Raco, & Bolt, 2013).Within cities, groups can live segregated or rather mixed. Urban neighbourhoods may be fairly homogeneous residential areas in terms of housing and population, but they may also be heavily mixed with respect to types of housing (tenure, type, price) and population categories (income, ethnicity, household composition, age). In addition, individuals who belong to the same ‘official’demographic category may possess quite different lifestyles and attitudes and involve themselves in a wide range of activities. Some, for example, have a very neighbourhood-oriented life, with all their friends and activities in a very small area, while others have their social activities stretched over the whole city or even beyond. Residents of mixed urban neighbourhoods can happily live together, live parallel lives, or be in open conflict with each other (Tasan-Kok et al., 2013).