Is cohabitation in vertically segregated apartment buildings in Athens harmonious or conflictual?

Abstract

This article examines cohabitation in socially and ethnically mixed apartment buildings in the center of Athens that were built with the “land for flat” system, where vertical social segregation is particularly pronounced. Unlike horizontal segregation, vertical segregation leads to spatial proximity. Drawing on the microdata collected through qualitative interview research from 54 residents across 28 apartment buildings within the ISTOPOL project “Stories of Athenian apartment blocks” and analyzed in the context of the SeDe research program “Segregation patterns and deprivation areas in Athens 2011–2021,” the study investigates whether spatial proximity leads to harmonious or conflictual forms of cohabitation. The findings show that cohabitation in vertically segregated Athenian apartment buildings is multifaceted and not one-dimensional. Relationships range from interpersonal and friendly to indifferent, distant, and even hostile, and are often shaped by building management issues, residential mobility, and length of residence. By focusing on social relations at the apartment-building scale, this study contributes to the debate on cohabitation in vertically segregated apartment buildings by arguing that spatial proximity alone does not lead to social interaction or improved community relations. Instead, cohabitation is also shaped by factors such as the length of residence, tenure system, residential mobility and modes of building management.