“You become one with the place”: Social mixing, social capital, and the lived experience of urban desegregation in the Roma community
Boglárka Méreine-Berki, György Málovics, Remus Creţan
Abstract
Policymakers are eager to create socially mixed neighbourhoods, even though evidence for the positive impact of social mixing is patchy. In this paper, we examine the relationship between social mixing, social capital, and the lived experience of residents affected by the desegregation of an urban Roma area. Using qualitative data from a participatory action research (PAR) process in Hungary, we explore the two-way relationship between desegregation and bonding, bridging, and linking forms of social capital. Our results suggest that desegregation has complex and contradictory impacts on lived experience, and that these relate to changes in social forms of capital. Our findings speak to the heterogeneity of the Roma segregated community, and to the multifaceted nature of social capital as a resource. We conclude that the presence of strong negative neighbourhood effects, acknowledged by marginalized residents themselves, indicates that social mixing can contribute to the enhancement of wellbeing and social mobility for many segregated Roma families. However, desegregation alone is insufficient, and further policies are required to increase socio-spatial integration and deal with the social, economic, and cultural causes of extreme poverty.