Social Innovation Against Socio-spatial Segregation: The Case of Catalonia
In recent years, we have witnessed the development of a political and academic discourse that, from different perspectives, points out the importance of innovative social action as a response to the challenges of the crisis and the so-called epochal chang
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Social Innovation Against Socio-spatial Segregation: The Case of Catalonia Ismael Blanco
In recent years, we have witnessed the development of a political and academic discourse that, from different perspectives, points out the importance of innovative social action as a response to the challenges of the crisis and the so-called epochal change. Thus, we are told that addressing challenges such as climate change, the aging of the population, the precariousness of employment, or the growing financial difficulties of the Welfare State requires the development of innovative solutions in which citizens are expected to play a fundamental role. Conversely, trust in public institutions to correct the social and environmental imbalances generated by the market economy has dramatically diminished in recent years. As a result, more and more voices are stressing the importance of social innovation for the future and present well-being of our societies (Mulgan 2007). It is within the framework of this type of reflection that we must frame the current importance of concepts such as social innovation, the “participatory society,” the “Big Society,” and the “urban commons.” Although conceptually very diverse, all these notions underscore the need for greater social involvement in the development of alternatives to traditional modes of action in both the public and the private spheres. This chapter summarizes the analytical and methodological approaches and the main results of a line of research in which we have explored the role of social innovation as a strategy for combating one of the fundamental problems of contemporary European societies, that is, socio-spatial segregation. Focusing on the case of Catalonia and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area in particular, our research highlights how the economic crisis that began in 2008 has led to a significant increase in socio- spatial segregation in this region. By so doing, our study underscores the spatial dimension of the increase in social inequalities caused by the economic crisis and its strong impact on disadvantaged urban areas. In this context, the main goal of our research is to investigate the role of social innovation as a factor for social transformation in vulnerable neighborhoods, and more generally, as a strategy for socio- spatial cohesion (Pradel and García, 2018; Blanco and Nel·lo 2017).
I. Blanco (*) IGOP – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 L. Fregolent, O. Nel·lo (eds.), Social Movements and Public Policies in Southern European Cities, Urban and Landscape Perspectives 21, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52754-9_7
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I. Blanco
This line of research has represented an opportunity to deepen the discussion on the meaning of social innovation, the type of methodologies that allow us to approach it, and the role it can play in the context of the crisis. On this basis, the chapter problematizes the role of social innovation as a strategy for urban social cohesion and its
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