Market Values and Socioeconomic Mixité in Palermo. The Role of Migrants in the Commercial Real Estate Market

Socioeconomic and functional mixité has been an objective placed at the basis of urban development to guide the transformation processes of urban areas, associating it with social inclusion as opposed to the morphological and spatial segregation, often caused by monofunctional zoning. The implementation of social mixité involves all social groups and, particularly, migrant communities that, in turn, are formed by groups with different cultures, nationalities, resources and income levels. The location choices of migrants and native residents produce an ever-changing urban geography of residential, commercial and service activities that directly impact on the real estate market. Migrants’ active participation in the urban mixité reaches its highest degree of social visibility in their use of commercial properties located on main streets, where they compete and/or cooperate with native-operated businesses. This study investigated the use of commercial properties in three main streets of Palermo during 2018-2020 to analyze the evolution of functional and socioeconomic mixité. The findings show what capacity migrant communities have to permeate the urban fabric with their commercial activities and to participate in the local real estate market currently characterized by high vacancy rates.