Labour Migration and Social Cohesion – Some Empirical Evidence from Vienna

Abstract

This chapter examines the challenges for maintaining social cohesion in a period of industrial restructuring and strong pressure on labour market. This is specifically done through a study of the development of Vienna’s economic competitiveness between 1991 and 2001 and the development of ethnic and social segregation in the city as well as labour and housing market inequalities of low-status migrants residing in Vienna. Both are the most important indicators for the status of integration that are strongly interlinked, as the individual’s position on the labour market is one of the main factors defining the chances and possibilities on the housing market and his/her socio-economic position as such. It also determines the chances of the next generation regarding the educational system and a successful integration into the receiving society. The chapter aims at linking the social consequences of immigration and development of a strategy for competitiveness with spatial effects upon the entire city.