Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Urban Transformations and the Spatial Distribution of Foreign Immigrants in Messina

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Models for Data Analysis (SIS 2018)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics ((PROMS,volume 402))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 292 Accesses

Abstract

Messina exhibits a fragmented urban structure, a consequence of past historical events, mainly the 1908 earthquake. After this tragic event, Messina experienced economic downturns and nowadays it passively suffers rather than managing its considerable mercantile traffics. The fragmented urban fabric affects the residential location of foreign migrants. Related literature distinguishes between two sources of spatial segregation: apparent contagion (i.e. economic inhomogeneities affecting the urban context) and true contagion (individual preference to live close to ethnically similar neighbors). We use point pattern analysis to assess residual clustering of migrant households while adjusting for economic inhomogeneity. We implement a case–control approach to avoid confounding between the two sources: migrant households represent cases, while a random sample of natives constitutes the controls. Results show that Sri Lankans, Filipinos (exceeding one kilometer), and Romanians exhibit the highest voluntary segregation, contributing to the creation of spatial clusters that boost the polycentric structure of Messina.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The Greek community is particularly active and in 2010 has instituted the Hellenic Community of the Strait, seating in Messina; an association gathering Greeks and individuals with Greek origins, permanently or provisionally resident in the province of Messina, Reggio Calabria, Vibo Valentia, Catanzaro and Crotone, known also with the acronym C.E.D.S. The association is apolitical, nondenominational and non-profit; it organizes cultural events and free Greek language courses.

  2. 2.

    Individuals coming from non-EU countries have to acquire the visa. Once legally entered Italy, they have to apply for the residency permit for the same reason they received the visa. About 80% of the Italian visas is granted for tourism (after 3 months of legal permanence, the immigrants enter the world of illegality if they do not regularize their position). Business, family and subordinate work are the residuals motivations for visa [37, p. 46].

References

  1. Ripley, B.D.: Spatial statistics. Wiley, New York (1981)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Campione, G.: Messina... qui comincia la Sicilia: “topografia della memoria”. Edizioni Studium, Messina (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Città di Messina: Messina Città Metropolitana. Connettere sogni—generare futuro. Messina (2015). https://www.cittametropolitana.me.it/in-evidenza/masterplan/

  4. Gigante, A.I.: Lineamenti di morfologia urbana di Messina nel XVII secolo. In: Di Bella, S. (ed.), La rivolta di Messina (1674–1678) e il mondo mediterraneo nella seconda metà del Seicento. Proceeding of Convegno storico internazionale 10–12 ottobre 1975. Luigi Pellegrini Editore, pp. 445–456 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Provincia Regionale di Messina: Piano Territoriale Provinciale—PTP, approvato con delibera del consiglio provinciale n. 19 del 13/02/2008 (2008). http://www.provincia.messina.sitr.it/ptp.html

  6. Galletta, F.: Messina, la persistenza del segno. Le tracce della città del 1908 dentro il piano di ricostruzione: il caso di via Risorgimento. In: Fiandaca, O., Lione, R. (eds.), Il sisma. Ricordare, prevenire, progettare. Alinea Editrice, Firenze, pp. 237–248 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Fumia, A.: Messina la capitale dimenticata. Addictions-Magenes Editoriale (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gigante, A.I.: Le città nella storia d’Italia, Messina. Laterza, Bari (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Alibrandi, F., Salemi A (1988) Dall’Unità al terremoto. In: Giuseppe Campione (ed) Il progetto urbano di Messina: documenti per l'identità 1860–1988. Roma, Gangemi Editore, pp 93–198 (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Battaglia, R.: Messina tra crisi e tentativi di rilancio dal “lungo Ottocento” al terremoto. In: Baglio, A., Bottari, S. (eds.), Messina dalla vigilia del terremoto del 1908 all’avvio della ricostruzione. Istituto di studi storici Gaetano Salvemini, Messina, pp. 57–70 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Campione, G., Puglisi, G., Callegari, P.: La furia di Poseidon. Messina 1908 e dintorni. Silvana Editoriale 1 360 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Caminiti, L.: La grande diaspora: 28 dicembre 1908 la politica dei soccorsi tra carità e bilanci. GBM, Messina (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Di Leo, L.G.: Messina, una città ricostruita. Materiali per lo studio di una realtà urbana. In: Lo Curzio, M. (ed.), Atti del seminario del 15/5/1982. Edizioni Dedalo, Bari (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gigante, A.I.: Messina. Storia della città tra processi urbani e rappresentazioni iconografiche. Laterza, Messina (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Barone, G.: Stato, società e gerarchie urbane nel terremoto del 1908. In: Baglio, A., Bottari, S. (eds.), Messina dalla vigilia del terremoto del 1908 all’avvio della ricostruzione. Istituto di studi storici Gaetano Salvemini, Messina, pp. 411–424 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Casablanca, A.: Impatto ambientale e inquinamento a Messina. Armando Siciliano Editore, Messina (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Scrofani, L. (2018). Le aree urbane nei processi di periferizzazione e di sviluppo del Mezzogiorno, in Sussidiarietà e… giovani al Sud. Rapporto sulla Sussidiarietà 2017/2018, Fondazione Sussidiarietà, Milano, pp. 167–198

    Google Scholar 

  18. Comune di Messina (2016) Messina dal 1861 ad oggi. L’evoluzione della popolazione in città attraverso i censimenti generali. Messina. Available via http://srvwebced.comune.messina.it/index.php

  19. Cusumano, E.: The future of irregular migration to Europe. In: Villa, M. (ed.), The future of migration to Europe, Ledizioni LediPublishing, Milano (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Comune di Messina (2018) Bilancio demografico comunale. Report del Servizio Statistica Dipartimento Servizi al Cittadino del Comune di Messina, Anno 2018

    Google Scholar 

  21. Saitta, P. (2013). Quota zero. Messina dopo il terremoto: la ricostruzione infinita. Donzelli, Roma

    Google Scholar 

  22. Zampieri, P.P.: Esplorazioni urbane. Urban art, patrimoni culturali e beni comuni. Rimozioni, implicazioni e prospettive della prima ricostruzione italiana (Messina 1908–2018). Il Mulino, Bologna (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Freeman, L., Pilger, J., Alexander, W.: A Measure of Segregation Based Upon Spatial Arrangements. University of Hawaii (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Schelling, T.C.: Dynamic models of segregation. J. Math. Sociol. 1(2), 143–186 (1971)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  25. Clark, W.A.V., Fossett, M.: Understanding the social context of the Schelling segregation model. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 105(11), 4109–4114 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Diggle, P.J.: Statistical analysis of spatial point patterns, 2nd edn. Edward Arnold, London (2003)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  27. Almquist, Z.W., Butts, C.T.: Point process models for household distributions within small areal units. Demogr. Res. S13(22), 593–632 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Kumar, N.: Spatial sampling design for a demographic and health survey. Popul. Res. Policy Rev. 26(5–6), 581–599 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Matthews, S.A., Parker, D.M.: Progress in spatial demography. Demogr. Res. 28(10), 271–312 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Baddeley, A., Møller, J., Waagepetersen, R.: Non- and semi-parametric estimation of interaction in inhomogeneous point patterns. Stat. Neerl. 54(3), 329–350 (2000)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  31. Harvey, D.: Geographic processes and the analysis of point patterns: testing models of diffusion by quadrat sampling. Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 40, 81–95 (1966)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Mazza, A., Punzo, A.: Spatial attraction in migrants’ settlement patterns in the city of Catania. Demogr. Res. 35(5), 117–138 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Diggle, P.J., Gomez-Rubio, V., Brown, P.E., Chetwynd, A., Gooding, S.: Second-order analysis of inhomogeneous spatial point processes using case-control data. Biometrics 63(2), 550–557 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  34. Baddeley, A., Turner, R.: Spatstat: An R package for analyzing spatial point patterns. J. Stat. Soft. 12(6), 1–42 (2005). http://www.jstatsoft.org/v12/i06/

  35. Tobler, W.R.: Smooth pycnophylactic interpolation for geographical regions. J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 74(367), 519–530 (1979)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  36. R Core Team: R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna (2019). http://www.R-project.org/

  37. Caritas e Migrantes: XXV Rapporto Immigrazione 2015. La cultura dell’incontro. Tau, Todi (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Altavilla, A.M., Mazza, A.: On the analysis of immigrant settlement patterns using quadrat counts: the case of the city of Catania (Italy). Adv. Appl. Stat. 29(2), 111–123 (2012)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  39. Licciardello, O., Damigella, D.: Immigrants and natives: ways of constructing new neighbourhoods in Catania, Sicily. In: Armbruster, H., Meinhof, U.H. (eds.) Negotiating Multicultural Europe: Borders, Networks, Neighbourhoods, pp. 141–158. Palgrave Macmillan, London (2011)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  40. Mucciardi, M., Altavilla, A., Mazza, A.: AM: Analysis of the residential pattern of foreign immigrants in Catania using GWR modelling. Rivista Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica 71(2) (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Busetta, A., Mazza, A., Stranges, M.: Residential segregation of foreigners: an analysis of the Italian city of Palermo. Genus 71(2–3), 177–198 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Mazza, A., Gabrielli, G., Strozza, S.: Residential segregation of foreign immigrants in Naples. Spat. Demogr. 6(1), 71–87 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Benassi, F., Bitonti, F., Mazza, A., Strozza, S.: Sri Lankans’ residential segregation and spatial inequalities in Southern Italy: an empirical analysis using fine-scale data on regular lattice geographies. Qual. Quant. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01434-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. MacDonald, J.S., MacDonald, L.D.: Chain migration, ethnic neighbourhood formation and social networks. Milbank Mem. Fund Q. 42(1), 82–97 (1964)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Economia e Impresa, Università Degli Studi di Catania, Catania, Italy

    Francesca Bitonti, Angelo Mazza & Luigi Scrofani

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive, Psicologiche, Università Degli Studi di Messina, Pedagogiche e Degli Studi Culturali, Messina, Italy

    Massimo Mucciardi

Authors
  1. Francesca Bitonti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Angelo Mazza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Massimo Mucciardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Luigi Scrofani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luigi Scrofani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Eugenio Brentari

  2. Department of Economics, Business and Statistics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Marcello Chiodi

  3. Statistical Computing Laboratory, Faculty of Informatics, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

    Ernst-Jan Camiel Wit

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Bitonti, F., Mazza, A., Mucciardi, M., Scrofani, L. (2023). Urban Transformations and the Spatial Distribution of Foreign Immigrants in Messina. In: Brentari, E., Chiodi, M., Wit, EJ.C. (eds) Models for Data Analysis. SIS 2018. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 402. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15885-8_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation