The Big Sort? Functional Segregation in the reurbanized city-region

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Germany's major cities have experienced an unprecedented population boom in the past 15 years, accom-panied by equally strong economic growth. This development, often referred to as reurbanization, is contro-versially discussed in spatial and urban research in terms of its functional-morphological and socio-spatial effects. Frequently, reference is made to a multidimensional gentrification process and the associated so-cial exclusion risks. Social displacement and new forms of suburbanization of poverty are considered markers of a dynamic socio-spatial restructuring of urban regions in the Western world. While the phenomenon of gentrification can now be considered comparatively well researched, the effects of reurbanization on non-residential functions and land uses have rarely been the subject of research to date. Whereas forms of displacement of lower-yielding branches (such as craft businesses) from densely populated cities and the associated risk of a functional segregation have been the subject of urban policy debate, there are hardly any in-depth empirical studies devoted to this topic.The proposed research project is designed to fill this research gap. It will investigate whether and to what extent forms of commercial displacement have occurred in large German city regions and – if evidence of such processes is found – which causal factors can be identified. It is assumed that business relocations can be understood both as a process of adaptation to changing local market conditions and as the result of deliberate urban development policies aimed at strengthening residential uses and/or higher-value economic uses in cities.The empirical analyses are limited to craft enterprises, which are assumed to be particularly vulnerable to displacement from the core cities as a comparatively low-return industry. Five metropolitan regions in North Rhine-Westphalia serve as case studies, in which the location structures of the crafts sector and the chang-es between 2010 and 2020 are examined. In terms of methodology, the strongly explorative project will op-erate with a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods.