Socioeconomic inequality is on the rise in major European cities, as are concerns over it, since it is seen as a threat to social cohesion and stability. Surprisingly, relatively little is known about the spatial dimensions of rising socioeconomic inequality. This paper builds on a study of socioeconomic segregation in 12 European cities: Amsterdam, Athens, Budapest, London, Madrid, Oslo, Prague, Riga, Stockholm, Tallinn, Vienna, and Vilnius. Data used derive from national censuses and registers for 2001 and 2011. The main conclusion is that socioeconomic segregation has increased. This paper develops a rigorous multifactor approach to understand segregation and links it to four underlying, partially overlapping, structural factors: social inequalities, globalization and economic restructuring, welfare regimes, and housing systems. Taking into account contextual factors resulted in a better understanding of actual segregation levels, while introducing time lags between structural factors and segregation outcomes will likely further improve the theoretical model. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Cities in the formerly centrally planned countries in the Soviet Union and Central Eastern Europe have transformed rapidly since the political and economic restructuring started in the late 1980s. To date, the main focus of research has been on new urban phenomena, particularly inner-city change and suburbanisation. However, these changes affect only a minority of the population, because most people still live in pre-transition housing stock. This study clarifies population changes in the most distinctive type of housing in the state socialist cities, high-rise prefabricated panel housing estates, in the light of the reform of housing privatisation. Many researchers have assumed that panel housing estates would quickly downgrade in the course of transition towards a market economy. However, the main results of the study show that these areas have maintained a relatively good image and social mix to the present day and that there are no straightforward signs of their socio-economic downgrading or becoming ethnic minority ghettos.

This paper provides new insights into the relationships between income inequality and residential segregation between socioeconomic groups by undertaking a comparative study of European urban regions. In Europe, income inequalities are the lowest in North Europe and the highest in South Europe. In many East European countries, a switch from low inequality to high inequality has taken place. The main findings show that changes in the levels of residential segregation between socioeconomic groups correlate to changes in the levels of income inequality found approximately 10 years earlier, that is, with a time lag.