Cities in Motion: Mobility, Migration Selectivity and Demographic Change in Belgian Cities, 1846-1910

Abstract

with details of the nature of the infringement. We will investigate the claim and if justified, we will take the appropriate steps.

The Democratization of Long-Distance Migration: Trajectories and Flows during the “Mobility Transition,” 1850–1910

“…A similar "elite" nature of foreign migration was also noticed in the capital city of Brussels in the same period (De Schaepdrijver 1990). After observing that single foreign migration to Antwerp feminized considerably between 1850 and 1880 (Greefs and Winter 2016), we embarked on the current, more encompassing research endeavor in which we extend our time frame to 1910 and include all international newcomers, in order to make the evolution of the social selectivity of distance over time our prime focus.…”

“…Recorded immigration from abroad fluctuated around 1,000 in the early 1860s, increasing to around 3,000 to 4,000 in the 1890s, and surpassing 6,000 in the years leading up to World War I. Over the same period, the proportion of foreign nationals in the city's overall population expanded from 6.82% in the 1856 census to 11.16% in 1910 (Greefs and Winter 2020a; Statistique de la Belgique 1856-1910; Verslag over het bestuur en den zakentoestand der Stad Antwerpen 1865-1911).…”

“…excluding "regularization" files, expulsion files, signalements, etc). See also Greefs and Winter (2016).…”

“…In addition, 5% of Antwerp's newcomers in 1910 had first resided in Brussels, Belgium's capital city located at c. 45 km distance, which offered a nearby alternative destination (Goddeeris 2013). Although unfortunately the foreigners' files do not inform us of newcomers' subsequent mobility, there is no doubt that most of them moved on again (Greefs and Winter 2020a), making their stay in Antwerp one stage in their increasingly wide and complex migration trajectories.…”

“…Yet in the second half of the nineteenth century, women started to participate in greater numbers in foreign migrationalthough the evolution was not linear. Female catch-up in foreign migration took place primarily between mid-century and the 1880s (Greefs and Winter 2016). Local annual statistics (available from 1863 onwards) show that women made up about 50% of Antwerp's foreign immigrants in the 1860s to 1880s, but only c. 40% in the 1890s and 1900s (Gemeenteblad 1850(Gemeenteblad -1915.…”