“Sharing space without hanging together”: A case study of social mix policy in Milan

• We studied the effects of a social mix policy on social cohesion in Milan, Italy.
• At first sight, the residents experience a strong feeling of social cohesion.
• A deeper analysis shows that some groups are excluded from the local community.
• Social mix in itself is not sufficient to produce social cohesion.
• A greater role in creating community bonds is played by neighbourhood associations.

At the turn of the new millennium the reform of the Italian constitution (2001) marked a change from national to local welfare. Housing policies shifted from central state provision towards a multi-level local governance organised into partnerships between regions, municipalities, third sector and private investors. Lombardy, and specifically Milan, has attempted to implement in the local housing policy agenda the principles and goals stemming from the European debate. Especially the notion of social mix has become a keyword in the Milanese housing policy, both for new social housing developments, and for regeneration programmes targeting existing social housing estates. Social mix is increasingly seen as a means to avoid segregation and to enhance social cohesion, however not much attention has been devoted so far to evaluate the effects of social mix policies on the inhabitants’ lives. This paper will focus on the Villaggio Grazioli project, a recent example of social mix policy in Milan. The aim of the paper is to investigate the relation between social mix and social cohesion at a neighbourhood level. At first sight, the residents experience a strong feeling of social cohesion. However, a deeper analysis shows that some social groups are still excluded from the local community. Social mix in itself is not sufficient to create social cohesion. A greater role is played by active policies aimed at making residents interact and hang together.