Investigating the local socio-spatial integration of the Belval knowledge district into Esch/Alzette: A dissimilarity-based approach

The social and spatial integration of knowledge-related urban development projects into their urban environment is seen by policymakers as a necessity to unlock local and regional growth dynamics and regeneration. However, the understanding of socio-spatial integration, and how it can be scientifically analysed and interpreted at a local scale remains somewhat vague when the concept is not approached in its totality and measured by unidimensional indicators. The current article first proposes a holistic and multidimensional analytical framework to measure and analyse the socio-spatial integration of knowledge districts. Then, it focuses on one specific dimension – the structural dissimilarities between territories – and suggests an indicator-based multivariate analysis that is applied to the case of Belval, in Esch/Alzette (Luxembourg). Our findings for the Belval case study show that the structural dissimilarities between knowledge districts and adjacent neighbourhoods are mainly due to the young, international and professional profile of the population this place attracts, while differentials in terms of socio-economic status are much less significant than expected. In other words, the specificity of this knowledge district lies in the educational and migratory backgrounds of its inhabitants, rather than in their economic wealth. Accordingly, we call for a more nuanced debate concerning the urban integration of knowledge districts.