More than Four Decades of Squatting: Cycles, Waves and Stages of Autonomous Urban Politics in European Cities

Abstract

This chapter aims at comparing different periods of squatting in nine European cities. Due to the disparities in the data and development of each squatters’ movement, the analysis is mainly focused on the Central-Northern Europe cities (Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris), on the one hand, and the Southern Europe cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Rome), on the other. This geographical distinction finds significant similarities among the squatters’ movement of each group of cities. Piazza and Martínez summarise the nature, duration, patterns and continuity/discontinuity of the protest cycles, waves of contention and the specific stages that signalled the evolution of the squatters’ movements. They also identify socio-spatial and political opportunity structures in order to explain the cyclical shifts of squatting.