Immigration et intégration : trajectoires résidentielles (inter)nationales et dynamiques ségrégatives locales au Luxembourg

For small states like Luxembourg, the stability and economic growth depend on migration. This contribution of new populations is, however, a strongly contrasted migration : highly qualified and less qualified workers. In a pragmatic perspective, migrants need to integrate the housing market. In this context of integration, the housing market in Luxembourg is characterized by high prices for either the purchase or the rental of a dwelling. The property of a single-family house is also being a “dominant residential model”. So what is the positioning of migrants compared to the nationals in the Luxembourg housing market ? Is the residential integration is possible and desired by migrants according to their qualification level and their country of origin ? To study these questions, two approaches are used : 1) residential segregation indices, 2) descriptive portraits of households’ residential mobility. The data analyzed come from the longitudinal European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for Luxembourg (PSELL2, 1994-2002) and the Luxembourg national census (STATEC, 1991, 2001). The results show that house ownership access is easier for highly qualified foreigners as well as the Nationals independently of their qualification level. This being said, less qualified households, especially foreigners, are facing more difficulties for integration. The government housing support programs facilitate access for less qualified households to the housing market. However, the same housing programs conduct them to the “dominant residential model”. The observed mobility in the housing market, as well as on the territory, suggests different aspirations and strategies of integration for specific migrant categories. If these residential trajectories lead to integration, they also suggest slow residential segregation dynamics which are connected to the top of the socio-economic scale.