A local regression approach to studying single-person households and social isolation in the main Spanish cities: a new pathway of socio-spatial polarization?

The growing number of people living alone in single-person households is a recent trend which reveals the growing incidence of loneliness and social isolation. Loneliness has traditionally been associated with ageing, and problems of health and well-being. However, voluntarily loneliness among young people and professional groups is now on the rise, possibly linked to growing individualism, narcissism and, spatially, to a new dimension of socio-spatial segregation. This makes single-person households highly heterogeneous nowadays, and lends greater importance to their study. To address this issue, a census tract analysis was conducted in the four largest Spanish cities to examine the socio-spatial characteristics of single-person households. The study explored both their global traits and spatial and local heterogeneity using Geographically Weighted Regression models. Our results show that, in urban Spain, these types of households are closely linked to the presence of the immigrant population from the EU, the ageing population and people of working age, and show an inverse relationship with income level at local scale. This inverse relationship, together with the significant geographical concentration of single-person households, is of particular interest to ehp us draw conclusions which could facilitate planning and social dynamics in the cities analyzed. Finally, we reflect on the challenges that living alone and social isolation poses in the social context, and the importance of analyzing its effects and of promoting public urban policies that favor social cohesion and social encounters.