1 Introduction

One of the main challenges for urban policies is the decay experienced by certain neighborhoods. Neighborhood decay is a complex process conditioned both by macroeconomic aspects, like international financial crisis (Zwiers et al., 2016) and by national or local elements, such as welfare systems, or urban regeneration policies, (Cochrane, 2007; Murie & Musterd, 2004). The study of neighborhood decay has remained very attentive to economic processes of deprivation such as inequality, unemployment, and poverty (Amin, 2007; Domínguez et al., 2012; Smith, 2002; Zwiers et al, 2016). But it also has been focused on social cohesion and demographic changes, especially considering neighborhood coexistence in areas with high concentration of low-income migrants (Echazarra, 2010; Leal & Sorando, 2016; Sorando et al., 2021; Vermeulen et al., 2012). The presence of negative socioeconomic indicators is not always perceived as evidence of neighborhood decay (Somarriba et al., 2022), since to economic factors of deprived neighborhood it is necessary to add the residents’ subjective perception (Burrows & Rhodes, 1998). For this article, a broad definition of neighborhood decay will be used, understanding it not only as a lack of resources typical of the deprived neighborhood, but as a subjective perception of the negative socioeconomic, demographic, or vital conditions in which the neighborhood develops.

Neighborhood decay has consequences that worsen residents’ living conditions such as increasing perception of insecurity (Caldeira, 2000), reducing social cohesion (Cassiers & Kesteloot, 2012), and stigmatization (Wacquant, 1993). Dissatisfaction with the neighborhood environment triggers different type of reactions (Dagdeviren et al., 2017; Puntenney, 1997). When the neighborhood is perceived in terms of inequality and injustice, and residents are exposed to structural violence (Rylko-Bauer & Farmer, 2016), the concept of dissatisfaction is not fully sufficient. Addressing the structural conditions of life in certain neighborhoods makes it necessary to review the value of agency and the way in which the most vulnerable groups face their reality from the invention of their everyday life (De Certeau, 1984). In this sense, Cumbers et al. (2010) have previously highlighted the importance of knowing how different strategies and practices are developed within disadvantaged areas to “get ahead”.

The study of the responses to dissatisfaction finds an important roadmap to follow in the work of Hirschman (1970). The exit, voice, and loyalty (EVL) model was created to understand how markets work. However, this analytical framework has been previously applied to the study of responses to housing dissatisfaction and decaying neighborhoods (Bengtsson & Bohman, 2021; Chisholm et al., 2016; Dowding et al., 2000; Orbell & Uno, 1972; Pereira & Queirós, 2014; Permentier et al., 2007; Van der Land & Doff, 2010; Van Vught et al., 2003).

The figure of the neighbor reflects the interaction of economic, social, and political elements on which the EVL model is based. On one hand, the neighbor is either a tenant or an owner who acts in the market (Cox, 1983) as a recognized service demander based on their purchasing capacity (Canclini, 1995). On the other hand, the neighbor is also seen as a citizen affected by a set of political rights (Atkinson, 1994; Font & Galais, 2011). Finally, the figure of the neighbor is developed in a context of interaction that involves bonds of identity, attachment, and loyalty, which shape the neighbor as a social subject (Jacobs, [1961] 2016; Sorando & Ardura, 2016; Vidal et al., 2013).

Madrid is the third largest city in Europe just after London and Paris, and one characterized by large and rising social inequalities (Janoschka, 2015; Sorando et al., 2021). Since 1960, Madrid has been an important migratory focus, initially of a national origin, but since the late 1990s the city has received large numbers of international migrant workers. The percentage of foreign-born residents in Madrid in 2017, when the fieldwork was conducted, was 20.16% of the total. (Madrid City Hall Databank, 2017). Not all the foreign-born population can be considered economic migrants. Statistical data in Spain specifically records the situation of the foreign-born population, those born in another country. This is an administrative condition that is different from the social and economic condition of economic migrants. Thus, while the EU migrant communities, for example, may have similar rights to the Spanish population, the non-EU migrant population does not. Migrant population in cities is distributed very unevenly, and Madrid is a good example of high concentration of low-income migrants in the deprived neighborhoods (Hernández Aja et al., 2015; Jiménez Blasco et al., 2020). In this article we use the category of migrants since the non-Spanish inhabitants of the San Diego neighborhood are all economic migrants.

Research on neighborhood dissatisfaction has had a significant impact on understanding residential mobility (Clark et al., 2006; Kearns & Parkes, 2003) and social participation (Mazanti &Pløger, 2003). However, studies on reactions to neighborhood dissatisfaction in deprived environments in Spain remain limited (Pérez et al., 2015; Renes Ayala, 2015). This study aims to analyze how residents in a deprived neighborhood such as San Diego in Madrid perceive and respond to the dissatisfaction it provokes, without assessing the specific processes that explain neighborhood decay. Specifically, we study how Hirschman's EVL framework explains responses to perceived dissatisfaction. Additionally, we contribute to the extension of Hirschman's model by incorporating the study of resistance as a complementary category that deepen the analysis of neighborhood responses. A qualitative methodology was applied to analyze the discourses of residents by conducting fourteen focus groups with diverse profiles according to gender, age, socio-labor situation, and geographical origin.

1.1 Exit, voice, and loyalty as a response to neighborhood decaying

The first option, exit, represents the choice offered by the market. In the context of neighborhood decay, it translates into moving to another safer and/or less decayed area (Clark et al., 2006). When a customer is dissatisfied with a product or service, exit represents the simplest option; however, when transferred to the case of housing, exit is not so easy to carry out (Kearns & Parkes, 2003). The possibility of leaving the neighborhood and moving to another one is costly, especially for groups with fewer resources (Hirschman, 1981, p. 220). In addition, moving to another neighborhood does not fully guarantee satisfaction since it cannot be assured that the new destination will not also be in a state of decay (Van der Land & Doff, 2010).

For Hirschman, exit is a dichotomous choice, you either leave or you don't, however, this choice has also been treated as a continuous variable (Van der Land & Doff, 2010). Partial exit becomes a viable option for those who cannot afford to move. In this way, they opt to “partially leave the neighborhood”, for example, by withdrawing to other places or avoiding the use of public space (Orbell & Uno, 1972; Van der Land & Doff, 2010).

Exit, although exercised individually, has collective effects. Market orthodoxy assumes that consumer exit, as a response to dissatisfaction, is a wake-up call that helps to improve the product. However, in social terms, the exit is interpreted in negative terms since the move does not improve the decayed neighborhood. On the one hand, a high turnover of the population that makes up the neighborhood favors an increase in exit (Feijten & Van Ham, 2009) and, on the other hand, the possibility of an easy exit atrophies the use of voice (Hirschman, 1970, p. 81), limiting social cohesion and decapitalizing the neighborhood through the loss of the most active or resourceful people (Hirschman, 1970; Orbell & Uno, 1972).

Voice, on the contrary, when understood as "any attempt at all to change, … through individual or collective petition … appeal to a higher authority … or through various types of actions and protests" (Hirschman, 1970, p. 30), represents the political option in the face of dissatisfaction. The voice arouses great interest in the political literature since it is interpreted as the option that best helps to improve neighborhood conditions (Orbell & Uno, 1972).

There is no consensus in the analysis on the predisposition of different groups to using voice. Hirschman pointed out that those who prioritized “safety, cleanliness and good schools” would be the first to use the exit (1970, p. 51) and move away from voice. There are several reasons that limit the ability of voice as an option. At the macro level, unsafe or oppressive contexts can hinder or prevent the use of voice (Dornschneider, 2021). At the meso level, difficulties in the use of voice can stem from insufficient organizational capacity (Berroeta & Sandoval, 2014). At the micro level, the difficulties of voice can be analyzed in terms of the problems of collective action and the framework of individual rationality in decision-making (Olson, 1965). Additionally, positive experiences with the use of voice can reactivate its use, whereas ineffectiveness in its use can discourage further attempts (Lister, 2006).

In Spain, the use of the voice in the face of neighborhood discontent occurs through associations (Navarro, 2004). Neighborhood associations played a key role in the Spanish political democratization (Villasante, 1984, 2008). In the last decade of the Franco dictatorship, given the difficulties for direct political expression, the neighborhood associations channeled social discontent towards specific and local issues; the lack of basic public services (sewerage, schools, transport…) in the peripheral neighborhoods was one of the most evident. Since then, they have maintained the role of neighborhood representation; they constitute membership organizations that, nevertheless, direct their actions towards the entire neighborhood. Over time, their demands have varied substantially. Reducing their political weight and turning their attention to the generation of services in the field of leisure, health, and free time. However, they maintain an important institutional recognition in the configuration of urban policies (Ruano, 2010).

In the Spanish context, the use of voice as an expression of discontent is limited to the participation of a small number group of individuals who are “always the same”, and who are already active members of political associations (Navarro & Font, 2013). The interest of Spanish citizens in using their voice through active political participation had been considered as a low interest in the past (Morales, 2005). However, after the economic crisis of 2008, the 15 M/Indignados movement (Abellán et al., 2012; Castañeda, 2012) and the mass protests against austerity measures across the country, had an international impact. (Funes et al., 2020; Hughes, 2011). The election of a left municipalist platform for the city hall in Madrid (2015–2019) and Barcelona (2015–2023) was one of the most important effects of those social mobilizations.

The significant limitations in the use of voice explain the interest in exploring its full potential beyond its traditionally collective and dichotomous character. Thus Dowding et al. (2000) understand voice as a continuous variable with different degrees of involvement over which individual or collective use is possible. In Spain, different mechanisms, such as digital platforms, have been implemented to promote individual participation outside of associations, (Font, 2002). However, associations played an important role in local governance, and they continue to serve as the heart that activates the voice in neighborhoods (Ruano, 2010).

The third option, loyalty, has been explained in terms of attachment to the neighborhood based on identity and the weight of social ties (Graham & Keeley, 1992). In this sense, the study of loyalty in the social sphere is more suggestive and complex than the analysis of loyalty from the point of view of the market (Permentier et al., 2007).

Loyalty is the most problematic concept in its theoretical conception (Graham & Keeley, 1992; Navarro & Ramírez, 2006). In contrast to exit or voice, which appear as proactive responses, loyalty is an ambiguous option, usually subordinated to the achievement of voice or exit. Its ambiguity lies in the indefiniteness of its effects. At times, loyalty is interpreted as a passive strategy with a high degree of tolerance with respect to the deterioration of the neighborhood. It is a loyalty that does not result in an increase in voice (Scott, 1989). However, this does not seem to be the first interpretation of Hirschman for whom loyalty avoids exit and activates voice (1970).

The fact that the first two options, voice, and exit, are costly and that the third, loyalty, is somewhat ambiguous, has led the authors to seek complementary answers. In a context of dissatisfaction with the decay of the neighborhood, staying in the neighborhood without moving and not participating in mobilizations or protest actions would necessarily lead to loyalty, whether passive or active. However, it seems possible to think of other possibilities. This is where the option of resistance appears.

1.2 Resistance in the face of neighborhood dissatisfaction

The concept of resistance has been gaining attention in the last decades. Previous research described resistance as a response of spontaneous and unorganized defiance or opposition to a situation that generates discomfort (Hollander & Einwohner, 2004; Scott, 1985). Later studies, however, focused on the existence of deliberate elements aimed at obstructing forms of subjugation or domination (Dornschneider, 2021), reflecting their capacity to renegotiate norms, construct new spaces for interaction and, finally, influence policymaking (Polese et al., 2016; Vinthagen & Johansson, 2013).

With regards to the EVL model, resistance has been considered as a rejection of a situation of domination that occupies a position between voice and exit (Polese et al., 2016). However, resistance is more commonly associated with voice, as both require the presence of political elements. Nevertheless, resistance develops in everyday life, lacking the public visibility and expectations of change associated with voice. Voice uses the established mechanisms from the public sphere through collective action, while in resistance, politics is conceived as infrapolitics, a weapon which allows to renegotiate power relations quietly (Scott, 1985). This component makes resistance a tool for the expression of agency, especially for the weakest (De Certeau, 1984).

The hostility of resistance to forms of power is an intriguing topic that does not find consensus in the literature. Two different interpretations exist regarding power and how resistance challenges any exercise of domination. A first view, from a structuralist point of view, understands power in a hierarchical sense with repressive functions and associated with groups that hold authority. Then, for Scott (1989), resistance is depicted as a mechanical response to different forms of hierarchical domination. A second vision, post-structuralist and Foucauldian, conceives power as ubiquitous and present in all groups. From here, resistance acts as a strategy of interaction between groups that hold and exercise some form of power vis-à-vis others (Johansson & Vinthagen, 2016).

Neighborhood resistance is used to refer to very different practices: from a proud attitude towards the authorities to the perseverance in the maintenance of daily practices developed in oppressed environments (Dornschneider, 2021), through the exercise of illegal activities aimed at sustaining basic needs (Scott, 1990; Vinthagen & Johansson, 2013). All of them have been categorized as defiant resistance directed towards the agents causing the decay, seeking the improvement, symbolic or instrumental, of the most quotidian.

Hirschman's classic scheme in the face of dissatisfaction leaves some limitations to the residents of deprived neighborhoods, who cannot always use the simple paths of exit or voice. Resistance is perceived as an option to voice as it is sometimes presented as the most usual and individual expressive possibility (Pereira & Queirós, 2014; Van der Land & Doff, 2010) or the only possible one as in the case of oppressive environments (Dornschneider, 2021).

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: first we present the research design and methodology. Next, we present the results of the qualitative fieldwork based on fourteen focus groups. The paper ends with the discussion of key findings and the conclusion in the final section.

2 Methodology

This work is part of a study aimed at analyzing social inequalities in urban health in different neighborhoods of the city of Madrid, Spain from a qualitative perspective. At the same time, this qualitative study was part of the Heart Healthy Hoods project, aimed to study health in cities.

The qualitative project where this work is included studied three neighborhoods with different socioeconomic status (SES) in the city of Madrid: San Diego (low SES), El Pilar (middle SES) and Nueva España (high SES). The results and analysis of this study focused, however, on exploring neighborhood coping with dissatisfaction in San Diego, the low SES neighborhood. (Rivera-Navarro et al., 2020). Neighborhood dissatisfaction is addressed in this study as it arose spontaneously in the discourse of the participants. The use of qualitative methodology made possible to explore this emergent result as a fundamental category in the knowledge of the neighborhood. This made it possible to analyze complex aspects, such as the strategies that residents use to cope with neighborhood decline (Taylor et al., 2015).

The selection of the neighborhood that represents low socioeconomic status is based on several indicators: percentage of unemployment, percentage of international migrants, percentage of temporal and part-time jobs, percentage of population with non-university studies, percentage of illiteracy, and percentage of households with a single parent and one or more children.

At the time the research team made the selection, San Diego was the second poorest neighborhood in the city of Madrid and 19% rate of unemployment (Madrid City Hall Databank, 2014). It is a Spanish-working class neighborhood with strong identity that dates back a long time. The neighborhood received many under-skilled low-income economic migrants in the last two decades. Economic migrants are more concentrated in deprived neighborhoods (Echazarra, 2010). San Diego had 39,323 residents in 2018 and the economic migrant population rate in the neighborhood was 28.9% of the total population. The presence of the Roma community is also important in the neighborhood, although there is no specific data in the census as they are part of the Spanish population.

The results of this study derive from 14 focus groups (Table 1). Focus groups allowed the researchers to explore the magnitude of the perception of neighborhood decay for residents and their reactions to dissatisfaction. Using open questions without restricting the discourse of the participants, allowed us to examine this emerging category, which is important enough to be analyzed in detail.

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of focus group participants
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The research team conducted purposeful sampling to select participants with predetermined criteria in line with the research objectives (Green & Thorogood, 2018) to analyze the reactions of the residents to the decline of the neighborhood. A maximum variation sampling (Patton, 2014) was conducted considering the socio-demographic characteristics of gender, educational level, employment status, income, family responsibilities, place of birth, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and participation in health and physical activity programs (Rivera-Navarro et al., 2020).

The selected participants were residents of the neighborhood between the ages of 35 and 85 (Table 2). In 2018, population over 35 years of age represented 58.5% of the total, but 48.6% of the economic migrant population, younger than the Spanish population. The reason why younger people have not been included is because the initial Heart Healthy Hoods study was aimed at people who were part of a population at risk of cardiovascular disease. This issue has conditioned our study to focus on the adult and elderly population and not to include young people.

Table 2 Characteristics of the study participants in focus groups
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A professional sociological research agency with experience in qualitative research was hired for recruitment. That agency used networking techniques and advertisements placed in social services, public services, and health centers with contact information and information about the research project to recruit the participants. Participants were required to have lived in the neighborhood for at least 5 years. The positive response rate was high, as 92% of the people contacted by the agency who matched the profile participated in the data collection.

Regarding nationality, there were 31% of economic migrants (28 participants), slightly higher that their representation in the neighborhood (28.9%). Except for one participant, born in Morocco, the rest were born in Central and South America. This has to do with the fact that the economic migrant groups with the greatest presence in Madrid came from South America (47%) and Central America (12.5%) (Madrid City Hall Databank, 2018). Besides, the Spanish language required to participate in FG, explains their higher representation over other nationalities.

2.1 Data collection methods

The script for focus groups was developed and agreed upon by the research team. This included questions about the physical and social environment of the neighborhood (e.g., public spaces, infrastructures, and relations in the neighborhood), and specific questions about health and well-being behaviors (physical activity, food, tobacco, and alcohol consumption). The script included questions on satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the neighborhood, but it did not include questions specifically about the reactions for dealing with dissatisfaction. “Dealing with dissatisfaction” was detected as one of the new categories that affected the low SES neighborhood, not initially foreseen in the research. This topic emerged spontaneously during the focus groups, when participants were asked about their neighborhood and the difficulties of everyday life.

The focus groups (FGs) were conducted between 2018 and 2019 following the semi structured script, which allowed the incorporation of aspects of the research that were not previously established. FGs were held in a co-working space located in the neighborhood itself and lasted approximately 90 min.

We started each FG session by asking participants how they would describe their neighborhood. This opening question was similar for each FG and was aimed at help participants talk about general perceptions about the area in which they were living. The fieldwork was conducted in Spanish, the FGs were audio recorded with the permission of the participants. The researchers took notes of aspects that could be considered for the analysis (silence on topics, elements of conflict, interaction within the group). All participants in the study received €25 and a bottle of extra virgin olive oil for participating in the research. Subsequently, the recordings were transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription team.

2.2 Data analysis

Data analysis was conducted following the principles of content analysis (Krippendorff, 2018). The fact that reactions to dissatisfaction were not one of the initial themes of the research reinforced an inductive-deductive approach in this specific work. This approach involved reading the transcripts on multiple occasions. By reading and continuously discussing the discourses of the participants, the team members were able to identify key themes, some of which were not initially contemplated, such as the issue of reactions to dissatisfaction in the neighborhood. The range of responses reflects the existence of groups with different reactions that can be adapted to Hirschman’s EVL model, which became the theoretical framework in our study.

The research team engaged in regular discussions on the themes and their interpretation until a consensus was reached.

3 Results

The results obtained from the analysis of the 14 focus groups conducted in San Diego neighborhood are presented below. The expressions of dissatisfaction are presented first, followed by the responses in accordance with the EVL model. Finally, the discourses that allude to resistance practices in the face of neighborhood dissatisfaction are collected.

3.1 Dissatisfaction with the neighborhood decaying

San Diego is a neighborhood where residents have few personal assets. Public space is a very important resource because is where social interaction, physical activity, leisure, shopping, etc. take place. Although the neighborhood has sufficient public infrastructure: parks, transport lines, stores, sidewalks for walking, etc., their poor condition does not always guarantee their use. It is in this area that dissatisfaction with the neighborhood decaying was clearly expressed.

“I used to like my neighborhood very, very much, that’s why I haven’t left. But now I think it’s terrible. It is abandoned”. (FG 3. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards).

Dissatisfaction was found to be mainly related to insecurity and dirtiness, aspects that interact with each other to create an environment in decay. The activities about which dissatisfaction was expressed were fundamentally related to violence (robbery, aggression, or threats) and disorder (public drinking or prostitution, etc.). The fact that drug sales have historically been present in the neighborhood is interpreted by long-time residents as a distinctive feature that must be endured.

“What happened to the park? Maybe there are two gangs, two gangs of young people and maybe a group of normal people are there, and in the end, they get shot or stabbed, or whatever... And ‘it’s common, ‘it’s not something you say: "oh, ’it’s the exception". No, it is common” (FG3. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and migrants)

“It's not that heroin has come back, ‘it’s that heroin ... never left. ‘It’s just that heroin never left” (FG8. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

For the elderly, dissatisfaction is often interpreted as the deterioration in relations between neighbors. Allusions to a more cordial past are constant. San Diego used to be a very homogenous population in the sixties and seventies when similar culture and social class position were shared by neighbors. Longer-term residents reported to an identity that it did not exist anymore because of the new composition of the neighborhood.

“- The problem is community. There is not much community.

- Everyone goes their own way (...) because I remember in the past, this neighborhood was a working-class neighborhood, there were many bricklayers, painters, plumbers, electricians... You talked to each other, you greeted people, you lived together, you arrived at a bar, and it was full (…)” (FG4. Males older than 65 years old. Retired. Spaniards)

Demographic changes in the neighborhood primarily refer to young people, and more specifically, economic migrants. At the time of the study, the neighborhood had an economic migrant population of almost thirty percent. In some FGs conducted exclusively with Spaniards, discourse revealed a perceived gap between an “us” (native Spaniards and long-term residents) and an undifferentiated "them" (essentially, economic migrants). This discourse conveyed the notion that economic migrants did not belong in the neighborhood. The assessment of their behavior, perceived as different from that of the Spaniards, linked the presence of economic migrants to a decline in the quality of neighborhood life.

“Latin American culture is transgressive and uses the street for everything, (...) An open place to defecate, to have sex, to smoke, to drink. (...) An open space for everything. They take the street, and they don’t respect the rules”. (FG9. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

In the FGs composed of both native Spaniards and economic migrants, this judgment was nuanced by the acknowledgement that there were not substantial differences, as negative behaviors were also exhibited by Spaniards.

“- We are different people from different countries who have a totally different way of living.

- So, some people tend to hang up their clothes when they haven’t even washed them, that’s what you see, and that’s because that’s the way they are.

- But, apart from that, there are also Spaniards who are very dirty”. (FG6. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants)

The studied neighborhood has experienced significant demographic changes in recent years, therefore the discourse of the native Spaniards clearly showed tension with the newcomers. However, not all neighbors accepted the idea of economic migrants as a threat, and some sought to identify causes of neighborhood decay beyond the neighborhood itself. In this sense, it was expressed that a deliberate use of difference and fear of the other concentrates blame on ordinary neighbors, rather than identifying responsibility of neighborhood decay among those who have higher positions in the scale of power. The fact that this discourse was challenged by the group of unemployed and precarious workers, who most frequently compete for resources with newcomers, highlights their understanding of how easily internal conflicts can arise among neighbors in culturally diverse and economically impoverished environments.

“And it’s the worst, ‘it’s... And fear is how they have terrorized the rest of us. Of course, we are not going to go after those at the top, we are going to become suspicious and resentful of those we have in front of us”. (FG10. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Unemployed and precarious workers. Spaniards)

In the FGs composed exclusively by economic migrants, dissatisfaction was also perceived and linked to difficulties in the use of public space and coexistence relations. Therefore, dissatisfaction could be considered a problem that affects all residents of the neighborhood, not just the Spaniards.

‘…Yes, taking drugs and everything…and they take over the place and prevail over the rest of neighbors, so you cannot be there’ (FG14. Males and women from 35 and 55 years old, workers and unemployed. Economic migrants).

The issue of dissatisfaction in the neighborhood was not only attributed to the demographic change. The economic and employment situation in the area was also considered significant. After the 2008 crisis, unemployment and job insecurity in the neighborhood have become widespread. Although the unemployment rate decreased when the fieldwork was conducted compared to 2008, there was no generalized perception of improvement in the neighborhood.

“Crime has increased in the area (...). But the issue is the employment problem. Not me, I work, thank God, but many......many, many don’t...” (FG8. Males from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

Finally, dissatisfaction in the neighborhood related to a perception of institutional neglect was reported. Participants were aware of the importance of municipal policies to improve the neighborhood environment. They were very critical of the public services received (cleanliness, security, maintenance…) and blamed institutional mistreatment on their own socioeconomic condition, poverty. The fact of being one of the poorest neighborhoods in Madrid ended up justifying the fact that their problems were left unattended.

“Lack of cleanliness of street sweepers .... (...) In New York they have changed the mayor and he ordered that the neighborhoods where there were more delinquency and more poor people be painted and cleaned. He reduced eighty per cent (of crime). It's a spiral, if you feel bad and the space is bad, it's going to feedback on itself. You live with the "I live in a neighborhood that... this" (...) of course the feeling is: "I am destined to live in shit"(FG9. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

3.2 Exits from the neighborhood

The results on the responses to dissatisfaction following the EVL model are presented below. Moving to other neighborhoods with better conditions, as the maximum expression of dissatisfaction, is a strategy that brings residents closer to their condition as consumers. In the focus groups conducted, there was a great awareness of the option adopted by those who "have moved out". However, in an impoverished environment like this neighborhood, moving out is not always feasible.

“- There are people who have left...

- Because I can't leave the neighborhood, otherwise....

- Me too. If I could leave, I would leave, but I can't. I think it has become old.

- I think it has become old, as if it has been ignored. And the people who used to live here have always ended up going elsewhere”. (FG3. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants.)

Financial difficulties in moving to another neighborhood with better conditions favor the search for partial exits. The idea is to "live in the neighborhood but lead a life outside it'', thus reducing the disadvantages of the environment by seeking external resources outside the neighborhood.

“We have to put the dogs in the car and take them to another park ... () our neighborhood is impossible, the one closest to us usually has pit bulls on the loose and I don't want conflicts and besides, you have them, I have them tied up, they take them loose, they come, and you already have a problem. So, you avoid conflicts, you go to quieter areas...”. (FG9. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards and economic migrants)

Partial exit from the neighborhood by avoiding public spaces was manifested in practices such as avoiding going out at night, or going out alone, not carrying money, avoiding certain places…. This response was particularly frequent in the case of women, their children, and the elderly.

“My children aren’t allowed to go down to the street. It’s forbidden, they don't go down”. (FG3.Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants)

3.3 The use of voice in the neighborhood

The use of the voice is based on the aspiration for change through collective action. Thus, the expression of voice in San Diego took the form of political protests based on social awareness and mobilization. As opposed to exit, people use voice because they feel the decay in the neighborhood should be dealt with by the political authorities from whom they demanded better intervention. It is the use of a vertical voice against the institutions that often takes the form of demonstrations or neighborhood protests.

“Here we have fought, I have seen people using syringes and had to cover my daughter's face, you know? ... and yet right now people have taken to the streets and said: "we don't want it, we don't want this here again. And well, well, for the moment they are stopping”. (FG4. Males older than 65 years old. Retired. Spaniards)

“Everything is very tense, and people were angry and there were demonstrations, this summer we had demonstrations against drugs and prostitution”. (FG6. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants.)

Long-term neighbors shared their experiences of using their voice, especially through collective actions, but also as individuals. The reasons for using their voice were numerous, however, changes and improvements were not guaranteed through its use.

“I am outraged and very disappointed. I have been to the Municipal Board on several occasions. We have made neighbor groups that we are using to try to contact each other to get together. Last year there was a cacerolada [type of protest in which residents bang pans together at a set time] against the narco-flats [illegally occupied homes for the sale and consumption of drugs]”. (FG11. Males and females older than 65 years old. Spaniards)

The history of the neighborhood points to a traditionally mobilized neighborhood. The existence of deep-rooted problems, such as the sale of drugs, keeps the neighbors on alert and reveals their activist nature. The organization of demonstrations and protests in the public space is still part of the collective memory in San Diego, however, at the time of the research, the neighborhood discourse recognized the difficulties to continue channeling dissatisfaction through the voice of the community. It seemed that it was the elderly who were the protagonists of this memory, while adults and young people were more conditioned by their concrete day-to-day problems.

“The older people are disappearing; they are the ones who were more united. Because we, young people, are more caught up in our responsibilities, don't we? They are making us robots and that's it. I go home, I don't care about anything. Unless a drug dealer has an apartment here. If I have a drug dealer’s apartment here yes: If it doesn't affect me directly, let the person next door fix it, of course” (FG6. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants).

Besides, the negative economic situation experienced by the residents of the neighborhood was not considered an element facilitating social cohesion. On the contrary, it was found that the impoverishment suffered in the last period, far from acting as a call to protest, facilitated the development of defensive and individual postures far from collective action.

“But unemployment generates... yes, that people don't talk to each other anymore (...) because I remember in the old days, you used to talk to each other, you greeted people, you socialized, (...) But when unemployment comes the mood of the people changes”. (FG4. Males older than 65 years old. Retired. Spaniards)

3.4 Neighborhood loyalty

The presence of loyalty practices in the neighborhood indicated neighborhood attachment and class pride. Being aware of the neighborhood's position and history, the residents needed to assume the reality without expecting or promoting important changes. This neighborhood identity contained feelings of resignation for knowing they were poor and different from other neighborhoods with more resources. In this case, the loyal response to dissatisfaction reflected the suffering of knowing they were poor and with few possibilities of reversing the situation. This passive loyalty is found to be especially present in the weakest groups.

“This is a working-class neighborhood and, whether we like it or not, the bad things will always affect us. I mean because the poor are always affected by bad things in a different way than the rich (...)”. (FG2. Housewives older than 65 years old. Spaniards)

But there were also identity elements that went beyond resignation in the face of deterioration. In this case, loyalty not only distanced the exit, but also favored a framework to overcome the immobility associated with neighborhood deterioration. Loyalty was seen as a way of recognizing oneself as an agency and favoring the articulation of one's voice. This case reflects how loyalty acts as a prerequisite for the expression of indignation.

“Walking down the street, you get a snot on you, they piss on you... this is true. I speak this way because it hurts me, because I don’t want to leave my neighborhood, I grew up here and it hurts me. And because it hurts me, I have the right to be indignant and to denounce what I don't like”. (FG11. Males and females older than 65 years old. Spaniards)

Although not everyone expressed it in the same way, dissatisfaction was very present in the participants of the different groups, regardless of age, sex, and socioeconomic status. The discourses in which this dissatisfaction was less evident were those that reflected a greater degree of loyalty. Neighbors who expressed a strong sense of belonging, being born in the neighborhood or being second generation, interpreted the exit option negatively.

Apart from the individual possibilities of moving to less deprived areas, loyalty to the neighborhood helped to distance the exit option by pointing to the neighborhood's responsibility to stop the decay in the neighborhood. Loyalty was interpreted in this case as a resource for improvement, not directly directed towards voice, but to maintain social cohesion and thus greater well-being.

“We are a group of people who move with other people, and we are generating a very positive neighborhood spirit. Could we go to another neighborhood? yes. We have enough money, but we are holding on here making a neighborhood”. (FG9. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

Loyalty was defined as a commitment to the group of neighbors comprising the neighborhood. However, this “neighbor” construct was found to exclude economic migrants, as long-term neighbors did not perceive shared responsibilities with newcomers. Rather, loyalty was perceived to be a specific form of commitment that was exclusive to Spanish residents, lacking inclusivity for economic migrants.

“This neighborhood is being left to die because it is in the interest of real estate speculation. So, if we, who are the second generation, take our children to extracurricular activities outside our neighborhoods... in the end, who makes up the neighborhood? The Dominicans?”. (FG9. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

3.5 An alternative strategy: resistance

The discourses of the residents reflected a fourth type of response located outside the classic Hirschman EVL model. This was resistance, a practice aimed at spontaneously managing the discomfort of living in a decayed neighborhood. The resistance practices encountered did not aim at social change, but they all underlined the agency capacity of those who exercised it through the search for concrete, immediate and personal improvements.

These resistance practices were different among the different groups of neighbors, since not all have the same resources for their exercise. For the older people, for example, resistance consisted in claiming their right to a normal daily life. In this case, perseverance in maintaining mundane but valuable practices, such as talking with neighbors on the street, occupying public space in an unsafe environment, is a practice of resistance. In this case, the challenge to the dominance exercised by some groups in the neighborhood was exercised silently, but it was a reaction to the dissatisfaction felt by the elderly due to the deterioration of neighborly relations.

“My mother is still sitting on a chair at the door of the house. However, she has an apartment next door with these people, and they have some impressive fights among themselves. When these fights break out, they must go inside, but they continue to sit in the doorway with the neighbors”. (FG9. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

The resistance practiced by families also seeks a dignified daily life. The rejection of the appropriation of public space exercised by certain violent groups, for example, took on special importance when it referred to life with children. In this case, transmitting resistance to the children took on a defensive character of maintaining rights.

“Here they charge you to use the courts. My daughter says to me "let's go to the park and play a game" and some guys come to me and say: here you must pay. And I said, but how? How are we going to pay to you if this belongs to the city? I'm going to hit you so hard with my bag that I'm going to send you to ... Am I not going to come here? Yes, they are like the mafia”. (FG3. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants.)

For the younger groups, resistance was also presented as a challenge to the domination of violent groups, but also linked to the police because they live in an impoverished neighborhood. Being a young man living in a deprived neighborhood seemed to result in unfavorable police treatment, which some were unwilling to accept. As showed in the verbatim, a woman reported that her son, tired of repeated requests for documentation, reacted by asking the police for their identification.

“The police ask for my son's identification every time he goes out at night, on Fridays, on Saturdays, always (....) my son also asks the policeman for his ID and says that he won’t give it to him until the policeman identifies himself.” (FG3. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants.)

For the groups in the worst socioeconomic situation, the practice of resistance acquired an immediate and material meaning. In this case, personal dignity was achieved by obtaining small profits from living in the place where they lived. This group made use of the illicit market of stolen products (expensive products such as serrano ham, for example, a symbol of prosperity) or smuggled tobacco, an exploitation that was justified by the lack of economic resources in pursuit of the right to a better existence.

This type of practice reinforced the capacity for agency of those who exercised it. Getting hold of the stolen food required expertise and sufficient knowledge of the neighborhood, its relationships, and risks. The political element of an illicit action that was justified under the premise of recognizing themselves as impoverished subjects, with needs, obligations, and rights, and whom the law does not protect equally, was maintained.

“Any old woman with little buying power, who did not eat serrano ham. And it was the only way to get it (the sale of stolen serrano ham. She asks the thieves:) “I want you to bring me this, this, and this" (FG9. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Full-time workers. Spaniards)

“- Tobacco is so expensive that I am buying it from smuggling. (...) anxiety makes me smoke, what have I done? To look for a network that would allow me to cope with my excessive tobacco consumption (...)

- Don't you realize that this is illegal? That you are not contributing, that everything is dirty money, you do not contribute. (laughs) (FG10. Males and females from 45 to 55 years old. Unemployed and precarious workers. Spaniards)

Challenging the norms is part of the response. To the extent that institutional actions do not materialize in concrete and palpable benefits, practices of resistance to public programs and policies were found in the neighborhoods. Thus, for example, municipal recycling programs were not perceived as beneficial, but rather as a form of submission to the public authorities. The response was resistance to policies that were interpreted to be far removed from more immediate needs. Citizens who are distant from political decision-making may express their resistance to established norms as a rejection of policies that they consider harmful.

“I don't understand why they put so many ... [recycling] bins, it would be better if they put in recycling plants and provide jobs. Before there were recycling plants where people were working. All that has disappeared, why, so that I can do the work for them? I don't feel like it, I don't recycle, I'm sorry, I don't do it. What they have invested in the brown bin (recycling) they could have invested in illuminating the neighborhood” (FG6. Females from 45 to 55 years old. Spaniards and economic migrants.)

4 Discussion

The results of this paper demonstrate the usefulness of Hirschman's EVL model to explain neighborhood reactions to neighborhood decay. It is convenient, however, to point out the conditioning factors found in the two main options, exit and voice. Regarding exit, the difficulties of moving out lead to the use of a partial exit strategies aimed at avoiding public space; voice, on the other hand, appears in the form of social mobilization, but only as a temporary option since it is activated only at specific times and in specific situations. Loyalty to the neighborhood is more significant than what has been described in other studies; it contains passive elements of resignation, but also provides a foundation that favors the use of voice. The incorporation of resistance as a fourth option makes it possible to explain spontaneous responses to dissatisfaction that do not fit the EVL model. These resistance practices contain political elements that do not aspire to social change but do seek concrete and immediate improvements in the environment and in the relationships established in the neighborhood.

The expression of dissatisfaction in the neighborhood is shown in all the groups analyzed (men and women, adults and the elderly, economic migrants, full-time workers and the unemployed) with emphasis on insecurity, impoverishment, deterioration in neighborly relations, dirtiness, and institutional abandonment. The internal conflicts perceived within the neighborhood manifest as forms of structural violence (Galtung, 1969) which significantly impact daily life in the neighborhood. When deep inequality and injustice lead to structural violence that hinders access to rights (Rylko-Bauer & Farmer, 2016) the notion of neighborhood dissatisfaction becomes insufficient. Labor deterioration, impoverishment or demographic changes are evident in social tensions particularly between migrant and native populations (Solís et al., 2022).

In San Diego the relationship between Spaniards and economic migrants has been perceived as a source of tension that may lead to internal and serious conflicts. While some FGs expressed the view that migration was associated with the decay of the neighborhood, not all neighbors shared this perspective. A few identified the decay as being caused by factors external to the neighborhood.

The results of this work show that the exit option is a clear response to dissatisfaction with neighborhood decay (Clark et al., 2006). Being the closest option to the market, it is more viable for groups with more resources, who can more easily move to a less deteriorated environment (Hirschman, 1981), while a lack of resources is an obstacle to exit. However, there are two aspects that reduce the economic determinism of this option. The first is the possibility of making partial use of exit (Orbell & Uno, 1972; Van der Land & Doff, 2010), referring to residents who are unable to leave the neighborhood but try to lead a life outside it. Our study shows a differential use of this strategy according to gender and age, with women and older people being the groups that most frequently report how they avoid public space in the neighborhood. The second aspect is social in nature, such as social ties to family or neighbors or identification with the neighborhood, which generate loyalty to the neighborhood. These social aspects affect the neighborhood reaction, causing many to reject the exit option. We know that voice pushes away exit (Hirschman, 1970.) but loyalty, clearly also pushes exit away (Hirschman, 1970; Permentier et al., 2007.) This is the case of those who could leave and move to less decayed neighborhoods but choose to remain out of loyalty to the neighborhood.

In the framework of this study, the use of voice, in the dichotomous and collective sense expressed by Hirschman, is presented as an occasion that obeys specific situations and moments. Expressions of dissatisfaction with the deterioration of the neighborhood were very evident in all groups. However, the use of voice did not appear as a frequent option (Van der Land & Doff, 2010), even in a traditionally mobilized neighborhood. Starting from the low levels of participation and interest in politics in Spain (Morales, 2005; Oñate, 2013; Pereda et al., 2012), the results of this work reflect that voice in the neighborhood is expressed through the role played by associations (Navarro & Font, 2013) through the most frequent formula in the country: demonstrations and protests (Gonzalez Salcedo, 2011), practices that require a specific set of circumstances to be carried out.

In Madrid, the collective voice of social movements and active citizens facilitated the election of a municipalist platform (Rubio-Pueyo, 2017), which governed the city hall from 2015 to2019). However, this political change did not result in significant improvements to daily life in San Diego. The brief tenure of the platform could be a reason why residents did not perceive enough recognition of their rights (Lister, 2006).

Social mobilization remains in San Diego as a reference in its history and imaginary, although it is associated with the protagonism of the older generation through classic formulas of organization and collective political expression. Neighborhood associations, which played a decisive role in the early years of the Spanish democracy (Navarro, 2004; Villasante, 1984, 2008), are currently facing challenges in ensuring generational transition. Their procedures are tailored towards the elderly neighbors and do not accommodate the younger groups, who possess more varied identities, demands and social relations. Thus, the continued importance of associations in local governance in Madrid highlights the need to explore alternative means of expressing voice within but also outside the realm of associations such as the participation of active citizens at the individual level. Finally, in terms of the institutional level, it is evident that there is a need to further develop a governance model that is responsive to the historical mobilizations organized within the neighborhood.

Loyalty, the last of the options of the EVL model, picks up the ambiguity of passive and active components that appear in other studies (Graham & Keeley, 1992). In the framework of our study, passive expressions of loyalty have been found to be close to the resignation of experiencing neighborhood decay as suffering. This form of loyalty has been found among groups in the weakest positions (Pickvance, 2001). But active loyalty discourses committed to "making a community" have also been found. These are focused on developing networks that enhance relationships and social capital (Dowding & John, 2008). In this sense, the value of loyalty is highlighted for its impact on exit and voice, but also as an independent strategy that reduces dissatisfaction with life in a deprived neighborhood. This loyalty is often linked to "old identities," those of long-term residents who shaped the neighborhood in the 1970s in a sociocultural homogeneous context (Sorando & Ardura, 2016). Nonetheless, these old loyalties are not inclusive enough for new neighbors, especially young individuals, or economic migrants, who have more heterogeneous identities and needs.

This study revealed a fourth option, resistance, as a strategy that complements the classical formulation of the EVL model (Dornschneider, 2021). This practice responds to the situation of those who deal with their dissatisfaction in the framework of everyday interactions (Scott, 1985) by searching for small improvements in their personal and immediate environment. The exercise of resistance involves a response to situations or groups for which there is no way out or voice. These actions represent a challenge to the prevailing status quo and to the forms of daily domination established in the neighborhood. As an example of this form of resistance, we highlight the fact that neighbors reflect their agency by demanding the use of public space in the face of violent groups or by confronting the authorities during police controls to which they are subjected.

Resistance practices have proven to be heterogeneous. Among the most vulnerable groups in the neighborhood, resistance has been expressed as a questioning of the established norms through the consumption of stolen food, smuggled tobacco, or the rejection of the recycling policy because it is not seen as directly beneficial to neighborhood residents.

This work has confirmed that not using voice does not mean tolerance or apathy in the face of neighborhood decay. Neither exit nor voice are easy options for the weakest (Hirschman, 1970), hence resistance serves as a way for them to express themselves (De Certeau, 1984). In this sense, its lower visibility should not take away from the fact that it is a commendable response at times when other options are not viable. In environments marked by high levels of diversity with difficulties for organization, resistance provides a defensive option in the face of the exercise of power. Resistance challenges power relations by using strategies that go beyond the established channels of formal participation. While resistance cannot replace the collective capacity of voice, it can complement it in certain contexts, such as fragmented, individualistic, or those where there is discouragement about collective mobilization. In this sense, resistance expresses personal discomfort about waiting for concrete improvements but not necessarily for great changes.

This study does not provide sufficient evidence to conclude that resistance had an impact on political decision-making, an aspect that other studies have observed (Polese et al., 2016; Vinthagen & Johansson, 2013). Further research is required to explore this aspect.

This work found numerous allusions to the urban policies applied in the neighborhood. Criticism of the poor quality of the services received (cleanliness, security, maintenance, lack of public services, etc.) reflects the insufficient attention paid by the political authorities. In this sense, the neighborhood discourse shows knowledge and awareness of the responsibility of politics in the decay of the neighborhood (Gotham, 2002). It is also important to point out that residents attribute the cause of institutional neglect to their poverty. Neighborhood dissatisfaction, in this sense, is not limited to dissatisfaction with the situation of the neighborhood but is also directed towards political institutions. The lack of harmony between perceived neighborhood needs and the interventions carried out is another reason for dissatisfaction.

In the framework of the EVL model, this dissatisfaction activates exit and voice, but also serves to activate neighborhood resistance to specific institutional programs and interventions. The perceived resistance in San Diego to the waste recycling policy is a good example of this. In the face of neighborhood collaboration in programs aimed at social welfare, it would be convenient to work on the design of urban policies that incorporate the needs of the population, first and foremost, and that can also be translated into very concrete collective improvements. Especially in the case of the neighborhoods most affected by deterioration and social vulnerability, it is necessary to adapt interventions to the problems that condition daily life. The ultimate meaning of these interventions will be to convert the efforts made by the neighbors into valuable practices so that they are perceived in a positive way and not only as a burden demanded by the political authorities.

The use of qualitative methodology has made it possible to address a perspective of utmost importance for the neighbors, which had not been considered. We think that the fact that the object of the study was not focused specifically on dissatisfaction does not hinder the results and analysis presented here. We think that the large number of focus groups conducted in this study is an important strength of this work because researchers were able to consider differences by gender, origin, age, and socioeconomic situation. We do note, however, that the over-representation of the adult and older population may explain the greater weight of some strategies over others. It is therefore important to analyze the discourse of the young population (national and non-national) to assess their specific responses to neighborhood dissatisfaction.

5 Conclusions

Beyond the neighborhood socioeconomic conditions that generate dissatisfaction (dirtiness, insecurity, poor social relations…) there are forms of structural violence that deeply damage daily life in the neighborhoods. This generalized dissatisfaction generates diverse reactions in different social groups.

The Exit, Voice and Loyalty model is most useful for studying responses to neighborhood dissatisfaction in a deprived neighborhood. Given the difficulties for the use of exit and voice in deprived environments, the model expands its capacity for analysis when it considers exit as a continuous variable, not a dichotomous one, through partial exits, and when it understands that voice is an option highly conditioned by the socio-political situation and related possibilities. Loyalty, far from being a secondary variable aimed at activating one of the other two options remains of great importance. Loyalty to the neighborhood, through attachment, identity, and social ties, is a very frequent option, especially among the elderly and second generations, and is perceived as a strategy that improves coexistence. Traditional forms of loyalty are not inclusive of new neighbors and hinder social cohesion in a culturally heterogeneous context such as the one studied. Loyalty acts as an option itself, although it also favors the use of voice and distances the exit.

According to the results obtained in this work, a fourth option was considered to complement Hirschman’s model, resistance. Resistance does not replace voice but rather complements it. Resistance confronts dissatisfaction by seeking concrete and personal gains or improvements without aspiring to the change proposed by voice. Faced with the difficulties perceived in the use of voice, resistance acts as an individual tool of expression that does not necessarily require collective organization. Based on the knowledge of the neighborhood and the need to interact with the elements that shape it and condition neighborhood decay, the exercise of resistance maintains its political charge by trying to reinterpret the rules and power relations that prevail in the neighborhood. Resistance is also presented as a challenge to the authorities and institutional policies. The perception of abandonment, distrust, or remoteness with respect to political programs favors neighborhood resistance practices when such programs are not interpreted as a direct benefit that favors the neighbors.

In short, we believe that the analysis of neighborhood resistance allowed to broaden the set of responses offered by Hirschman, updating the meaning of the political responses in contexts of social fragmentation and periods in which collective mobilization is difficult.