Cultural consumption and socio-spatial differentiation in Lithuanian cities

Abstract

The article focuses on cultural consumption and socio-spatial differentiation in dif­ferent neighbourhoods of Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda. The data of the research project “Social Exclusion in Lithuanian Cities: Forms of Spatial Segregation and Polarization” (2012) demonstrate that the factors of sex, education, marrital status and ethnic origin immensely influence cultural consumption. Although an increasing number of Lithuanians have become cultural omnivores that consume both high-brow and low-brow culture, socio-spatial differentiation is evident in the Lithuanian cities. The inhabitants of working-class style neighbourhoods tend to consume the smallest amount of both high-brow and low-brow culture, city centers and Soviet style neighborhoods occupy the intermediate position with regard to cultural consumption, and the inhabitants of suburban areas are the biggest cultural omnivores.