Structural element of Italian society, the phenomenon of migration now accounts with specifi c signs in the metropolitan area. Analysis of the distribution of housing foreigners in Italy highlights residential pattern arising from a series of main factors related to a process of ethnic division of space and which lead, in some cases, to forms of spatial segregation. Starting from the case of Rome, mainly through the study of the Chinese national group, there will be a logical comparison of residential areas in some Italian and foreign metropolitan areas.