Patterns Of Residential Segregation Research Articles

Old Ways, New Impacts: Race, Residential Patterns, and the Home Foreclosure Crisis in the American South

The full impact of the U.S. housing crisis is still unfolding, with growing evidence that low-income groups and racial minorities have suffered the worst effects of foreclosure. This article addresses the spatial distribution of mortgage foreclosure in a Southern county that is residentially segregated in terms of race and wealth. We collected data manually from legal notices and public access property records between 2008 and 2011 and then used three basic approaches for analysis: visual identification, hot spot detection, and polygon-based spatial autocorrelation. We found that foreclosure activity followed the race–wealth divide by being heavily concentrated in older black neighborhoods, clustered in some white exurban developments, and largely absent from wealthy white areas. The results indicate that blacks and whites experience different patterns of foreclosure and that the housing crisis exacerbates geographical patterns of residential segregation.

The Sense of Place behind Segregating Practices: An Ethnographic Approach to the Symbolic Partitioning of Metro Manila

The literature on cities in the developing world equates segregation with the proliferation of enclaves and slums and tends to overlook how the people associated with those places are further segregated in public spaces and enclaves. To account for the symbolic partitioning of Metro Manila, I document the segregating practices of the residents of enclaves (villagers) and slums (squatters). These practices reveal a well-developed sense of place on both sides, a commitment to the relative status positioning of the two groups as expressed through their separation in space. A sense of place explains why squatters and villagers engage in segregating practices. It also enables us to identify other spatial practices that conform to or challenge its logic. Integrating practices are largely consistent with a sense of place, while desegregating practices challenge it and may set up or advance contentious situations. By using this approach we are better able to understand how class patterns of residential segregation are extended to encompass virtually all urban spaces where class interaction occurs.

White Residential Segregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Conceptual Issues, Patterns, and Trends from the U.S. Census, 1980 to 2010

Racial and ethnic diversity continues to spread to communities across the United States. Rather than focus on the residential patterns of specific minority or immigrant groups, this study examines changing patterns of white residential segregation in metropolitan America. Using data from the 1980 to 2010 decennial censuses, we calculate levels of white segregation using two common measures, analyze the effect of defining the white population in different ways, and, drawing upon the group threat theoretical perspective, we examine the metropolitan correlates of white segregation. We find that white segregation from others declined significantly from 1980 to 2010, regardless of the measure of segregation or the white population used. However, we find some evidence consistent with the group threat perspective, as white dissimilarity is higher in metro areas that are more diverse, and especially those with larger black populations. Nevertheless, our findings indicate that whites having been living in increasingly integrated neighborhoods over the last few decades, suggesting some easing of the historical color line.

The residential segregation patterns of whites by socioeconomic status, 2000–2011

In light of increasing racial and ethnic diversity, a recent housing crisis, and deep economic recession, arguments pertaining to the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in shaping patterns of racial/ethnic segregation remain salient. Using data from the 2000 decennial census and the 2007–2011 American Community Survey, we provide new evidence on the residential segregation patterns of whites from minorities by SES (income, education, and poverty). Results from our comprehensive analyses indicate that SES matters for the segregation patterns of whites from minorities. In particular, we find that whites as a whole are less segregated from higher-SES minority group members than lower-SES ones. Among whites, those of higher SES are more segregated from blacks and Hispanics as a whole and less segregated from Asians, indicating the importance of SES differentials across racial/ethnic groups in shaping residential patterns. We also find that during the 2000s, white–black segregation remained stable or declined, while whites became more segregated from Hispanics and Asians by all SES indicators. Fixed-effects models indicate that increasing white-minority SES segregation was fueled in part by increases in a metropolitan area’s immigrant and elderly populations, minority poverty rate, and home values, while declining segregation was associated with rising education levels and new housing construction.

Geographic Barriers to Community-Based Psychiatric Treatment for Drug-Dependent Patients

The World Health Organization has urged governments worldwide to implement evidence-based treatment services for drug addiction and mental health disorders, but the role of geographic characteristics in influencing treatment continuity for this population has been largely understudied. Here, we employ logistic regression (N = 294) to investigate how accessibility and neighborhood socioeconomic context influenced treatment continuity for a sample of 294 drug-dependent patients who received acute inpatient psychiatric treatment at a large, inner-city hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and who were then referred to outpatient care. Results indicate that longer travel time to treatment, a high crime rate in the patient's home neighborhood, and traveling from a relatively lower to a higher crime neighborhood for treatment suppress treatment continuity. These contextual influences are moderated by ethnicity, where whites are influenced more strongly by travel time to treatment. This likely reflects the locations of treatment programs relative to patterns of residential segregation. African Americans both reside and attend treatment within the very highest crime areas, and this appears to have a particularly negative impact on treatment continuity for African Americans. This research highlights the need for more careful consideration of geographic issues in psychiatric treatment planning.

Evangelical Church Polity and the Nuances of White Flight

Present patterns of residential segregation have been proven to have antecedents in the so-called white flight of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Close scrutiny of this social phenomenon has yielded results that indicate complicated impetuses and call into question sweeping assumptions about white flight. A case study of seven congregations from a denomination called the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) who left the Englewood and Roseland neighborhoods of Chicago during the juncture in question further reveals the dubious role of religious practices and arrangements in the out-migration of white evangelical Christians. By utilizing church histories, council minutes, and field interviews, it became readily apparent that the departure of the members of these congregations found sanction within the hierarchical apparatus (or lack thereof) of the church. The response of these CRC congregations exemplified how the political structures (congregational polity) and social networks of a particular denomination could allow for an almost seamless process of white flight.

The Consolidation of the Latin American City and the Undermining of Social Cohesion

The paper examines possible sources of urban disorder and their impact on social disorganization in two times periods in Latin America. The first period is that of the region's rapid urbanization (c. 1950–1980) and the second is the current period of low rates of urbanization and slow urban growth, particularly true of the largest cities. Unlike in the US, Latin American urbanization in the first period produced social disorganization that in turn gave rise to social organization and local cohesion. The paper focuses on the intervening factors that mediate the link between poverty/inequality and social cohesion. These include the pattern of settlement of the city through different types of migration, the pattern of residential segregation in the city, and the nature of poverty. Social cohesion is defined in terms of the nature of social relationships and in terms of feelings of trust and identity with others at both neighborhood and city level. The spatial, demographic, and economic sources of disorder are hypothesized to have a positive impact on social cohesion in the first period relative to the second period when the impact is more negative.

Residential Patterns among Religious Groups in Canadian Cities

This study, based on 2001 Canadian census data for 16 census metropolitan areas, explores residential segregation among eight religious groups. We include non–Christian religious groups to reflect the emerging religious diversity of Canadian society. Our study provides the first comprehensive comparison of the residential patterns of people affiliated with major religious groups in Canada. We argue that each religion is associated with unique sets of religious institutional behaviors, which in turn shape each religious group's relationships with other religious groups. In this study, we identify four religious institutional behaviors that can affect the residential segregation of various religious groups: institutional orientation of religious community services, subcultural identity, religious identity, and discrimination. The findings indicate that these religious institutional behaviors are related to the residential segregation patterns of different religious groups.

Residential Segregation from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century: Evidence from the Netherlands

A case study of three early modern Dutch cities (Alkmaar, Delft, and Amsterdam) using geographical information systems and confronting earlier historical, sociological, and geographical models finds clear patterns of segregation below the level of the city block, thus necessitating block-face mapping. The remarkable continuity in patterns of residential segregation is best explained by the workings of the real-estate market, allowing the well-to-do and middle classes to realize their preferences. In Amsterdam, the merchant elites were able to use their political dominance to plan a scenic and expansive residential environment free from noisy and odorous activities.

The evolution of spatial patterns of residential segregation in Central European Cities: The Łódź Functional Urban Region from mature socialism to mature post-socialism

Two themes dominated the study of socio-spatial change in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) after 1990. One was that the development of urban regions in CEE after the demise of socialism is characterized by suburbanization. The second topic raises the issue of growing residential segregation. Unfortunately, studies on patterns of residential segregation are still scarce in the CEE context, in particular those that employ traditional measures of segregation. Relying on solid empirical materials from the 1988 and 2002 National Censuses, the purpose of this paper is to map and analyze the patterns of residential segregation in the Łódź Functional Urban Region, an old industrial urban region in Poland undergoing a rapid deconcentration and shrinkage of the core area. This contribution concludes that the first decade of systemic transition resulted in decreasing residential segregation, as gauged by global measures of segregation.

Unsightly Urban Menaces and the Rescaling of Residential Segregation in the United States

In this article, the author uses a slum clearance project in Lexington, Kentucky, as a lens through which to examine the spatial dynamics of racial residential segregation during the first half of the twentieth century. At the time, urban migration and upward socioeconomic mobility on the part of African Americans destabilized extant residential segregation patterns. Amid this instability, various spatial practices were employed in the interest of maintaining white social and economic supremacy. The author argues that such practices were indicative of a thoroughgoing reinvention of urban socio-spatial order that in turn precipitated the vastly expanded scale of residential segregation still found in U.S. cities today. Evidence of this reinvented ordering of urban space lies in the rendering of some long-standing African American neighborhoods as “out of place” within it and the use of slum clearance to remove the “menace” such neighborhoods posed to it.

CHANGES IN SPATIAL PATTERNS OF THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION OF A SOUTHERN EUROPEAN METROPOLIS: THE CASE OF THE BARCELONA METROPOLITAN AREA (2001–2008)

ABSTRACTTo date, the evolution of residential segregation patterns in southern European cities has received little attention. The case of Barcelona metropolitan area (BMA) is particularly relevant following a rapid growth of immigrant population over a very short period. This empirical study seeks to see if this rapid growth has changed the spatial segregation patterns of immigrant groups and led to the emergence of ethnic enclaves. First, we calculate five indices according to the classic dimensions of residential segregation. Then, we use an adapted version of the Poulsen et al. typology in order to identify ethnic enclaves. In the period under study, there was a general increase in two dimensions: Exposure and clustering. There was a decline in evenness and concentration, and a variety of situations in terms of centralization. The evolution of the segregation indices indicates a diversity of segregation patterns: an increase of segregation according to exposure and clustering dimensions, a decline in evenness and concentration, and a variety of situations in terms of centralization. Finally, the findings confirm the presence of ethnic enclaves following seven years of growth in the immigrant population.

White Mobility and Minority Ethnic Concentrations: Exploring Internal Migration Patterns for Electoral Wards in England and Wales using the 2001 Census

Patterns of ethnic residential segregation within England and Wales have been linked to the idea that white people move away from, or avoid moving into, areas with large minority ethnic populations. Using analysis of the 2001 census, this paper explores the internal migration of the ‘White British’ ethnic group within England and Wales at the electoral ward level. It shows migration patterns are more complex than simply ‘white flight’ or ‘white avoidance’: areas of high minority ethnic concentrations with low inflows of the White British ethnic group are also areas of low outflows of the White British ethnic group; areas of high minority ethnic concentrations with high inflows of the White British ethnic group are also areas of high outflows of the White British ethnic group. Local area characteristics are stronger predictors of White British ethnic group mobility than whether the area is characterised by concentrations of minority ethnic groups.

Erratum to: Racial Segregation, Income Inequality, and Mortality in US Metropolitan Areas

The first two paragraphs of the article as published require some correction and should read as follows: Evidence of the relationship between income inequality and mortality in the United States has been mixed. The majority of the published research shows a positive income inequality/mortality association.1–15 However, there is also evidence suggesting that the association between income inequality and mortality is conditional on other factors such as racial density.16–20 Further, income inequality in the United States largely reflects income inequality between racial groups as the bifurcation of the middle class along with patterns of racial residential segregation has resulted in racial differences in the concentration of poverty and affluence between racial groups with blacks experiencing higher levels of concentrated poverty compared to whites.17,21–23 This has to do both with existing patterns of racial segregation and the higher proportion of low-income blacks relative to low-income whites. In spite of this phenomenon, little has been done to examine how the income inequality/mortality relationship varies as a function of race, racial density, or racial segregation. Some studies have adjusted for % black, but results have been mixed. Whereas some studies show a significant positive association between income inequality and mortality after adjusting for % black, others show that after adjusting for % black, income inequality is no longer significantly associated with mortality. Still others show a protective effect of income inequality after adjusting for % black.17,24–29 Income inequality and mortality are both higher among blacks than among whites.11,19,30 Income inequality is also related to growing spatial separation between blacks and whites.17,22,23 However, it is unclear whether and to what extent racial segregation impacts the association between income inequality and mortality. Understanding these associations may help elucidate the mechanisms driving the association between income inequality and mortality both between and within racial groups in the United States.

Multi-Scale Residential Segregation: Black Exceptionalism and America's Changing Color Line

America's changing color line is perhaps best expressed in shifting patterns of neighborhood residential segregation—the geographic separation of races. This research evaluates black exceptionalism by using the universe of U.S. blocks from the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses to provide a single geographically inclusive national estimate (Theil's H) of black residential segregation from whites and other groups, which can be additively decomposed into its within (e.g., neighborhood segregation within places) and between components (e.g., racial differences between places). The results show that America's blacks are living in blocks that are roughly two-thirds less racially diverse than the U.S. population overall. Nationally, neighborhood segregation processes account for half, or even less, of blacks' segregation from whites, Hispanics and Asians. Declining big-city micro-segregation has been muted by increasing or persistent macro-segregation. Moreover, with growing neighborhood segregation in the suburbs and fringe, America's central cities—the focus of most previous studies—now account for only a minority share of all neighborhood or micro-level segregation between blacks and whites. Evidence of black incorporation or spatial assimilation must account for other levels of geography that extend beyond the traditional focus on neighborhood segregation in big cities.

A comparative study of ethnic residential segregation in Ghana’s two largest cities, Accra and Kumasi

The rate of urbanization is far more rapid in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other major region of the world. However, little is known about patterns of ethnic residential segregation in rapidly urbanizing African cities. This paper is crafted to make an important contribution through its focus on Ghana’s two largest cities: Accra and Kumasi. Making use of the most recent population and housing census data of 2000 to generate a Location Quotient index, the analyses explore the cities’ degree of ethnic diversity and concentration for comparative purposes. In relative terms, the study reveals that the level of residential ethnic segregation is fairly balanced in Accra compared to Kumasi. However, there are important differences between the findings of this Ghanaian case study and findings from research in the West, where the residential segregation is heavily determined by cultural/racial factors in addition to socio-economic factors. In the absence of institutional and ethnic discrimination, the most fundamental underlying cause of segregation in the Ghanaian case appears to be the socio-economic circumstance of ethnic groups present in the cities. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the study for urban and national development in Ghana as well as the future patterns of ethnic clustering likely to emerge in Accra and Kumasi.

Neighborhood Immigration and Native Out-Migration

This study combines data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with data from four censuses to examine the effects of foreign-born populations in the immediate neighborhood of residence and surrounding neighborhoods on the residential mobility decisions of native-born black and white householders. We find that the likelihood of out-mobility for native householders is significantly and positively associated with the relative size of, and increases in, the immigrant population in the neighborhood. Consistent with theoretical arguments related to the distance dependence of mobility, large concentrations of immigrants in surrounding areas reduce native out-mobility, presumably by reducing the attractiveness of the most likely mobility destinations. A sizable share of local immigration effects can be explained by the mobility-related characteristics of native-born individuals living in immigrant-populated areas, but the racial composition of the neighborhood (for native whites) and local housing market conditions (for native blacks) also are important mediating factors. The implications of these patterns for processes of neighborhood change and broader patterns of residential segregation are discussed.

Generative Models of Segregation: Investigating Model-Generated Patterns of Residential Segregation by Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status

This article considers the potential for using agent models to explore theories of residential segregation in urban areas. Results of generative experiments conducted using an agent-based simulation of segregation dynamics document that varying a small number of model parameters representing constructs from urban-ecological theories of segregation can generate a wide range of qualitatively distinct and substantively interesting segregation patterns. The results suggest how complex, macro-level patterns of residential segregation can arise from a small set of simple micro-level social dynamics operating within particular urban-demographic contexts. The promise and current limitations of agent simulation studies are noted and optimism is expressed regarding the potential for such studies to engage and contribute to the broader research literature on residential segregation. [An appendix to this article is featured as an online supplement at the publisher's website.]

<i>Achieving Anew: How New Immigrants Do in American Schools, Jobs, and Neighborhoods</i> (review)

Reviewed by: Achieving Anew: How New Immigrants Do in American Schools, Jobs, and Neighborhoods Jody Agius Vallejo Achieving Anew: How New Immigrants Do in American Schools, Jobs, and Neighborhoods By Michael J. White and Jennifer E. Glick Russell Sage Foundation Press. 2009. 256 pages. $37.50 cloth. Americans are nostalgic about their own immigrant roots and the positive contributions immigrants have made to society. Yet, Americans are also concerned about whether we are presently experiencing an "immigrant invasion" and whether the United States can absorb today's new immigrants, some of whom migrate with low levels of human capital and the majority of whom are viewed as racial/ethnic minorities upon arrival. Will today's new immigrants assimilate as rapidly and to the same extent as their white ethnic predecessors who migrated at the turn of the century? Or, are today's new Asian, Latino and black immigrants headed for the underclass? In Achieving Anew, Michael White and Jennifer Glick examine these questions by investigating how immigrants and their descendants do in three spheres of structural assimilation: schools, the labor market and neighborhoods. By elucidating the trajectories of immigrants in these realms, White and Glick hope to bridge the social science and public policy divide because as they rightly assert, perceptions of immigrant failure or success drives immigration policy, which regulates who gets their foot through the "golden door," and immigrant policy, which regulates the treatment of newcomers, thereby setting the stage for assimilation trajectories. The authors argue that if immigrants are perceived as impossible to assimilate or economic burdens, the result is a society that is restrictive and hostile in its immigrant policy towards newcomers. Indeed, this vista exemplifies the current social and political climate, where Mexicans (by far the largest immigrant group) in particular are stigmatized as unauthorized criminals and viewed by some as not worthy of investing in, as the recent defeat of the DREAM Act in Congress and the current debate over birthright citizenship indicate. Conversely, if immigrants are perceived as doing well and achieving the American middle-class dream, there is a cry for tolerance and acceptance of policies that help integrate, rather than economically cripple, newcomers. The main contribution of Achieving Anew is the authors' assertion that in order to truly measure how immigrants do, scholars must distinguish immigrants' starting point from their trajectory. A true portrait of immigrant progress or failure cannot be garnered by simply examining the position of individuals at one point in time using cross-sectional data. It is also necessary to measure how much intra-generational and intergenerational progress immigrants and their descendants make relative to their starting point. In other words, by distinguishing starting point from trajectory, we can examine whether and to what extent immigrants make progress within and across generations. White and Glick's analysis of schooling and the labor market are particularly noteworthy because they combine a cohort analysis of Current Population Survey data [End Page 1075] with panel microdata from the High School and Beyond and National Educational Longitudinal Study. The panel data follows nationally representative cohorts of individuals from schooling into young adulthood allowing for the consideration of starting points (immigrant background, language ability, parental education) of immigrants and the second generation and the ability to compare their trajectories to third and higher generations. So, are today's immigrants advancing in education, jobs and neighborhoods, or losing ground? The authors' longitudinal analysis demonstrates that after socio-economic factors are taken into account, immigrants and the second generation (their children) fare the same in school achievement as other students. And, not surprisingly, youth with higher levels of family and human capital achieve more education than those who do not, regardless of whether their parents are immigrants or U.S. born. Youths from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to obtain higher education, suggesting that family resources and structural position are instrumental in overcoming educational barriers. In terms of the labor market, occupational differentiation from natives diminishes over the generations, poverty gaps narrow with length of residence among the immigrant generation and between generations, and earnings improve over time. White and Glick also examine patterns of residential segregation. They find that new arrivals are the most...

Moving On and Moving Back: Rethinking Inequality and Migration in the Latin American City

AbstractThis paper focuses on the similarities and differences between contemporary urban organisation and that of the 1960s in Guatemala City and other Latin American cities, mainly using data taken from a re-study of low-income neighbourhoods in Guatemala City. It looks at the impact of sharper patterns of residential segregation, changes in migration patterns, rising levels of crime and violence, and the increase in the relationships of the urban poor with external actors, such as governments and NGOs. Severe inequality persists, but is mediated by an improvement in living standards, by the range of consumer goods accessible to the poor, and by community- and family-based adaptation.