(Re)Viewing Ethnic Residential Segregation in Southern European Cities: Housing and Urban Regimes as Mechanisms of Marginalisation

Housing and residential marginalisation in Southern European cities represents the most critical and controversial of urban conditions for the settlement and inclusion of immigrants. However, these issues are conspicuously under-researched in both the international and Southern European comparative literature. The complexity of ethnic housing hardship and segregation is often de-problematised and misleadingly attributed solely to market mechanisms or inevitable polarisation dynamics. This paper reviews the distinctive features of ethnic residential segregation within wider societal and urban contexts, drawing on an analysis of eight Mediterranean cities with a special focus on the role of housing systems and processes of ethnic and social differentiation. Problems and drivers are reconceptualised within an holistic, comparative framework. It is demonstrated that low levels of ethnic spatial segregation conceal a real problem of social residential marginalisation. This paradox predominantly originates from macro-scale mechanisms of differentiation rooted in the welfare redistributive arrangements and dualist housing systems. It is additionally reinforced by current urban renewal strategies.     

Muslim Residential Clustering and Political Radicalism

Through a review of the academic literature and the popular press there is considerable support for the concerns of politicians about Muslim segregation in European cities. First, the levels of segregation in many cities remain high and the boundaries of residential concentrations are expanding. Second, because segregation is primarily voluntary in nature reflecting strong ties to Islam this makes government intervention difficult. Third, although the terrorism/rioting link to segregation is weak, Muslim residential clustering does appear to be retarding cultural integration through the absence of social networks connected to the economic mainstream and peer pressure to retain religious customs antithetical to the new host society. Finally, policies to directly reduce ethnic segregation through housing allocation—benign quotas and ethnic dispersal—are as unpopular in Europe as they are in the US.     

Residential outcomes of forced relocation: lifting a corner of the veil on neighbourhood selection

Fear of the detrimental effects of ethnic segregation has pervaded the debate on the population composition of cities and neighbourhoods. However, little is known about mechanisms underlying the spatial sorting of ethnic minorities. Hence, policies aimed at desegregation may result in exactly the opposite - that is, new ethnic concentrations and segregation. This paper studies the residential outcomes of 658 forced movers from urban restructuring areas in The Hague. Compared with "native" Dutch (those with both parents born in the Netherlands), ethnic minorities report neighbourhood improvement less often and are more likely to stay within or move into other ethnically concentrated neighbourhoods. These differences are not fully explained by differences in individual characteristics, resources, institutional factors, pre-relocation preferences or other relocation outcomes. Ethnic specificities in neighbourhood choices thus remain a pressing issue for further research.     

The Geography of an EthniCity: Residential Segregation of Birthplace and Language Groups in Sydney, 1996

Many contemporary cities have a diverse ethnic-cultural mix as a result of different international migration streams, with implications for the residential distribution of various ethnic groups within those cities. Boal recently suggested a series of scenarios against which the pattern in any one place could be evaluated. These are applied to Sydney in 1996, when over 34 per cent of the residents reported a birthplace outside Australia and 30 per cent reported using a language other than English at home. Lacking data on ethnic status, the birthplace and language data are used to explore Sydney's residential geography at two spatial scales, and to identify the degree of residential segregation of each birthplace and language group. Regression analysis, used to assess the relevance of human capital to observed levels of segregation, suggests that Boal's assimilation scenario accounts for most of the observed geographies, with some additional pluralism but little evidence of polarisation. These results suggest that the dynamics of Sydney's housing market facilitate movement into most areas of demand, subject only to labour market constraints; differential access to sections of the labour market, and hence to housing market sections, is a major factor in the residential segregation of birthplace and language groups in Sydney.     

Community planning and urban design in contested places. Some insights from Belfast

Although social conflict due to the presence of different groups divided by cultural, religious or ethnic issues plagues many contemporary cities, community and participatory planning methods still pay little attention to segregation in contested spaces as a specific matter of concern. This paper aims to contribute to filling this gap through the development of a novel tool to be implemented during community planning processes in contested cities, particularly in (visual) mapping processes. The pilot area for developing the lexicon has been selected within the city of Belfast, which has been struggling for years with problems related to inter-religious sectarian conflicts. The material effects on the urban structure of the long process of defensive planning during the so-called Troubles and within the post-conflicts peace programmes have been investigated by analysing urban artefacts including edges, borders, barriers, doors, visual control points. The paper suggests that a simple, recognizable lexicon may contribute to honing community planning methods in contested places by integrating the traditional methodology of visual mapping with a tailored taxonomy of elements of urban conflict, which may be used at many stages of the planning process, including developing a visual map, design and planning, and developing and implementing an action plan.     

Natives’ opinions on ethnic residential segregation and neighbourhood diversity in Helsinki,Oslo and Stockholm

Nordic countries rank high on measures indicating tolerant views on immigrants. Yet, ethnic residential segregation is stated as being a major social problem in these countries. Neighbourhood flight and avoidance behaviour among the native born could be a sign of less tolerant views on minorities, but could of course be restricted to native-born residents in areas of high-ethnic concentration. So far, no research in these countries has explicitly focused on the majority population’s view on segregation, and we know little about how native-born residents in different neighbourhood contexts view ethnic segregation or how own residential experience shapes decisions on staying or leaving; this paper aims to help fill this research lacuna. In a survey targeting 9000 native-born residents in three Nordic capital cities—stratified into neighbourhood movers and stayers and into neighbourhoods having different proportions of non-Nordic-born residents—we answer three questions: do native-born respondents prefer a neighbourhood ethnic mix? Do they see ethnic segregation as a problem? Do they prefer lower, current or higher shares of ethnic minorities in their own neighbourhoods?     

Paramaribo

Paramaribo, the largest and only significant urban area in Suriname, is a typical primate city. The majority of the countries’ population resides here and the majority of political, social and economic functions is clustered in the urban zone. In the course of the 20th century, the city changed dramatically. Its population grew enormously and the city expanded through conversion of agricultural lands. In addition, economic and political developments produced alternate functional divisions within the city. These developments have taken place in other Caribbean cities as well. However, where Caribbean cities, e.g. Kingston or Port-of-Spain, are known for high levels of ethnic and socio-economic segregation and inequality, Paramaribo is a city of more or less ethnically and socio-economically mixed neighbourhoods. This profile focuses on patterns of settlement in Paramaribo after 1950 and explains these from developments in the local economy and land market. It concludes that the economic crisis together with the structure of the land- and housing market have slowed down processes of moving and resettlement, encouraged the development of socio-economically mixed neighbourhoods and sustained the absence of no-go areas in the city. It concludes by posing the question whether this may change in the future and more clustering can be expected.     

Beyond residential segregation: Introduction

This essay introduces the special issue and explains its rationale. It argues that, while the residential location and neighbourhood remain significant, urban segregation needs to be understood and examined in terms of everyday activities, social networks and mobility within the context of broader social and political-economic processes. This broader focus is needed, among others, because of the emergence and diffusion of uneven urban infrastructures and enhanced – albeit unequal – physical mobilities within and between cities. After briefly reviewing recent work that understands and analyses segregation as dynamic and multi-dimensional, the essay summarises the contributions of the eight papers to the existing literature. These lie primarily in the analysis of how exposure to social difference and to opportunities for upward social mobility – as both indication and antecedent of segregation – is shaped by everyday activities and mobility in a wider context of unevenly networked urbanism.     

The Effect of Urban Containment and Mandatory Housing Elements on Racial Segregation in US Metropolitan Areas, 1990–2000

Abstract: Urban containment and state‐imposed mandatory housing elements in comprehensive land use plans attempt to reshape development patterns. Urban containment programs reign in the outward expansion of urban areas by restricting development of rural land outside urban containment boundaries and focusing the regional demand for urban development areas within them. This article assesses the effect of urban containment and mandatory housing elements on the percentage change in racial segregation change among US metropolitan areas during the 1990s. Ordinary least squares regression analysis suggests that while metropolitan areas with strong urban containment efforts saw a higher percentage decline in Anglo/African American residential segregation during the 1990s than metropolitan areas without such policies in place, urban containment had no statistically significant effect on segregation between Anglos and other races. Mandatory housing elements made no difference in racial segregation change between Anglos and any other race. Policy implications are posed.     

城市居住隔离及其研究进程

阐明了城市居住隔离的概念及内涵,对国外居住隔离研究的发展进程进行了系统梳理,分析了一些具有代表性的国家和地区的居住隔离状况及研究重点,并着重剖析了经济转型时期我国居住隔离研究的背景、现状及理论与现实意义.     

Rapidly Growing African Cities Need to Adopt Smart Growth Policies to Solve Urban Development Concerns

This study reviews the smart growth concept- and identity-specific principles that could be adopted by rapidly growing African cities. Given the macroeconomic reform changes over the last two decades and given the persistently high natural population growth and continuous influx of rural residents to urban areas, the application of these principles may ensure sustainable urban development. The main assertion of this paper is that due to the rapid spatial expansion of major African cities in recent years, a more informed and thoughtful approach to urban development is needed to achieve efficiency and long-term sustainability. The current urban development pattern, which is dominated by unlimited outward extension, low-density residential developments, and haphazard patterns, is unacceptable. This pattern is destroying prime agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands, while increasing air pollution and traffic congestion. This paper suggests that these problems can be addressed by the adoption of smart growth principles. Smart growth principles promote compact urban development by concentrating growth in existing urban areas. The principles also encourage creating a strong municipal government with the authority to implement land-use legislation and regulations, developing a comprehensive physical plan to guide the location and timing of development, committing strongly to manage urban areas, and providing a wide range of housing choices that are affordable to residents of various incomes, ages, and lifestyles. The central idea of smart growth is that structured and strategic planning supports economic growth, addresses community needs, and protects the environment.     

The Limits of Out‐Migration for the Black Middle Class

Certain developments contributed to disinterest in research on the environs of the black middle class in favor of intensive study of the black urban poor. One example is the theory that civil rights housing policies allowed middle class African Americans to leave black communities. Using historical sources, 1990 census data, and ethnographic evidence from Chicago, I offer a reinterpretation of this out‐migration hypothesis. Growth in the number of middle class African Americans has increased the size of their residential enclaves, and thus the physical distance between classes. I also find historically continuous patterns of out‐migration circumscribed by racial residential segregation, which ensures the constant reincorporation of black middle class neighborhoods within the black ghetto. Making the black middle class a visible part of black communities highlights its spatial connection to the black poor, which is contrasted with the ability of the white middle class to distance itself from urban poverty.     

A PREDICTIVE MODEL OF RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY AND RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION

ABSTRACT The residential mobility model presented in this paper is specifically designed in capture the potential sources of bias embedded in the residential mobility processes that give rise to the segregation of minority populations within West German cities. The hypothesized existence of a dual housing market (with foreign workers restricted to vacancies not chosen by Germans) is supported by the analysis. Geographically defined submarkets and areal variation in housing quality, in conjunction with economic and class differences between members of German and foreign worker cohorts. are also found to account for significant differences in the observed mobility patterns across age and ethnicity cohorts.     

African Urbanism: the Geography of Urban Greenery

Whilst the issue of urban greenery has received considerable research attention in many individual African countries in recent years, little has been done to explore and document the influence and the management implications of urbanisation on urban greenery across Africa. To address this gap, this paper reviews the state of urban greenery across African cities by analysing urbanisation pressures on the preservation and management of urban greenery. Drawing from published literature, policy documents and international reports, the study findings indicate an increasing depletion of urban greenery across major cities in Africa owing to urbanisation-induced anthropogenic influences. This paper advocates for an urban resilience model to management of urban greenery.     

A Decade of Progress in African Urban Tourism Scholarship

This article introduces a theme issue of Urban Forum on the topic of urban tourism in Africa. A context is provided for the issue by an overview of key themes which have been represented in a decade of African urban tourism research. Although most extant research is on urban South Africa, there is an emerging literature on other African cities. The major themes of research have surrounded tourism and urban economic restructuring with the establishment of new products for leisure tourism; slum tourism and pro-poor tourism; the role of the accommodation sector; African cities as non-leisure destinations; and, informal sector tourism. It is argued that within the evolving international scholarship on urban tourism, aspects of African urban tourism research exhibit distinctive features and offer challenges to Northern conceptions of urban tourism and urban tourists.     

格尔木市居住格局及居住隔离研究

民族地区的居住隔离与大城市不同,因此,探究民族地区居住格局及居住隔离是构建民族地区和谐社会的前提。要采取相应策略,方便对症下药。     

Everyday life patterns and social segregation of expatriate women in globalizing Asian cities: cases of Shanghai and Seoul

Shanghai’s ‘planned’ and Seoul’s ‘evolved’ expatriate communities represent contrasting approaches to housing the highly skilled professionals and their families. The study shows how the two distinctive environments produce different spatial patterns in everyday life, and also how they affect the social segregation of the expatriate women in the two cities. Shanghai’s gated compound entails an introverted, self-contained lifestyle with little contact with the local people. Seoul’s naturally evolved community is integrated with local neighborhoods leading to the wider range of daily destinations and more everyday contact with local people. Although the inter-expat social relations appear stronger within Shanghai’s walled residential areas, the daily interaction with host city locals is more pronounced in Seoul’s mixed foreign quarters. The study suggests that, among expats and locals, residential form which allows small-scale, everyday routine social interactions may be more conducive to building a sense of community in increasingly globalizing Asian urban centers.     

Housing supply and residential segregation in Ireland

The article examines the role of housing supply in ethnic diversity and the residential segregation of Asian, African and eastern European immigrants from Irish nationals in Ireland. Housing supply is defined as the proportions of new housing, private rental accommodation and social housing among all housing units in an electoral district. Multivariate regressions reveal that, among all three housing supply variables, the proportion of private rentals had the largest effect on ethnic diversity and immigrant— Irish segregation. Areas with higher proportions of private rental units were more ethnically diverse, had greater presences of Africans, Asians and eastern Europeans (as opposed to high concentrations of Irish nationals) and exhibited greater integration between each of the three immigrant groups and Irish nationals. The article concludes with a discussion of immigrant assimilation and questions whether the patterns of residential integration observed would further facilitate other forms of social inclusion for immigrants in Irish society.     

Job-related migration in the Netherlands. The role of geographical access to employment in a polynucleated urban region

Over the last few decades, the Netherlands’ economic urban landscape has developed into a polynucleated urban structure. The resulting spatial distribution of job opportunities influences geographical job access at the individual level. This paper addresses the question, to what extent does spatial variation in job access within the Netherlands polynucleated urban structure influence job-related migration? First, it is shown that there are large differences in job access in the Netherlands in both the total number of jobs and in job levels. Scores on job access are higher in strategic residential locations in between the major cities in the polynucleated urban region of the Randstad than in the major cities themselves. Second, using data from the Netherlands Housing Demand survey and logistic regression models, it is shown that the probability of job-related migration decreases as the number of jobs within reach of the residence increases. The analyses control for both individual and household characteristics. The results show that strategic residential locations in between the major cities are as favourable as the cities themselves in terms of avoiding high spatial mobility costs.     

RECENT STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND US URBAN ETHNIC MINORITIES

ABSTRACT: Three major structural changes affecting American society are identified and their impact on American urban ethnic groups is examined. The three changes are the restructuring of the US economy, shifting racial attitudes, and the return of mass immigration. The implications for ethnic groups are discussed with respect to financial gains or losses, segregation and hyperghettoization, job competition, growth of ethnic enclaves, and internal changes within urban ethnic communities. A revised model of the segmented urban labor market is suggested as a context for understanding these changes.