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Segregation and congregation
Key questions addressed in this chapter
> Which 'minority groups' arc most residential])' segregated in Western cities?
> What are the processes responsible for these patterns?
There are several rational reasons for segregation within urban society. The spatial segregation of different 'communities' helps to minimize conflict between social groups while facilitating a greater degree of social control and endowing specific social groups with a more cohesive political voice. Another important reason for the residential clustering of social groups is the desire of its members to preserve their own group identity or lifestyle. One of the basic mechanisms by which this segregation can be achieved is through group norms that support marriage within the group and oppose marriage between members of different social, religious, ethnic or racial groups. The organization of groups into different territories facilitates the operation of this mechanism
by restricting the number of 'outside' contacts. Thus people lend to marry their equals in social status; neighbours (end to be social equals; and so they many their neighbours. There are also, of course, several negative reasons for the persistence of residential segregalion. Beginning with fear of exposure to 'otherness', ihese extend to personal and institutionalized discrimination on the basis of class, culture, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and race.
8.1 Social closure, racism and discrimination
'What we are talking about here', observes Chris Philo, is 'the contest of cultures bound up in processes of sociospatial differentiation' and 'the clash of moralities {of differing assumptions and arguments about worth and non-worth) which are both constituted through and constitutive of a society's socio-spatial hierarchy of "winners" and "losers"' (Philo, 1991, p, 19).
One concept that is useful here is Frank Parkin's (1979) notion of social closure, whereby 'winners' are
Segregation and congregation
characterized by their ability to exercise power in a downward direction, excluding less powerful groups from desirable spaces and resources. Parkin also calls this exclusionary closure: an example would be the explicitly exclusionary practices of housing classes defined Lh rough membership of homeowners' associations (see Chapter 6).
Another means of differentiating 'winners' from 'losers' is through the social construction of racism. Peter Jackson has defined racism as 'the assumption, consciously or unconsciously held, thai people can be divided into a distinct number of discrete "races" according to physical, biological criteria and thai systematic social differences automatically and inevitably follow the same lines of physical differentiation' {Jackson, 1989, pp. 132-3), a definition that can be extended to include cultural differences. Racism produces pejorative associations aimed both at individuals (e.g. sexuality, criminality.) and at social groups (e.g. family structures, cultural pathologies).
The critical point here is that racism is not a uniform or invariable condition of human nature but, rather, consists of sets of attitudes that are rooted in the changing material conditions of society. We can, therefore, identify a multiplicity of racisms within contemporary cities, depending on the particular circumstances of different places. Susan Smith (1988) adopted this perspective in suggesting that the interaction of political culture with economic contingency produced three distinctive phases of racism in post-war Britain:
1 1945-1960: a period during which blacks and Asians, although frequently regarded as culturally backward or morally inferior, were regarded as intrinsically British, sharing equally with whites the status and privilege of Commonwealth citizenship. 'It was widely assumed that immigrant status, like the problems accompanying it, would be a temporary prelude to assimilation and absorption' (Smith, 1.988, p. 425).
2 1961-1975: civil unrest in the Netting Hill area of London (in 1958) marked the turning point at which blacks and Asians ceased to be regarded as fellow citizens and began to be depicted as alien, with alien cultures, different temperaments, backgrounds and ways of lite. 'Immutable differences, indexed by colour, were overlaid on the malleable cultural boundaries
previously assumed to distinguish immigrant from "host"' (Smith, 1988, p. 428).
3 / 976 -: a period o f social authoritarianism, in wh i ch neoliberal economic philosophies have defined issues of race as being insignificant to the concerns of politics and the economy, while at the same time a resurgence of moral conservatism, in appealing to a revival of national pride, has reinforced racism, albeit in the disguised language of'culture' or 'ethnicity'.
Smith's emphasis on the interaction of political culture and economic circumstances is particularly important to our understanding of racial segregation in societies (such as Britain and America) where institutional discrimination carries racism into the entire housing delivery system. Such discrimination permeates the legal framework, government policies (those relating, among others, to urban renewal, public housing and suburban development), municipal land use ordinances, and, as we saw in Chapter 6, the practices of builders, landlords, bankers, insurance companies, appraisers and real estate agents. Tlic impersonal web of exclusionary practices I hat results from this institutional discrimination has reinforced the racism and discrimination of individuals to the point where segregated housing has led to de facto segregated schools, shopping areas and recreational facilities. All this spatial segregation, in turn, serves to reproduce racism and to sustain material inequalities between racial categories.
8.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
Given these caveats about racism and discrimination, we can interpret minority group residential congregation and segregation as being inversely related to the process of assimilation with (he host society, a process that is itself governed by various forms of group behaviour designed to minimize real or perceived threats to the group from outsiders. But before going on lo examine this behaviour and its spatial consequences in detail, it is first necessary to clarify the meaning of terms such as 'minority group", 'host society', 'segregation' and 'assimilation'.
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8.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
Issues of definition and measurement
The term 'minority group' is widely used to mean any group that is defined or characterized by race, religion, language, nationality or culture. Implkil in its use is the idea that their presence in the city stems from a past or continuing stream ol in-migration. Minority groups in this sense therefore include African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Italians, jews, Mexicans, Vietnamese and (Asian) Indians in American cities; Afro-Caribbcans, Asians and Irish in British cities; Algerians and Spaniards in French cities; Turks and Croats in Gentian cities; and so on. While the host society may not be homogeneous, it always contains a charter group that represents the dominant matrix into which new minority groups are inserted. In North America, Australia and Britain the charter group in most cities is white, with an 'Anglo-Saxon' culture. The degree to which minority groups are spatially segregated from the charter group varies a good deal from city to city according to the group involved.
Segregation is taken here to refer to situations where members of a minority group are not distributed absolutely uniformly across residential space in relation to the rest of the population. This clearly covers a wide range of circumstances, and il is useful to be able to quantify the overall degree of segregation in some way. Several indexes of segregation are available, although the sensitivity of all of them depends on the scale of the areal units employed. One of the most widely used methods of quantifying the degree to which a minority group is residential]) segregated is the index of dissimilarity, which is analogous to the Gini index of inequality and which produces a theoretical range of values from 0 (no segregation) to 100 (complete segregation).
Index values calculated from census tract data in US cities show lhal African-Americans are generally the most segregated of the minorities in America, with index values at the tract level commonly exceeding 80. Puerto Ricans and Cubans have also been found to be very highly segregated in American cities, with index values at the tract level commonly exceeding 60; as have the new immigrant groupsofthe 1980s, 1990s and 2000s - Mexicans and Asians (see Box 8.1).
By comparison, minority group residential segregation in European cities is relatively low. In Britain, for
example, index values calculated for immigrant minority groups ■ Afro-Caribbeans, Pakistanis, Indians and Africans - a I the enumeration district level typically range between 40 and 70. The major exception is the Bangladeshi group, which in London, for example, is highly concentrated in a single borough (Tower Hamlets) and has indexes of dissimilarity similar to African-Americans in the United States. The Ga$tarbeiter(guest worker) population of continental European cities is much less segregated: index values for Turks, Greeks, Spaniards and Portuguese in German, Dutch and Swiss cities, for example, range between 35 and 50. At more fine-grained levels of analysis the degree of segregation can be much higher, with index values of between 80 and 90 for Asians, Afro-Caribbeans, Turks and North Africans al the scale of individual streets in north-west European cities. This emphasizes the vulnerability of statistical indexes, and makes intercity comparisons difficult.
Another practical difficulty in making precise statements about the degree of residential segregation is that minority groups may subsume important internal differences. Statements about the segregation of Asians in British cities, for instance, often overlook the tendency for Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis to exist in quite separately functioning communities, even though they may appear to outsiders to be part and parcel of the same territorial community. Muslims are separated from Hindus, Gujerati speakers from Punjabi speakers, and East African Asians from all other Asians; and these segregations are preserved even within public sector housing.
What is clear enough from the available evidence, however, is lhal most minorities lend to be highly-segregated from the charter group. This segregation has been shown lo be greater than might be anticipated from the socio-economic status of the groups concerned. In other words, the low socio-economic status of minority groups can only partially explain their high levels of residential segregation. The maintenance of the minor ily in-migrant group as a distinctive social and spatial entity will depend on the degree to which assimilation occurs.
This process can take place at different speeds lor different groups, depending on the perceived social distance belween them and the charter group. Moreover,
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Key trends in urban social geography - The Latinization of US cities
The most important development in the evolving social geography of US cities is their growing Latinization the evolution of neighbour hoods dominated by peoples with Latin American cultural roots (variously referred to as Latin-Americans, Latinos or Hispanics). The terminology can be controversial (see Davis, 2000} but the category includes those whose ancestry relates back to many Central and South American nations, predominantly Mexico, but also Puerto Rico, Cuba, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic. Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala. Whether by preference or constraint, Latinos are heavily concentrated in urban areas, and in many US cities -especially those in the South-West, such as Los Angeles, Houston, San Diego and Phoenix Latinos have displaced African-Americans as the dominant ethnic minority group. Furthermore, as a result of recent in-migration (both legal and illegal) and a much higher rate of fertility than the Anglo population. Latinos are increasing at a much faster rate than most other sections of US society. Projections made by the US Census Bureau in 2008 indicate that Hispanics will constitute one-third of the total US population by 2050. rising from 47 to 133 million.
The mix of Latino groups varies from city to city; in Los Angeles the Latino population is over three-quarters Mexican in origin, in Miami it is two-thirds Cuban and in New York it is almost one-half Puerto Rican. Mike Davis (2000) argues that Latino neighbourhoods (traditionally known as barrios) broadly conform to one of four different types:
1  Primate barrio with small
satellites: a simple ethnic wedge among broad concentric rings, a pattern typical of Latinos in Los Angeles before 1970 and in present-day Washington, DC,
Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Phoenix.
2 Polycentrie barrios: multiple enclaves as in contemporary Chicago which has four roughly equal-sized Latino districts.
3 Multicultural mosaic: a diverse range of neighbourhoods with Hispanics of differing backgrounds, the category refers exclusively to New York which has at least 21 major Latino districts.
4 City within a city: Davis reserves this term exclusively for contemporary Los Angeles
with its scores of Latino neighbourhoods sprawling in both rings and sectors around the older blue-collar industrial neighbourhoods of the metropolis. This pattern reflects the occupations taken up by Latinos, predominantly in relatively low-paying, labour-intensive services and light industry.
The complex implications of this growing Latinization of US cities have yet to be fully appreciated by urban analysts. There are many different manifestations of Latino culture in US cities. For example, while overwhelmingly Catholic and Spanish speaking, some are adherents of Protestant evangelical religious denominations. Similarly, Cuban exiles in Miami may have differing attitudes to village peoples uprooted by poverty from Mexico to Los Angeles. It seems that diverse new hybrid identities are emerging, the nature of which depends upon the blend of differing Latino groups (e.g. the nature of the national and subre-gional identities) and their relationship with main ethnic groups.
Ever hostile to suburban conservatism, Mike Davis sees the growth of Latino neighbourhoods as a welcome splash of cultural diversity regenerating run-down inner cities. He also envisages Latinos
as heading class-based alliances of workers fighting for better wages and employment rights. Although widely disenfranchised or reluctant to participate in electoral politics, Latinos are overwhelmingly Democratic in allegiance. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of Latinos align themselves with Republican values of self-reliance, the importance of religion and opposition to abortion.
Increasing nationalist sentiments in the wake of 9/11, the economic downturn and the failure of the Congress to deal with the issue of illegal immigration have prompted increasing hostility towards immigrants (especially illegal ones of Hispanic origin) in some areas - especially in small towns. Anti-immigrant discourse has been associated with policies to root out illegal immigrants and the landlords who accommodate them. FBI data published in 2008 point to a threefold increase in hate crimes against Latinos in the previous three years.
Key concepts associated with Latinization (see Glossary)
Borderlands, heterotopia, hybridity, liminal space, Mestizo, pariah city, third space.
Further reading
Davis, M. (2000) Magical Urbanism: Latinos reinvent the US city Verso, London
Dear, M., Leclerc, G. and Homero Vill, R. (eds) (1999) Urban Latino Cultures: La Vida Latina en LA. Sage, London
Diaz, D.R. (2005) Barrio Urbanism: Chicanos, planning and American cities Routledge, London
Links to other chapters
Chapter 12: Box 12.4 The growth of transnational urbanism
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behavioural assimilation - the acquisition by the minority group of J cultural life in common with the charter group - may lake place faster than structural assimilation -the diffusion of members of the minority group through the social and occupational strata of the charter group society. We should recall at this point that assimilation is not simply the process of one culture being absorbed into another. Both mainstream and minority cultures are changed by assimilation through the creation of new hybrid forms of identity (Chapter 3). Nevertheless, in general, the rate and degree of assimilation of a minority group will depend on two sets of factors: (1) external factors, including charier group attitudes, institutional discrimination and structural effects; and (2) internal group cohesiveness. Between them, these factors determine not only the degree and nature of conflict between minority groups and the charter group, but also the spatial patterns of residential congregation and segregation.
External factors: discrimination and structural effects
Minority groups that are perceived by members of the charter group to be socially undesirable will find themselves spatially isolated through a variety of mechanisms. One of the most obvious and straightforward of these is the 'blocking strategy by existing occupants of city neighbourhoods as they seek to resist the 'invasion' of minority groups. Meanwhile, established tightly knit minority group clusters tend to be the most resistant to invasion by others, actively defending their own territory in a variety of ways (ranging from social hostility and the refusal to sell or rent homes to petty violence and deliberate vandalism) against intruding members of minority groups.
Where this strategy of 'voice' opposition is unsuccessful, or where the territory in question is occupied by socially and geographically more mobile households, the charter group strategy commonly becomes one of 'exit1. The invasion of charter group territory generally precipitates an outflow of charter group residents that continues steadily until the critical point is reached where the proportion of households from the invading
minority group is large enough to precipitate a much faster exodus. This is known as the 'tipping point'. The precise level of the lipping point is difficult to establish, although it has been suggested that for whites facing 'invasion' by African-Americans, the lipping point maybe expected to occur when Afri can - American occupancy reaches a level of about 30 per cent. The subsequent withdrawal of charter group residents to other neighbourhoods effectively resolves the territorial conflict between the two groups, leaving the minority group spatially isolated until its next phase of territorial expansion.
The spatial isolation of minority groups is also contrived through discrimination in the housing market, thus limiting minority- groups to small niches within the urban fabric. Although formal discriminatory barriers are illegal, minorities are systematically excluded from charter group neighbourhoods in a variety of ways. As we have seen in Chapter 6, the role of real estate agents and mortgage financiers in the owner-occupied sector is particularly important, while the general gatekeeping role of private landlords also tends lo perpetuate racially segregated local submarkets. There is also a considerable weight of evidence to suggest that immigrants and minorities are discriminated against in the public sector.
In Britain, racial minorities have found themselves disadvantaged within the public sector in three respects. First, they initially had more difficulty in gaining access to any public housing because of their limited period of residence in a particular local government area; second, they have often been allocated to poor-quality property, particularly older flats; and, third, they have been disproportionately allocated to unpopular inner-city housing estates, thus intensifying the localization of the non-white population in the inner city. These disadvantages are partly the result of unintentional discrimination (such as the residential requirements associated with eligibility rules), and partly the result of more deliberate discrimination through the personal prejudices, for example, of housing visitors, who may have little or no understanding of the cultural background and family life of immigrant households. The effects of this type of discrimination are intensified by the discriminatory policies of city planners. Again, some of this discrimination is unintentional, as in the omission of minority
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neighbourhoods from urban renewal and rehabilitation schemes; but much is deliberate, as in I he manipulation of land use plans and zoning regulations in order to exclude nor. whiles from suburban residential areas of US cities.
The net effect of this discrimination is to render much of I he bousing stock unavailable to members of minority groups, thus 1 rapping them in privately rented accommodation and allowing landlords to charge inflated rents while providing little security of tenure. In an attempt to escape from this situation, some householders become landlords, buying large, deteriorating houses and subletting part of the house in order to maintain mortgage repayments and/or repair costs. Others manage to purchase smaller dwellings that are shared with another family or a lodger, but many can only finance the purchase through burdensome and unorthodox means. Asians, in particular, have been found to exhibit a strong propensity towards home ownership in preference to tenancy, notwithstanding the extra financial costs.
The localized nature of cheaper accommodation (whether for sale or rent! is an important a.specl of urban structure (sometimes referred to as a "fabric effect') that lends to segregate minority groups from the rest of the population by channelling them into a limited niche. Moreover, since many minority groups haye an atypical demographic structure, with a predominance of young adult males and/or large, extended families, their housing needs - single-room accommodation and large dwellings respectively - can be met only in very specific locations. In many cities, therefore, the distribution of clusters of minorities is closely related to the geography of the housing slock.
Underlying both charter group discrimination and the localization of minority groups in particular pockets of low-cost housing is their position in the overall social and economic structure of society, in this contexi, discrimination by working-class members of the charter group is related to the role attributed to minority groups in job and housing markets as competitors whose presence serves to depress wages and erode the quality of life. In short, minority groups are treated as lire scapegoats for the shortcomings of the economic system.
But it is the concentration of minority groups at the lower end of the occupational structure that is the
more fundamental factor in their localization in poor housing. Because of their lack of skills and educational qualifications, members of minority groups often tend to be concentrated in occupations that are unattractive to members of the charter group, that are often unpleasant or degrading in one way or another, and that are usually associated with low wages. The majority of such occupations are associated with the CBD and its immediate surrounds, and the dependence of minority groups on city-centre and inner-city job opportunities is widely cited as a prime determinant in the location of minority residential clusters. This factor, in turn, is reinforced by I he location of inexpensive accommodation in inner-city neighbourhoods surrounding the CBD. The isolation of minority groups in this sector of housing and labour markets was intensified by the massive deindustrialization of many large cities in the 1970s and 1980s and the suburbanization of new job opportunities (see Chapter 2). This has effectively trapped many of I he-poor in inner-city locations because of their inability to meet the necessary transportation costs.
Evidence from Britain shows limited but highly uneven progress in terms of the socio-economic advancement of ethnic mi nority groups (Phillips, Indian men,
for example, display an occupational siruelure similar to that for white men and are just as likely to hold professional or managerial jobs; but A fro-Caribbean men are significantly underrepresenled in the higher occupational groups. Similarly, Pakisiani and Bangladeshi men are less likely than whiles to be in skilled manual or professional occupations, in the case of women, however, there are fewer differences between white and black employment patterns, largely the result of fewer women being in professional or managerial groups. Interestingly, young adult members of ethnic minority groups reveal somewhat different patterns of occupational development than their elders. Thus, young black Caribbean adults have a higher propensity to work in white-collar occupations than their parents. However, young adults of Indian descent are less likely than their parents to be in professional occupations, although ihey are well represented in junior white-collar occupations. Overall, unemployment among ethnic minoriiics in ihe United Kingdom is higher than for the white population and this represents a significant impediment to socio-economic advance and residential relocation.
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8.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
Key debates in urban social geography segregation desirable?
Is ethnic residential
A key debate among urban policy makers (and urban analysts) in Europe concerns the desirability of ethnic residential segregation. The debate has been fuelled by images of US ghettos in which African-Americans are excluded from the mainstream of society, coupled with concerns over racial tensions in Europe following fundamentalist-inspired terrorist attacks in London and Madrid.
On the one hand there is the isolationist thesis. This stance argues that ethnic residential segregation is undesirable since it leads to reduced contact (fewer 'ethnic bridges') between the minority and the majority population. This in turn leads to reduced assimilation both in structural terms (i.e. education, employment and access to resources) and also in cultural terms (i.e. adoption of mainstream values and norms).
On the other hand there is the emancipation thesis. This viewpoint argues that ethnic residential segregation can help the advancement of the minority group in a host of ways: by acting as a reception area for newcomers to the society; by providing a local social support system; through fostering social capital; by providing a focus for the allocation of resources to compensate for social disadvantage; and not least by providing a base for political support that would be dissipated if the minority group were dispersed.
Critics of the isolationist thesis argue that oné should beware of transferring ideas from the United States to Europe (since levels of segregation are generally much lower in Europe). Furthermore, it is argued that in an age of globalization, transnationalism and advanced telecommunications the power of neighbourhood effects can be overstated. Research in the Netherlands (Van der Laam Bourma-Doff, 2007) has confirmed that the greater the degree of residential segregation displayed by an ethnic group, the less the likelihood of informal contacts with native Dutch people, Furthermore, the effect is greater for the more deprived, that is, poorer people are less likely to make contact even when less segregated. This might be related to poorer communications skills among the poor in ethnic minorities compared with the more affluent. The effect of segregation on women was also pronounced, a finding that might be related to gender roles among the ethnic minorities concerned, in the Netherlands case mostly Turks, .Moroccans and Surinamese.
At a broader societal level there is a growing debate about whether, as some assert, ethnic diversity leads to greater tolerance, cultural hybridity and innovation (e.g. Florida, 2002) or, as others claim, whether it leads to increasing distrust, lower social capital
and less willingness to pay taxes for the collective good in the form of a welfare state (Knack, 2002).
Key concepts related to ethnic residential segregation (see Glossary)
Assimilation, behavioural assimilation, charter group, community, congregation, enclave, ethnic group, ethnic village, rnulticulturalism, racism, segregation, structural assimilation.
Further reading
Drever, A.L. (2004) Separate spaces, separate outcomes? Neighbourhood impacts on minorities in Germany, Urban Studies 41, 1423-39
Knack, S. (2002) Social capital and the quality of government: evidence from the States, American Journal of Political Sciences. 772-85
Bourma-Doff, Van der Laam (2007) Confined contact: residential segregation and ethnic bridges in the Netherlands, Urban Studies 44, 997-1017
Links with other chapters
Chapter 3: The cultures of cities Chapter 8: Box 8.1 The Latmization of US cities: Box 8.3 Changing patterns of segregation in the United States
Congregation : internal grOUP (congregation } ofminoritv groups i m o discrete, horn o-COhesiveneSS geneous territories. Such clusters must also be seen as
defensive and conservative in function, partly in response While charter group attitudes and structural effects to the external pressures outlined above. In short, when go a long way towards explaining residential segrcga- people - especially immigrants and in-migrants - feel tion, they do not satisfactorily explain the clustering   threatened I hey often have a strong urge to internal
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Segregation and congregation
cohesion, so that the social and cultural coherence of the group may be retained. Four principal functions have been identified for the clustering of minority groups: defence, SLipport, preservation and attack.
Clustering together for defence
The defensive role of minority clusters is most promin-cnl when charter group discrimination is widespread and intense, so thai I he existence of a territorial heartland enables members of the; minority group to withdraw from the hostility of the wider society. The term ghetto was first used in V enice in the Renaissance era to describe the district in which Jewish people were forced to reside. The Jewish community made a crucial contribution to the status of Venice as a centre of trade and commerce through their money-lending activities. However, this success eventually bred hostility7 and Jews were forced into a small district of the city previously dominated by foundry activities. Large doors at either end of the neighbourhood were used to enforce a curfew. (Today, with a much reduced Jewish population, this district is crumbling and neglected but tours are available and plans are afool for preservation and renewal.) Jewish ghettos in medieval European cities therefore functioned as defensive clusters.
Anderson (1988) has shown how 'Chinatown' developed in Vancouver in the late nineteenth century in response to threats of mob rule and riot towards the Chinese population on the part of the wider white populace. Similarly, working-class Catholic and Protestant communities in Belfast have become increasingly segregated from one another in response to their need for physical safety. Nowhere has this phenomenon been more marked than on the Shankhill-Falls 'Divide' between the Protestant neighbourhood of Shankhill and the Catholic neighbourhood of Clonard-Springfield. Transitional between the two, and marking the Divide between the two groups, is the Cupar Street area, which had acquired a mixed residential, pat tern in the years up to 1968, When the 'troubles' broke out in 1.969, however, the territorial boundary between the two groups took on a much sharper definition. It is estimated that within the following seven years between 35 000 and 60 000 people from the Belfast area relocated to the relative safety of their own religious heartland, thus
reinforcing the segregation of Protestants and Catholics into what became known in army circles as 'tribal areas'. In a very different vein, many of the most recent examples of clustering for defence involve affluent, higb-slatus households living in gated communities in American suburbs.
Clustering for mutual support
Closely related to the defensive functions of minority clusters is their role as a haven, providing support for members of the group in a variety of ways. Such support ranges from formal minority-oriented Institution? and businesses to informal friendship and kinship lies. Clustered together in a mutually supportive haven, members of the group are able to avoid the hostility and rejection of the charter group, exchanging insecurity and anxiety for familiarity and strength. This 'buffer' function of minority clusters has been documented in a number of studies. The existence of ethnic institutions within the territorial cluster is one of the most important factors in protecting group members bom unwanted contact with the host community. Sikh temples and Muslim mosques in British cities, for example, have become the focus of Sikh and Pakistani local welfare systems, offering a source of food, shelter, recreation and education as well as being a cultural and religious focus.
More generally, most minority groups develop informal self-help networks and welfare organizations in order to provide both material and social support for group members. In addition, the desire to avoid ouLside contact and the existence of a local concentration of ;i minority population with distinctive, culturally based needs serve to provide protected niches lor ethnic enterprise, both legitimate and illegitimate. Minority enterprise is an important component of community cohesion in minority neighbourhoods everywhere, providing an expression of group solidarity as well as a means of economic and social advancement for successful entrepreneurs and an alternative route by which minority workers can bypass the white-controlled labour market.
In their classic study of the African-American community in Chicago, Drake and Cayton described the doctrine of the 'double-duty dollar', according to which members of the community should use their money
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8.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
not only to satisfy their persona] needs but also to 'advance the race' by making their purchases in African-American-owned businesses (Drake and Cayton, 1962). Tn Britain, the most distinctive manifestations of minority enterprise are the clusters of banks, butchers, grocery stores, ;ravel agencies, cinemas and clothing shops thai have developed in response lo ihe food taboos, specialized clothing styles and general cullural aloofness of Asian comrrturiiiies combined with the economic repression of British society.
Clustering for cultural preservation
This brings us to a third major function of minority residential clustering: that of preserving and promoting a distinctive cultural heritage. Minority {"roup consciousness sometimes results from external pressure, as in the use of Jamaican Creole by young Afro-Caribbeans in London as a private language to shut out the oppressive elements of the white world. But for many groups there exists an inherent desire lo maintain (or develop) a distinctive cultural identity rather than to become completely assimilated within the charter group (see also Box 8.4), Residenlial elusiering helps to achieve this not only through the operation of ethnic institutions and businesses bul also through the effects of residential propinquity on marriage patterns.
Many commentators have emphasized the self-segregaiing tendencies of Asian communities in British cities in this context, while the persistence of Jewish residential clusters is often interpreted as being closely related to the knowledge among Jewish parents that residence in a Jewish neighbourhood confers a very high probability of their children marrying a Jewish person. The residential clustering of some minority groups is also directly related to the demands of their religious precepts relating to dietary laws, the preparation of food and attendance for prayer and religious ceremony. Where such mores form an imponanl part of the group's culture, they are followed more easily where the group is territorially clustered. On the other hand, where group consciousness is weak and the group culture is not especially distinctive, ties between group members tend lo be superficial - sentimental rather than functional — with the result that residential clustering as well as group solidarity is steadily eroded.
A classic example of cultural expression within a residential area is the Harlem, district of New York. Previously inhabiied by German-Jewish immigrants, from the 1920s onwards the area became occupied by African-Americans. Musicians, entertainers and artists of many kinds flocked to the area and there emerged a world-famous expression of African-American culture that over the years, Harlem has continued to reinterpret and express. However, one must be careful not to over-glamorize such areas: together with cultural expression there is another side to Harlem - one of poverty, racial discrimination and urban decay.
Spaces of resistance: clustering to facilitate 'attacks'
The fourth major function of minority spatial concentration is the provision of a 'base' for action in the struggle of ils members with society in general in what are often termed spaces of resistance. This 'attack' function is usually both peaceful and legitimate. Spatial concentra-lions of group members represent considerable electoral power and often enable minority groups to gain official representation within the institutional framework of urban politics. This has been an important factor in the political power base of African-Americans in the United States - to the extent that African-American politicians now constitute an important (and sometimes dominant) voice in the urban political arena. Gay neighbourhoods also represent a potentially effective electoral base. Perhaps the best-known illustration of this is West Hollywood, where voters elected in 1984 to create a self-governing municipality and subsequently elected a city council dominated by gays.
Minority clusters also provide a convenient base for illegitimate attacks on the charter group. Insurrectionary groups and urban guerrillas with minority affiliations are able to 'disappear' in their own group's territory, camouflaged by a relative anonymity within their own cultural milieu and protected by a silence resulting from a mixture of sympathy and intimidation. An obvious example of this is the way in which ihe IRA and Loyalist para-military organizations took advantage of their respective territorial heartlands in Belfast in the 1980s and 1990s; and, indeed, the way in which the IRA used Irish communities in Birmingham,
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Segregation and congregation
wimtumimWMMMlBMlulr ■ ■
I
i   Key trends in urban social geography - Changing patterns of segregation in the United States
Although there is a great deal of work on the residential segregation of ethnic groups within cities, very few studies have compared, in any detailed fashion, the changing degree of segregation over time across an entire urban system. One recent exception is the work of Johnston, Poulsen and Forrest on the United States (Johnston etal., 2004). They examined the degrees of segregation of the three largest ethnic groups self-identified in the 1980 and 2000 US Censuses - Blacks (African-Americans), Hispanics (Latinos) and Asians (see also Johnston eta!., 2002, 2003).
The results are complex but may be summarized as follows:
> The larger the ethnic group the greater the degree of segregation. Hence blacks, the largest ethnic group, show the greatest degree of segregation. This is explained by the assumption that larger groups will appear more intimidating and therefore be subject to greater degrees of discrimination and disadvantage.
>■ The larger the urban area the greater the degree of segregation. This applies to all three ethnic groups and is related to the previous observation: larger cities
are more likely to have larger minorities with segmented labour and housing markets.
>■ There is an east-west divide in segregation. Blacks and Hispanics were less segregated in California than elsewhere, while levels of segregation were higher in the north-eastern cities. Asians show higher levels of segregation in California in 2000. reflecting their recent entry into the United States.
>■ For Asians and Hispanics, the more diverse the city the greater the degree of segregation. It would seem that the greater the ethnic diversity, the greater are the social tensions and the retreat by ethnic groups into enclaves. Cities that provide 'ports of entry' for rapidly increasing new Asian and Hispanic immigrants have the highest levels of segregation (see also Box 8.1).
> Although they tend to show the highest levels of segregation, over the period 1980 to 2000 blacks have shown declining levels of segregation, while the segregation levels of Asians and Hispanics have increased. This decline in
segregation has been less in the large cities of the North East.
Key concepts associated with changing patterns of segregation {see Glossary)
Congregation, enclave, ethnic group, ghetto, racism, segregation.
Further reading
Johnston, R., Poulsen, M. and Forrest, J. (2002) From modern to post-modern? Contemporary ethnic segregation in four US metropolitan areas. Cities 19, 161-72
Johnston, R., Poulsen, M, and Forrest, J. (2003) And did the walls come tumbling down? Ethnic segregation in four US metropolitan areas, 1980-2000, Urban Geography 24, 560 81
Johnston, R., Poulsen, M. and Forrest, J. (2004) The comparative study of ethnic residential segregation in the USA, 1980-2000, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Ceografie 95, 550-69
Links with other chapters
Chapter 12: Box 12.3 Ron Johnston
Liverpool, London and Southampton as bases for terrorist attacks.
Colonies, enclaves and ghettos
The spatial expression of segregation and congregation, then, is determined by the interplay of discrimination, fabric effects and the strength of internal group cohesion.
Where the perceived social distance between the minority group and the charter group is relatively small, the elfeets of both charter group discrimination and internal cohesion are likely to be minimized and so minority residential clusters are likely to be only a temporary stage in the assimilation of the group into the wider urban sociospatial fabric. Such clusters may be termed colonies. 1 hey essentially serve as a port of entry for members of the group concerned, providing a base from which
174
8.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
group members are culturally assimilated and spatially dispersed. Their persistence over time is therefore dependent on the continuing input of new minority group members. Examples of this type of pattern include the distribution of European minority groups in North American cities during the 1920s and 1930s, of similar groups in Australasian cities during ihe 1950s and 1960s, and of the Maltese in London during the 1950s.
Minority clusters that persist over the longer term arc usually a product of the interaction between discrimination and internal cohesion. Where the latter is the more dominant of the forces, the resultant residential clusters may be termed enclaves; and where external factors are more dominant, the residential clusters are generally referred to as ghettos. In reality, of course, it is often difficult to ascertain the degree lo which
A sacred space signifying a distinctive ethnic subculture: a Sikh temple (the Nanaksar Gurdwara) in Southampton. Photo Credit: Andy Vowles.
segregation is voluntary or involuntary, and it is more realistic to think in terms of a continuum rather than a twofold classification. This enclave/ghetto continuum exhibits several distinctive spatial patterns:
>■ The first of these is exemplified by Jewish residential areas in many cities, where an initial residential clustering in inner-city areas has formed the base for the subsequent formation of new suburban residential clusters (Figure 8.1). The fact that this suburbanization represents a general upward shift in socioeconomic status and that it is usually accompanied by the transfcrral of Jewish cultural and religious institutions to the suburbs suggests that this type of pattern is largely the result of voluntary segregation. It has been suggested, in fact, that congregation rather than segregation is the most appropriate term for the Jewish residential patterns.
> The second distinctive expression of the enclave/ ghetto takes the form of a concentric zone of minority neighbourhoods that has spread from an initial cluster lo encircle the CBD. Such zones are often patchy, the discontinuities reflecting variations in the urban fabric in terms of house types and resistant social groups. The growth ol African-American areas in many US cities tends lo conform to this pattern, as does the distribution of Asians, Irish and Afro-C.aribbeans in British cities and the distribution of Mediterraneans, Sininatners and Antilleans in Rotterdam.
> Where a minority group continues to grow numerically, and provided that a sufficient number of its population are able to afford belter housing, residential segregation is likely to result in a sectoral spatial pattern. The distribution of African-Americans in many of the more prosperous and rapidly expand ing cities of the United States tends towards this model, although sectoral development is often truncated because of economic constraints operating at ihe suburban margin. The distribution of the black population in the Baltimore metropolitan area provides a good example of this type of pattern. As Figure 8.2 shows, the city's African-American population has been concentrated in the central city, with two sectors ol census tracts - one to the north-west and one to the north-east of the CBD - more than 80 per cent. African-American in 2000.
175
Segregation and congregation
53 2CC
5 3QQ 1 000
Wkm
Map source: Reproduced From Ordnance Sun.'ey map data by permission of the Ordnance Survey *J Crown Copyright 2001
Figure 8.1 Number of Jewish people in Greater London, by boroughs. 2001
Source; After 1PR Revdrt No. 5. Lonn-Temi Planning for Briton Jvury. Final ffepsit and Recommendatims, 2003, v- 54.
illustrative example 1: structural constraints and cuitura preservation in the United Kingdom
iL will be clear by now that most large cities contain a variety of minorities, each responding to a different mis of internal and external factors, each exhibiting rather different spatial outcomes, and each changing in different
176
rates and in different ways. Peach (1998) provides a summary of the relative importance of both structural constraints and cultural differentiation strategies among South Asian and Caribbean ethnic minorities in Britain, He notes that minority groups which arrived in Britain at more or less the same time after the Second World War faced similar problems of discrimination but have
S.2 Tha spatial segregation of minority groups
Racial Concentration 2000 - Black
Figure 8.2 Blacks as percentage of totai population in Baltimore. 2000.
Source:- US Census SurcdU. £UUG Census.
become significantly differentiated from one another in terms of housing tenure and residential location:
In brief, the Indian profile appears as white-collar, suburbanized, semi-detached and owner occupying; the Pakistani profile as blue-collar inner city and owner-occupying in terraced housing; the
Bangladeshi profile is blue-collar and council-housed in inner-city terraced and flatted properties; the Caribbean population is also blue-collared with substantial representation in council housing, but far less segregated than the Bangladeshis and with a pronounced tendency to decentralisation.
(Peach, 1998, p. 1657)
177
Segregation and congregation
Key trends in urban sociai geography - Rap as cultural expression (and commercialization)
One of the famous not to say notorious - examples of cultural expression to .emerge from rhe black ghettos of US cities (originally the South Bronx, New York), which has become a worldwide commercial phenomenon, is rap music (Berman, 1995). Devised by male black youths who were too poor to afford lessons or expensive musical instruments, it initially involved a single kid with a microphone and a speaker that played a drum synthesizer track. This evolved into a dual form with an MC (master of ceremonies) in the foreground who provided the vocals while, behind him a DJ (disc jockey} created a diverse background of rhythms and sounds. Technology was important here; the introduction of the digital sampler in the mid-1980s enabled DJs to create complex mixes of different styles.
What caught the interest of youth culture, both black and otherwise (as well as some intellectuals), was the complex torrent of lyrics that emerged from this music. These lyrics gave expression to the mixture of alienation, marginalization and frustration experienced by black youths, combined also with aggression and assertrveness. The first international hit was 'The message' by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Fitfe that listed the plight of those in the South Bronx. Throughout the 1980s
rap grew in popularity and was copied by white groups such as The Beaslie Boys. However, in the early 1990s there emerged from. Los Angeles 'gangsta rap' that celebrated violence and was frequently laced with mis-ogynistic images of rape and brutality.
Commercial interests, always alert to opportunities for profit making, promoted rap music on an international scale and the style passed over into the 'gangsta rap' movie genre exemplified by Nev/ Jack City, As some rappers became fabulously wealthy they moved out of black areas into the fortified mansions of the rich and were surrounded by image consultants. This led to charges that their audacious messages of black separatism and hatred towards whites lacked the 'authenticity' of the early Cries of the South Bronx. Some rappers have been involved in violence, shootings and firearms offences {Antron Singleton is serving life for murder, former drug dealer 50 cent has been shot many times, while former rappers Proof, Tupac Shakur. Biggie Smalls and Jam Master Ray have all been shot dead). If would appear that violent imagery sells records; thus it was after New York rappers preached anti-violence in' the late 1980s that they were overtaken in sales by the gun-carrying rappers of Los Angeles. While much
rap music grabs attention through its stark, crude, hostile images, it has become a diverse and complex set of cultural forms and some have preached against violence. For example, in true postmodern fashion, a strong element of irony and pastiche has emerged in much of the genre,
Hip hop has become a global phenomenon and in 1995 French rap group NTM anticipated the riots in French suburbs by a decade in 'Qu'est-ce qu'on attend' [see Box 13.4).
Key concepts associated with rap as cultural expression (see Glossary)
Alienation, cultural industries, hybridity.
Further reading
Berman, M. (1995) Justice/just us: rap and sociai injustice in America, in A. Merrifield and E. Swyngedouw (eds) The Urbanizstion of Injustice Lawrence & Wishart, London
Links with other chapters
Chapter 3: Box 3.2 Hybridization: The case of popular music
Chapter 13: Box 13.4 The French riots of 2005
Peach argues that one should not underestimate I he continuing power of discrimination in explaining these patterns. He also cautions that explanations based on cultural traditions can be misinterpreted as being based on essentialism - the ideas that these differences are intrinsic elements of peoples rather than social constructs
(see Chapter 3). Nevertheless, whereas the situation in the 1960s was often represented in blanket terms of white discrimination, current explanations also place stress upon the cultural differentiation strategies of the different ethnic groups. In particular, ethnic cultural values strongly influence age of marriage, family size, household
178
S.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
structures and degree of female independence, and these factors in turn impact upon housing tenure and location.
For example, Afro-Caribbean societies are characterized by female-dominated households, cohabitation and visiting relationships. Marriage in this context is often a middle-class institution adopted after the rearing of a family. This tradition of female independence continues in the Afro-Caribbean population in Britain, which has the highest rate of female participation in the formal economy of any ethnic group (70 per cent in 2001). It is the high proportion of single female-headed households among Caribbean ethnic groups that explains their higher than expected concentration in social housing, furthermore, the relative poverty of these households, combined with processes leading to residualization of the social housing stock (see Chapter 12), has led to their frequent concentration in less desirable high-rise blocks of flats.
In marked contrast, the ethnic minorities with a South Asian background - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh -are characterized by male-dominated nuclear families with a strong tendency for large multifamily households. Furthermore, lone parents with dependent children and cohabitation are unusual among these groups. The Islamic groups from Pakistan and Bangladesh have a strong tradition of purdah, which involves sheltering women from outside society, and so female participation rates in the formal economy are extremely low. The tendency for arranged marriages among the South Asian groups, especially Muslims and Sikhs, means that these societies lend to be ethnically homogeneous. However, the differing socio-economic status of the various communities tends to result in differing housing types. The tendency towards non-manual employment among Indian men is associated with suburban owner-occupation whereas the higher proportion of manual work among Pakistanis
179
173790
Segregation and congregation
Key debates in urban social geography - Is the United Kingdom sleepwalking into the creation of US-style ghettos?
In 2005 Trevor Phillips, then head of the Commission for Racial Equality, claimed that the United Kingdom might be 'sleepwalking' into the' creation of US-style ghettos with high levels of ethnic concentration and associated economic and social mar-ginaiization [Phillips, 2005). Ironically, Phillips' comments (which he later retracted) seem to have been prompted by press misrepresentation of data, which showed the reverse (Johnston and Poulsen, 2006). In the United Kingdom ethnic minority populations rarely achieve a majority of the population in urban areas .and a relatively low proportion of ethnic populations are to be found living at high concentrations (Johnston ef a/. 2002). However, in the wake of the riots in some UK northern towns in 2001, together with the terrorist bombings in London on 7 July 2005, there has been much popular debate about Muslim self-segregation in UK cities and the potential negative impact of this trend on multicultural ism. Phillips er al. (2007) argue that these alarmist representations of UK society, with their talk of Asian ghettos breeding home-grown terrorists, are based on a simplified view of the changing settlement patterns of British Asians. Their detailed analysis of the changing residential patterns in Leeds and Bradford revealed more complex trends.
There is certainly a pattern of ethic clustering of British Asians in the inner cities and these enclaves have been growing and consolidating in recent years. Furthermore, these clusters represent some of the poorest parts of the cities and their develop-
ment seems to be associated with the out-migration of white households (the so-called 'white flight'). However, Phillips er al. note that these clusters are long established and statistical measures show that segregation has-not increased, in recent years; indeed, in Leeds it has actually reduced. Furthermore, these inner-city clusters are I'ne most ethnically diverse parts of ihe city - they are not exclusively Asian - and the influence of white out-migration can be exaggerated; many of the changes are the result of demographic factors.
One important reason why indices of segregation are not increasing is because of the parallel trend of Asian suburbanization. Although this is mostly people of Indian origin, British Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin have also begun to move into suburban areas. Detailed interviews with British Asians also revealed more complex attitudes than the populist one of self-segregation. While many valued the social support networks of inner-city clusters others felt ambivalent or negative attitudes towards such areas. Younger Muslims in particular, together with those in professional groups, wanted to balance family and community support with a greater personal freedom in a residence close to, but slightly distant from, established areas with Muslims.
The authors argue that we need to recognize the complexity of experiences regarding ethnicity in different cities, in some instances there may be racial tension, and white flight, but in others a growing cosmopolitanism and cultural hybridity. We should a.lso rethink attitudes towards ethnic
clustering; these can be vibrant social spaces, not just places of failure and decline.
Key concepts related to ghettos (see Glossary)
Assimilation, behavioural assimilation, charter group, community, congregation, enclave, ethnic group, ethnic village, multicultural ism, racism, segregation, structural assimilation.
Further reading
Johnston, R.. Forrest, J. and Poulsen, M. (2002) Are there ethnic enclaves/ghettos in English cities? Urban Shares 39, 591-618
Johnston, R. and Poulsen, M. (2006) Ethnic residential segregation in England: getting the right message across, Environment and Planning A 38, 2195-9
Phillips, D. (2006) Parallel lives? Challenging discourses of British Muslin self-segregation, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 24, 25-40
Phillips, D., Davis, C. and Radcliff, P. (2007) British Asian narratives of urban space, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 32, 217-34
Phillips, T. (2005} Britain 'sleepwalking' to segregation. Guardian, 19 September, 1
Links with other chapters
Chapter 3: The cultures of cities
Chapter 8; Box 8.1 The Latinization of US cities; Box 8.3 Changing patterns of segregation in the United States
ISO
8.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
and Bangladeshis is associated with poorer quality owner-occupied housing in the former case and council housing in the latter case.
The outcome of these processes is that ethnic residential segregation in Britain now reflects a much more complex pattern than the stereotype of inner-city concentration and deprivation that characterized the 1960s and 1970s. It is certainly true that the overall picture is one of economic disadvantage for minority groups and they continue to experience discrimination and racial harassment. Nevertheless, there have been modest economic gains for some groups and moderate amounts of decentralization from inner cities into suburban areas {although not into rural areas of Britain). Afio-Caribbeans, although showing signs ofconlinuing economic marginalization, have become more culturally integrated into land have in turn influenced) British working-class society. In addition, largely through their presence in social housing schemes, they show decreased signs of residential segregation.
While Bangladeshis have a similar socio-economic and housing prolile 10 Caribbean groups, they display much higher and continuing degrees of residential segregation. In general, ethnic minorities from Muslim societies - such as Pakistan and Bangladesh — show a continuing tendency for segregation whether they are predominantly in owner-occupation or the social housing sector. The somewhat higher socio-economic-status of Indian groups is associated with moderate deconcentration especially in London into Redbridge and Harrow. However, socio-economic advancement is no guarantee of suburbanization or dispersal since numerous cultural factors {such as the religious prohibition on Muslims paying interest on loans) may serve to anchor ethnic group members in a particular location since they may inhibit the purchase of more expensive housing. However we should also note that in the case oflslam there is an increasing range of financial arrangements that can circumvent such strictures thereby permitting house purchase.
Illustrative example 2: migrant workers in continental European cities
During the past 40 years an important new dimension has been added to the social geography of continental
European cities with the-arrival of tens of thousands of migrant workers, most of them from the poorer regions of the Mediterranean. Although estimates vary a good deal, there were in the late 2000s some 22 million aliens living in European countries. About half of these were young adult males who had emigrated in order to seek work, originally, at least, on a temporary basis. The rest were wives and families who had joined them.
At the heart of this influx of foreign-born workers were the labour needs of the more developed regions, coupled with the demographic 'echo effect' of low birth rates in the 1930s and 1940s: a sluggish rate of growth in the indigenous labour force. As the demand for labour in more developed countries expanded in the 1960s, so indigenous workers found themselves able to shun low-wage, unpleasant and menial occupations; immigrant labour filled the vacuum. At the same time, the more prosperous countries perceived that foreign workers might provide a buffer for the indigenous labour force against the effects of economic cycles- the so-called konjunkLiivpuffer philosophy.
The peak of these streams of immigrants occurred in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. The onset of deep economic recession in 1973, however, brought a dramatic check to the flows. Restrictions on the admission of non-European Community immigrants began in West Germany in November 1973, and within 12 months France, Belgium and the Netherlands had followed with new restrictions. By this time there were nearly 2 million foreign workers in West Germany, over 1.5 million in Prance, half a million in Switzerland, and around a quarter of a million in Belgium and Sweden.
Within each of these countries the impact of migrant labour has been localized in larger urban areas, reflecting the immigrants' role as replacement labour for the low-paid, assembly-line and service sector jobs vacated in inner-city areas by the upward socio-economic mobility and outward geographical mobility of the indigenous population. Thus, for example, more than 2 million of the 6 million aliens living in France in 2000 lived in the Paris region, representing over 15 per cent of its population. Other French cities where aliens account for more than 10 per cent of the populations include Lyons, Marseilles, Nice and St Etienne. In Germany, 25 per cent of Frankfurt's population is foreign born, as is more than 15 per cent of the population of Cologne, Munich,
181
Segregation and congregation
Düsseldorf and Stuttgart. In Switzerland, Basle, Lausanne and Zurich all have between 15 and 20 per cent foreign bom, while Geneva ia special case) has 35 per cent.
Since nearly all of the immigrants were initially recruited to low-skill, low-wage occupations, they have inevitably been channelled towards the cheapest housing and the most run-down neighbourhoods. The position of immigrants in the labour market is of course partly self-inflicted: for many the objective has been to earn as much as possible, as quickly as possible, the easiest strategy being to take on employment with an hourly wage where overtime and even a second job can be pursued. Most immigrants, however, tend to be kept at the foot of the economic ladder by a combination of institutional and social discrimination.
Similarly, immigrants' position in housing markets is partly self-inflicted: inexpensivencss is of the essence. But the localization of immigrants in camps, factory hostels, hotels tumbles (immigrant hostels), bidomilles (suburban shanty towns also known as banlieue) and inner-city tenements is also reinforced by bureaucratic restrictions and discrimination. Concentrated in such housing, immigrants find themselves in an environment that creates problems both for themselves and for the indigenous population. Trapped in limited niches of the housing stock, they are vulnerable to exploitation. One response to excessively high rents has been the notorious 'hotbed' arrangement, whereby two or even three workers on different shifts take turns at sleeping in the same bed. In Prance a more common response-has been to retreat to the cardboard and corrugated iron bidonviiks, where although there may be no sanitary facilities immigrants can at least live inexpensively among their own compatriots.
In terms of spatial outcomes, a fair!) consistent pattern has emerged, despite the very different minority populations involved in different cities - Serbs, Croats and Turks in Duisburg, Frankfurt, Cologne and Vienna: Algerians, Italians and Tunisians in Paris; and Surinamese and Turks in Rotterdam, for example. In short, just as I he migrants are replacing the lower echelons of the indigenous population in the labour market, so they are acting as a partial replacement for the rapidly declining indigenous population in the older neighbourhoods of privately rented housing near to sources of service employment and factory jobs. Quite simply,
the overriding priority for migrant workers is to live close lo their jobs in cheap accommodation. This applies to all national groups, so that similar spatial patterns have persisted even as (in Hamburg's case) the culturally more alien Turkish, Creek and Portuguese populations replaced older and more familiar groups such as Italians and Spaniards. In some cities, a secondary pattern has developed as foreign-born workers have been allocated space in public housing projects. The allocation procedures of housing officials therefore tend to result in concentrations of foreigners in dilapidated, peripheral public housing estates.
A new twist to the story of ethnic minority groups in Europe has been provided by the massive economic changes sweeping the continent following the end of the long boom' and the advent of globalization, deindus-triaiization, high levels of long-term unemployment and increasing social polarization (see Chapter 2). At the same time, the social welfare policies ol EU states have been curtailed as they attempt lo cut budget deficits. As a result, social polarization has begun to affect the charter group as well as ethnic minorities, leading to heightened social tensions in many cases.
The promotion of greater social and economic cohesion was one of the key objectives of the 1991 Maastricht Treaty that paved the way for greater integration of the EU stales. However, this treaty created two classes of immigrants within Europe: first, there are the European residents living in the boundaries ol other European nations with the right to movement within the European Union; and second, there are the 10 million non-European immigrants from outside the European Union who, although long settled, do not have full citizenship or the right to move to other EU member slates. The aim of this division is to create a 'Portress Europe' policy and inhibit immigration, including that from refugees and asylum seekers outside the European Union.
These formally sanctioned processes of exclusion interact with race and ethnicity to form complex and different patterns in different nations. At one extreme, non-nationals in the Lmited Kingdom enjoy virtually all the formal rights of citizenship of nationals and so (as discussed above) processes of social exclusion operate more clearly on the basis of race. At the other extreme, non-nationals in Germany are excluded from a wide
182
8.2 The spatial segregation of minority groups
Key debates in urban social geography - How does ethnic residential segregation vary across Western nations?
Key questions raised by ethnic residential segregation are in which societies is the degree of concentration greatest and what does this tell us about the causes of these patterns? Unfortunately, despite literally thousands of studies of ethnicity in different countries, it is extremely difficult to answer these questions in any precise way because variations in data collection methods make cross-national comparisons extremely tricky. Thus, instead, we tend to have broad generalizations: for example, it would appear in Europe that, while levels of segregation are lower than for African-Americans than in the United States, in general the United Kingdom and Belgium have I higher levels of segregation than I Germany and France, with the Dutch somewhere in between (Musterd.
i 2005).
1
However, the inveterate geographer I   Ran Johnston and his colleagues have again provided us with one of the most i   comprehensive geographical analyses of segregation in a group of nations using common methods for Australia, I   Canada. New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States (Johnston ef a/., 2007). Their findings are as follows:
>• Size and ethnic composition-, ethnic residential segregation tends to be greater in large cities, in cities where the non-charter
group is large, and where only a small number of migrants are competing for residential space.
>■ Antipodean trends-, in general, Australia and New Zealand have lower levels of ethnic segregation - a pattern attributed in part to their open, multicultural policies (despite depredations historically visited upon their aboriginal populations).
>- Blacks in the United States: this group tends to display the highest rates of ethnic residential segregation.
>■ South Asians in the United Kingdom-, this group displays the highest concentration in the UK.
Overall one must conclude that differing groups display differing patterns in differing nations at differing times! These patterns can be attributed to variations in three common processes with differing policy implications:
1 Self-segregation: if ethnic residential segregation is not associated with major disadvantage then perhaps there is little need for public intervention.
2 Discrimination: if this is a major influence on patterns then liberal policies in the spheres of education together
with anti-discrimination legislation are required.
3 Disadvantage: if segregation results from structural disadvantage the more radical redistributive policies are necessary,
Key concepts related to ethnic residential segregation (see Glossary)
Assimilation, behavioural assimilation, charter group, community, congregation, enclave, ethnic group, ethnic village, multiculturalism, racism, segregation, structural assimilation.
Further reading
Johnston. R.J., Poulsen, M. and Forrest, J. (2007) The geography of ethnic residential segregation: a comparative study of five countries, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97, 713-38
Musterd, S. (2005) Social and ethnic segregation in Europe: levels, causes and effects, Journal of Urban Affairs 27, 331-48
Links with other chapters
Chapter 3: The cultures of cities
Chapter 8: Box 8.1 The Latinization of US cities; Box 8.3 Changing patterns of segregation in the United States
range of formal social institutions such as social housing or democratic channels, and so race and ethnicity get compounded with other issues of 'European ness'.
To illustrate, Kurpick and Week (1998) note that until the early 1980s most middle- and lower-income workers with German citizenship felt relatively secure, but then increasing levels of long-term unemployment
meant that they were increasingly cut off from the mainstream. Social polarization processes have also left, second- and third-generation immigrants in danger of becoming permanently excluded from economic and social life in Germany. So far, these social polarization processes have not resulted in the severe manifestations of decay as in distressed inner-city neighbourhoods of
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Segregation and congregation
Key films related to urban social geography - Chapter 8
Ae Fond Kiss (2004) A film exploring in a sensitive, amusing and thought-provoking manner the impact upon both the home and workplace of an interethnic love affair between two young professional Scots in contemporary Glasgow; one of Pakistani-Islamic descent and one with an Irish-Catholic background. Director Ken Loach takes pains to represent the diversity of issues involved, ranging from domestic relations to international politics.
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) An extremely popular portrayal of inter-generational cultural tensions among Sikhs in Britain.
Bhaji on the Beach (1983) A group of Asian women on a trip to Blackpool muse upon what it means to be female and of Indian descent in contemporary Britain.
Boyz N' the Hood (1991) A brutal experience set in the gangland of South Central Los Angeles, this film depicts the problems of growing up in an environment characterized by poverty, violence and crack cocaine dealing. A controversial film after some thought it would lead to 'copycat' violence.
Clockers (1995) A film directed by Spike Lee in the so-called 'Hood' style (after the trend-setting movie Boyz N' the Hood) showing the violent gun crime associated with crack culture in US inner-city ghettos.
The Defiant Ones (1958) An explicit deliberation on race relations in the United States. Two escaped chained
convicts, one black and one white, full of racially motivated antagonism towards each other, find that they need each other's help to evade capture.
Dim Sum (1989) A lightweight but nevertheless interesting consideration of the Chinese immigrant experience in the United States.
Do the Right Thing{l989) Lively, tragicomic film about conflicts between Italian-Americans, African-Americans and Koreans in Brooklyn.
East is fast (1999) Set in the northern English cities of Salford and Bradford in the 1970s, this film portrays issues of cultural adaptation in a way that is both comic and moving.
Echo Park (Quinceanera) (2006) Excellent, well-scripted film about young adults growing up in the Latino community of Los Angeles, Lively, intelligent, intriguing and life affirming.
Eight Mile (2002) Eminem stars in a semi-autobiographical film focusing on the trials and tribulations facing an aspiring rapper in the eight-mile road area of Detroit, the notorious boundary between the deprived black areas of the city and the more affluent northern suburbs.
In the Heat of the Night (1967) A keynote expose of racism in the south of the United States centred around the arrest of a biack detective ('Mr Tibbs', played by Sidney Poitier).
La Haine (1995) A much-praised film about the tensions and stresses
facing youths from an ethnic enclave in France.
Menace II Society (1993) Another brutal, violent film set in the Watts ghetto.
Mississippi Burning (1988) A powerful film showing the racism prevalent in the southern United States in the 1960s. Two FBI investigators probe the disappearance of three civil rights workers thought to have fallen prey to the Ku Klux Klan.
Mississippi Massala (1991) Another film dealing with issues of migration, identity and cultural hybridity, in this case in the context of Ugandan Asians in the southern United States. My Son the Fanatic (1997) The conflicts between a Pakistani taxi driver enamoured with English life and his fundamentalist son who has become disillusioned with life in a northern city. A truly prescient film in the light of the London bombings of 7 July 2005. New Jack City (1991) An 'over-the-top' portrayal of crime and violence, but worth seeing for the way it represents ghetto life in mainstream films. To Kill s Mockingbird (1962) A film based on the famous novel by Harper Lee, An expose of racial bigotry in the south of the United States during the Depression.
Wild West (1992) An amusing film about a group of British Asian kids who are obsessed with country and western music, raising issues of cultural identity.
the United States or the sort oI violent actions seen on the periphery of some French cities. The Marxloh neighbourhood of Duisburg in the distressed Ruhr region of Germany has a 25 per cent unemployment rate and has 36 per cent foreign nationals, mostly of Turkish origin. In response, policies have been instigated by the city of
Duisburg to encourage local businesses. Interestingly, it has been found that the German population in this neighbourhood is more socially isolated and lacking in behavioural attitudes conducive to entrepreneurship than the Turkish population, with its lively and diverse ethnically based social and economic networks.
184
Chapter summary
Suggested reading
8.1 The residential segregation of minority groups in Western cities is the product of various processes of exclusionary closure and institutional racism.
8.2 Minority groups reveal differing degrees of residential segregation in cities. These patterns reflect hostility among the wider population, discrimination in employment and housing markets, and clustering for defence, mutual support and cultural preservation.
Key concepts and ter
assimilation
behavioural assimilation
charter group
colony
congregation
eligibility rules
enclave
essentialism exclusionary closure 'exit' option 'fabric effect' ghetto
index of dissimilarity minority group
segregation social closure spaces of resistance structural assimilation 'tipping point' 'voice' option
Suggested reading
Ethnicity and the city
Amin, A. (2002) Ethnicity and the multicultural city-living with diversity, Environment and Planning A 34, 959-80
Aitchison, C, Hopkins, P. and Kwan, Mei-Po (eds) (2007) Geographies of Muslim Identities: Diaspora, gender and belonging Ashgate* Aldershot
Baggulcy, P. and Hussain, Y. (2008) Riotous Citizens: Ethnic conflict in multicultural Britain Ashgate, Aldershot
Binnie, ]., ilolloway, J., Millington, S. and Young, C. (eds) (2006) Cosmopolitan Urhanism Routledge, London
Boger, J.C. and VVegner, J.W.E. (eds) (1996) Race, Poverty, and American Cities University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, KC
Boswell, T. and Cruz-Bacz, A.D. (1990) Residential segregation by socioeconomic class in metropolitan Miami, Urban Geography 18 (6), 474-96
Dwyer, C. (ed.) (2008) New Geographies of Race and
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