Geographies of ethnic segregation in Stockholm: The role of mobility and co-presence in shaping the ‘diverse’ city

Abstract

This article assesses how urban segregation and ethnic diversity in Stockholm have been shaped by spatial policy and migration trajectories over time. Much of the urban studies and planning literature defines segregation as a measure of residential mixing. In contrast, our research suggests that segregation could be understood as a lack of opportunities for interaction in public space. In the case of Stockholm, space syntax network analysis and the establishment of ethnicity as a statistical category suggest that despite the social infrastructure provided by the Swedish state, the city’s specific spatial configuration alongside its policies of housing allocation have resulted in severe constraints on the potential for co-presence between new immigrants and the native Swedish population. Spatial analysis suggests that the city’s public transport infrastructure is a contributory factor in maintaining separation between foreign-born and ethnic Swedes. Coupled with a high level of social deprivation amongst new immigrants, the result is a multi-dimensional spatial segregation process that persists amongst the second immigrant generation, reinforcing ethnic and socio-economic area-based housing segregation. We conclude that despite Sweden’s long-standing political vision of social integration, its capital is suffering from increasing ethnic spatial differentiation, which will most likely persist unless a greater consideration of spatial connectivity and an introduction of ethnic and racial equality data in policy and practice are brought to bear.

Analysis of mobility homophily in Stockholm based on social network data

“…This lack of linkage strength between neighborhoods with different socioeconomic characteristics has important implications for social segregation in Stockholm. Researchers have already identified strong residential segregation between ethnic Swedes and immigrants to Sweden and between socioeconomic groups [ 6 ]; our results suggest that this segregation persists in activity spaces as well. Further, our results seem to suggest that while difference in immigrant makeup does have a significant effect on connectivity between two stadsdel, it is a small one in comparison to the effects of income and education level.…”

“…Further, our results seem to suggest that while difference in immigrant makeup does have a significant effect on connectivity between two stadsdel, it is a small one in comparison to the effects of income and education level. The strong immigrant/non-immigrant residential segregation identified in [ 6 ] may weaken as Stockholm residents move through daily activity spaces.…”

“…While these person-based studies are valuable in analyzing social structure and identifying lack of interaction between, for example, different ethnic groups [ 6 ], there is also value in a more place-based approach. Most existing literature has taken the person-location network created as people move through urban spaces (where individuals and locations are two types of nodes and visits from a person to a location are edges) and projected it into an individual-based network, with links between individuals who co-locate [ 3 – 6 ]; however, we can alternatively project the same network to a person-based network, with links between locations which share frequent visitors [ 7 – 10 ].…”

“…While these person-based studies are valuable in analyzing social structure and identifying lack of interaction between, for example, different ethnic groups [ 6 ], there is also value in a more place-based approach. Most existing literature has taken the person-location network created as people move through urban spaces (where individuals and locations are two types of nodes and visits from a person to a location are edges) and projected it into an individual-based network, with links between individuals who co-locate [ 3 – 6 ]; however, we can alternatively project the same network to a person-based network, with links between locations which share frequent visitors [ 7 – 10 ]. By studying the overall connectivity between physical locations in a city, as opposed to co-location between individuals, we can identify weaknesses in the circulation of people throughout a city and study the connectedness of the city as a whole: do people flow evenly through urban areas, connecting all neighborhoods to one another, or are there irregularities by which people connect some parts of a city more closely than others?…”

Choosing the right place? An experimental examination of ethnic preferences in housing decisions

“…Ethnic and social segregation and its consequences for individual life chances are an enduring hot topic on both the political as well as researchers' agenda (e.g., Iceland and Hernandez, 2017;Rokem and Vaughan, 2019;Sampson, 2012). Following Schelling's (1971) well-known model of (ethnic) tipping points in people's residential mobility decisions, researchers have intensively studied the formation of residential preferences and their consequences in terms of social and ethnic segregation (e.g., Aldén et al, 2015;Clark, 1991;Emerson et al, 2001).…”