Geographies of Whiteness and Wealth: White, Middle Class Discourses on Segregation and Social Mix in Flanders, Belgium

Abstract

While policy makers in different parts of the world are worried about the supposedly negative consequences of spatial concentrations of ethnic minorities and/or disadvantaged people, researchers continue the debate about the desirability and feasibility of social mix. In this article, we add to this literature by focusing on the often neglected, but crucial practices and discourses of the privileged in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 74 white, middle class residents of eight different neighborhoods of the Ghent urban region in Belgium, we demonstrate that few middle class whites actually want to live in a mixed neighborhood. We also make it clear that those living in diversity do not necessarily take up the roles they are expected to take up by the advocates of social mix policies. Drawing on these findings, we propose to broaden the research agenda of studies on segregation and social mix.

Staying Put! A Housing Pathway Analysis of Residential Stability in Belgium

“…Young middle-class households often move out of the city at the moment when they start up family life and settle in more suburban residential environments which they assume to be more child-friendly (Boterman et al, 2010;De Visscher et al, 2012;Karsten et al, 2011;Meeus & De Decker forthcoming) or, as in the case of Belgium, anti-urban sentiments of the population combined with a high degree of ethnocentrism Schuermans et al, 2015) keep people out of urban areas.…”

Microsimulation of Residential Activity for Alternative Urban Development Scenarios: A Case Study on Brussels and Flemish Brabant

“…The results obtained with the household location choice models (Figures 7 and 8) and the scenario-based microsimulation (Figures 9-11) should thus be interpreted in light of the rather unique context of residential dynamics in Flanders. Many Flemings prefer to live close to their family network [86] and/or live in a suburban-rural neighbourhood [87]. This behaviour effectively reduces the number of longer distance relocations and contributes to the societal normalization of commuting.…”

Ethnic residential segregation: A matter of ethnic minority household characteristics?

“…Moreover, ethnic‐majority households with children are found to avoid ethnically diverse neighbourhoods (Coenen, Verhaeghe, & Van de Putte, forthcoming; Goyette, Iceland, & Weininger, ). Qualitative studies in Flanders demonstrate Belgian households' motivations for segregating (Meeus, De Decker, & Claessens, ; Schuermans, Meeus, & Decker, ). The (overestimated) presence of ethnic minorities in the city functions as a strong push factor for these households.…”

“…The (overestimated) presence of ethnic minorities in the city functions as a strong push factor for these households. Clearly resonating in the interviews is a wish among Belgian suburbans to distance themselves from what they perceive as ethnic-minority-dominated, poor, crime-infested, and filthy cities (Schuermans et al, 2015). Majority households living in cities perform similar mental boundary-making processes but on a smaller geographical scale (Meeus et al, 2013;Schuermans et al, 2015).…”

“…Clearly resonating in the interviews is a wish among Belgian suburbans to distance themselves from what they perceive as ethnic-minority-dominated, poor, crime-infested, and filthy cities (Schuermans et al, 2015). Majority households living in cities perform similar mental boundary-making processes but on a smaller geographical scale (Meeus et al, 2013;Schuermans et al, 2015). This sensitivity could be linked not only to racist motives but also to concerns about, for example, neighbourhood safety and the quality of schools or a wish to avoid deprived neighbourhoods (Ellen, 2000;Emerson, Chai, & Yancey, 2001;Harris, 1999).…”