Residential Segregation of European and Non-European Migrants in Sweden: 1990–2012

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse how a migrant population that is both expanding and changing in composition has affected the composition of Swedish neighbourhoods at different scales. The analysis is based on Swedish geocoded individual-level register data for the years 1990, 1997, 2005, and 2012. This allows us to compute and analyse the demographic composition of neighbourhoods that range in size from encompassing the nearest 100 individuals to the nearest 409,600 individuals. First, the results confirm earlier findings that migrants, especially those from non-European countries, face high levels of segregation in Sweden. Second, large increases in the non-European populations in combination with high levels of segregation have increased the proportion of non-European migrants living in neighbourhoods that already have high proportions of non-European migrants. Third, in contrast to what has been the established image of segregation trends in Sweden, and in an apparent contrast to the finding that non-European migrants increasingly live in migrant-dense neighbourhoods, our results show that segregation, when defined as an uneven distribution of different populations across residential contexts, is not increasing. On the contrary, for both European migrants from 1990 and non-European migrants from 1997, there is a downward trend in unevenness as measured by the dissimilarity index at all scale levels. However, if segregation is measured as differences in the neighbourhood concentration of migrants, segregation has increased.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10680-018-9478-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Comparing Residential Segregation of Migrant Populations in Selected European Urban and Metropolitan Areas

“…The Index of Dissimilarity was chosen because of its simplicity and because the grid data offer already a standardisation according to the territorial sub-division. Moreover this index has been used in several studies on residential segregation (see for example Friedman 2008;Iceland et al 2013Iceland et al , 2014Logan and Parman 2017;Malmberg et al 2018). This part intends to answer research questions 1, 2 and 3.…”

Exiting distressed neighbourhoods: The timing of spatial assimilation among international migrants in Sweden

“…Since the turn of the 21st century, an unprecedented number of people (1.6 million) have immigrated to Sweden, with a large proportion consisting of refugees and their families (Statistics Sweden, ). Although the country is renowned for its extensive welfare system and its support for integration programmes, the migrant population experiences high levels of residential segregation (Malmberg, Nielsen, Andersson, & Haandrikman, ). Since the 1970s, migrants have been concentrated in certain residential areas in the urban periphery (Hedberg, ).…”

“…Although the country is renowned for its extensive welfare system and its support for integration programmes, the migrant population experiences high levels of residential segregation (Malmberg, Nielsen, Andersson, & Haandrikman, 2016). Since the 1970s, migrants have been concentrated in certain residential areas in the urban periphery (Hedberg, 2009).…”

Migrants’ long-term residential trajectories in Sweden: persistent neighbourhood deprivation or spatial assimilation?

“…Levels of residential segregation have been consistently high in Sweden during the last decades. Studies have found that income-based segregation has increased, while ethnic segregation has remained stable or even slightly decreased (Amcoff et al, 2014;Andersson & K€ ahrik, 2016;Andersson & Turner, 2014;Andersson et al, 2018;Malmberg et al, 2018;Niedomsyl et al, 2015;Nielsen & Hennerdal, 2017). Although ethnic and socioeconomic segregation cannot be equated, they tend to correspond, as socioeconomically deprived areas are also likely to have a high concentration of foreign-born individuals (Biterman, 2010).…”