Toward a New Macro-Segregation? Decomposing Segregation within and between Metropolitan Cities and Suburbs

Abstract

This article documents a new macro-segregation, where the locus of racial differentiation resides increasingly in socio-spatial processes at the community or place level. The goal is to broaden the spatial lens for studying segregation, using decennial Census data on 222 metropolitan areas. Unlike previous neighborhood studies of racial change, we decompose metropolitan segregation into its within- and between-place components from 1990 to 2010. This is accomplished with the Theil index (H). Our decomposition of H reveals large post-1990 declines in metropolitan segregation. But, significantly, macro-segregation—the between-place component—has increased since 1990, offsetting declines in the within-place component. The macro component of segregation is also most pronounced and increasing most rapidly among blacks, accounting for roughly one-half of all metro segregation in the most segregated metropolitan areas of the United States. Macro-segregation is least evident among Asians, which suggests other members of these communities (i.e., middle-class or affluent ethnoburbs) have less resistance to Asians relocating there. These results on emerging patterns of macro-segregation are confirmed in fixed-effects models that control for unobserved heterogeneity across metropolitan areas. Unlike most previous studies focused on the uneven distribution of racial and ethnic groups across metropolitan neighborhoods, we show that racial residential segregation is increasingly shaped by the cities and suburban communities in which neighborhoods are embedded.

Moving Toward Integration? Effects of Migration on Ethnoracial Segregation Across the Rural-Urban Continuum

“…Some evidence suggests that assimilation is occurring (Charles 2003), although to different extents for different groups (Lichter et al 2010, 2015). Assimilation is reflected in policies that promote fair housing practices and anti-discrimination (e.g., the Fair Housing Act in 1968), gains in minority incomes relative to whites (Alba et al 2000), and surveys indicating that whites are becoming more accepting of minorities (Dovidio and Gaertner 2004).…”

“…Some regions of the United States also have very little ethnoracial diversity. The focus on neighborhood-level segregation in large cities and metropolitan areas ignores the possibility that observed integration reflects the migration of the white population out of diverse cities or metropolitan areas entirely (Crowder et al 2011; Frey 1979, 1996; Lichter 2013; Lichter et al 2015; Logan and Zhang 2011). Segregation at these larger areal scales would presumably reduce opportunities for social interaction beyond neighborhood segregation.…”

Solamente Mexicanos? Patterns and sources of Hispanic diversity in U.S. metropolitan areas

“…Most of the attributes have been used in previous studies of ethnoracial diversity and segregation (see, e.g., Lichter et al 2015; Logan et al 2004; Lee and Sharp 2017; Sharp and Lee 2016) and enjoy a reasonable degree of face and empirical validity. Relative Hispanic income is operationalized as the ratio of Hispanic per capita income to total per capita income in a metro area The percentage of housing units built in the preceding 10 years constitutes an indicator of new construction activity .…”

The Measurement of Ethnic Segregation in the Netherlands: Differences Between Administrative and Individualized Neighbourhoods

“…International evidence shows that segregation also occurs in smaller towns (Malmberg et al 2011) and even in rural areas (Lichter et al 2012, 2015). Indeed, outside the Randstad region, strong concentrations are particularly found in regions with an economic profile (previously) dominated by manufacturing in the southern and eastern parts of the country.…”