Understanding the social geographies of urban regions through the socio‐economic and cultural dimension of class

Abstract

Economic restructuring and changing demographic and migration patterns have significantly altered the population compositions of urban regions. Whereas there is evidence that employees in various sectors of the economy have different residential preferences, there exists much less insight into the social geography of various class fractions at the level of urban regions. The aims of this paper are (1) to describe the spatial orientations of various employment groups in the largest urban regions in the Netherlands and (2) to understand the extent to which spatial orientations towards various residential urban and suburban milieus can be explained by belonging to a specific class fraction. We draw on individual-level register data for the whole population of urban regions, applying a multidimensional and detailed perspective on social class that takes into account both economic and cultural capital. We demonstrate a strong urban orientation among the cultural classes, who are often working in the new economies-irrespective of their income status-and an over-representation in suburban areas of more economically orientated class fractions. Despite the differences in terms of economic structure of the researched urban regions, these variegated residential orientations are remarkably consistent.

Multiple dimensions of residential segregation. The case of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam

“…Moretti (2012) and Sassen (1991Sassen ( , 2014 postulated that post-industrial economies in global cities go together with a concentration of the high-paid and low paid workers. Because of the transition from a manufacturing-based economy to a post-industrial economy characterized by a knowledge-based economy, the composition of the employed population changed (Burgers & Musterd, 2002;Florida, 2002;Hamnett, 2003;Van der Waal & Burgers, 2009) and spatial segregation of the employed population increased (Boterman et al, 2018;Florida & Mellander, 2018). Economic activities requiring face-to-face contact, such as in the financial, creative, and public sectors, have increased in the core of larger cities, whereas labor-intensive manufacturing in smaller towns and cities has declined over the years.…”

“…Employees working in the construction sector live more often in the suburbs of the region, whereas employees working in the higher educational system or working in the creative sector tend to cluster in the core of the city. Boterman et al (2018) showed that those who are employed in the construction sector are living more often in suburbs, not only in Amsterdam but in other large cities of the Netherlands as well. It is clear from Figure 1 that employees in ICT are not overrepresented in specific neighborhoods.…”

“…However, due to the shift of urban economies from post-industrial to knowledge-based in most cities of the Global North, other sub-dimensions have gained weight. In the socioeconomic sphere, the professional background is playing a bigger role (Préteceille, 2003;Préteceille & Cardoso, 2020), while there is also more discussion on the potential impact of cultural distinction based on education (for example, Boterman, Manting, & Musterd, 2018). In this paper, we also will address these professional and cultural dimensions, without leaving the others out.…”

“…Several scholars showed how post-industrial economies in global cities go together with a concentration of high-paid and low paid workers. And thus, there is growing evidence that occupation is another important dimension of human capital with consequences for social and spatial inequality (Boterman et al, 2018;Boterman & Musterd, 2017;Florida & Mellander, 2018). In short, spatial inequality is increasingly based on other combinations of different forms of human capital besides income and ethnicity.…”

Warum schrumpft die migrantische Mittelschicht in der Stadt? Zur Dynamik der Schichtung am Beispiel Wiens zwischen 2003 und 2013

“…Einen besonderen Stellenwert haben diese Entwicklungen in den Debatten der Stadtforschung eingenommen (u. a. Boterman et al 2018;Butler 2003;Hamnett 2015;May et al 2007;Savage et al 2013). Die Polarisierung des Arbeitsmarktes (Sassen 2016;Tai 2006) und daraus resultierende Einkommensunterschiede (Burgers und Musterd 2002;Goebel et al 2012;Hamnett 1994) sind in den Städten am deutlichsten ausgeprägt.…”