Trajectories of Spatial Assimilation or Place Stratification? A Typology of Residence and Workplace Histories of Newly Arrived Migrants in Sweden

In most societies, resources and opportunities are concentrated in neighborhoods and workplaces occupied by the host population. The spatial assimilation and place stratification theories propose trajectories (the sequences of events) leading to minority and migrant access to or exclusion from these advantageous places. However, most previous research on these theories did not ask whether such theorized trajectories occur. We apply sequence analysis to decade-long residence and workplace histories of newly arrived migrants in Sweden to identify a typology of combined residence-work trajectories. The seven types of trajectories in our typology are characterized by varying degrees of proximity to the host population in residential neighborhoods and workplaces and by different patterns of change in such proximity over time. The pivotal role of socioeconomic gains in spatial assimilation, posited by the namesake theory, is not supported, as we do not find that migrant employment precedes residence alongside the host population. The importance of housing-market discrimination for migrants’ exclusion from host-dominated spaces, posited by place stratification theory, is only weakly supported, as we find that migrants from less affluent countries accumulate disadvantage over time, likely due to discrimination in both the labor and housing markets. Our findings also underscore the need for new theories explaining migrant residential outcomes which apply to contexts where migrant-dense neighborhoods are still forming.

Living in Ethnic Areas or Not? Residential Preference of Decimal Generation Immigrants among Asian Indians, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Vietnamese

The present study examines the spatial assimilation patterns of immigrants who arrived as children. The main objective is to predict the likelihood of living in ethnic areas for decimal generation immigrants (1.25, 1.5, and 1.75) among Asian Indians, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Vietnamese. Using 2013–2017 5-Year ACS Estimates and IPUMS, it applies the measure of local spatial clustering (the Local Moran’s I statistic) to identify ethnic areas and the logistic regression model to assess the effects of immigrant generational status, cultural, and socioeconomic assimilation on the probability of living in ethnic areas. The findings show that the 1.25 and 1.5 decimal generation immigrants of Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, and Koreans demonstrate higher propensities of living in ethnic areas compared to the first generation of each ethnic group, respectively. Meanwhile, their Asian Indians and Vietnamese counterparts show spatial assimilation. Regardless of generational effects, English language ability positively relates to the probability of living in nonethnic areas, whereas economic assimilation indicators reveal mixed results. We found substantial evidence for resurgent ethnicity theory and some support of spatial assimilation model, indicating the ethnic disparity in spatial assimilation patterns among Asian immigrants. Our paper highlights the nonlinear assimilation patterns among Asian decimal generations. Results suggest that, for Asian immigrants in the U.S., age-at-arrival and ethnicity are both significant predictors of residential preference.

Toward Coexistence of Immigrants and Local People in Japan: Implications from Spatial Assimilation Theory

We investigate the validity of spatial assimilation theory (SAT), which predicts geographical dispersion of immigrants from ethnically concentrated areas to non-concentrated areas as time elapses. This can be tested by analyzing the concentration tendency among immigrants who arrive in Japan from overseas and relocate within the country. Using spatial models, we find that immigrants from overseas tend to move to ethnically concentrated regions in Japan, which is in line with SAT. By contrast, this trend substantially weakens with their subsequent domestic relocation, and it differs by national group. The results reveal slow assimilation among nationals from countries characterized as being low-income or culturally dissimilar from Japan. Based on these findings, we discuss potential deficiencies in a new immigration policy (2018), which has been designed to increase the number of immigrants and compensate for a labor shortage in Japan.

New Faces, New Neighbors? How Latino Population Growth and Lending Expansion Shapes the Neighborhood Racial and Ethnic Composition for White and Latino Homebuyers

Fueled by increased socioeconomic status (SES), geographic mobility, and access to lending, Latino home buying expanded during the recent housing boom. However, less is known about the types of neighborhoods Latino homebuyers accessed during this time. To address this gap, we explore how SES, mortgage type, and the metropolitan racial and ethnic context affected the racial and ethnic composition of neighborhoods for new white and Latino homeowners. We use data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act to explore these processes in 317 U.S. metropolitan areas from 2000 to 2010. Overall, we find evidence supporting both spatial assimilation theory and place stratification theory: while increased SES and loan amounts led to more white neighbors for both white and Latino homebuyers, subprime loans and the racial and ethnic context of metropolitan areas continue to constrain neighborhood attainment for Latinos.

A Critical Intervention for Urban Sociology

U.S. urban sociology continues to be dominated by the Chicago School’s theories and methodological approaches. While yielding valuable insight regarding the importance of place, this body of work reproduces racism through explicit and implicit appeals to White-centered sensibility and desirability. In this chapter, we examine two specific Chicago School-inspired theories and related empirical work—spatial assimilation and place stratification. We draw from Du Boisian, racial capitalism, and other critical perspectives to illuminate the racial logics buoying this research. Where urban sociology underscores linear progression towards or digression from Whiteness, we emphasize urban heterogeneity and the intentional, non-linear or cyclical production of urban communities. Further, we argue that urban sociology must reckon with the racist roots of some of its most popular theories and methods, and recommend that future work explicitly center the mutually constitutive racism-capitalism-urbanization processes that have long shaped cities in the U.S. and around the world.

Metropolitan Public School District Segregation by Race and Income, 2000–2011

Background Recent work has documented declining public school racial/ethnic segregation, as students have become more evenly distributed across schools and districts since the turn of the century. However, we know little about how declines in school racial/ethnic segregation have affected students of different levels of economic resources. While some evidence suggests that class may be supplanting race as the defining force in structuring residential segregation, it is unclear whether this trend toward spatial assimilation is mirrored in schools. Objective In this study, we provide initial evidence linking racial/ethnic and socioeconomic segregation in schools. First, we disaggregate patterns and trends in metropolitan segregation by student race/ethnicity and household income to examine how changes in racial/ethnic segregation are experienced by students of different income levels. Second, drawing on theories of spatial assimilation and place stratification, we examine the relative importance of race/ethnicity vis-à-vis income in structuring patterns of segregation. Research Design We use unique data on the joint distribution of student race/ethnicity and family income from the National Center of Education Statistics’ Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (NCES EDGE) system. For each U.S. metropolitan area, we calculate measures of between-district segregation from 2000 to 2011. We compute measures of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic segregation using the dual-group index of dissimilarity and the rank-order information theory index. We focus on two key comparisons: the segregation between non-White and white students in the same income quintile, and the segregation between non-White students in each income quintile and all White students. Findings We find that recent declines in racial/ethnic segregation were unevenly distributed across the income distribution. For example, while Black students of all income levels experienced declines in segregation from Whites, decreases were particularly pronounced for affluent Blacks. In addition, poor White students became more segregated from non-White students of all income levels. We also document shifts in the contributions of race/ethnicity and income to segregation: While income is increasingly implicated in Black–White and Hispanic–White segregation, Asian–White segregation is increasingly attributable to race/ethnicity. Conclusions Findings highlight the complexity of student experiences of segregation by race/ethnicity and income. Focusing exclusively on declines in racial/ethnic segregation or increases in income segregation may lead scholars to neglect phenomena such as the worsening segregation of poor White students, or improving segregation among affluent non-Whites. In addition, while racial/ethnic segregation remains high, segregation between non-Whites and Whites is increasingly attributable to income differences between racial/ethnic groups (i.e., spatial assimilation), with the exception of Asian students.

Towards Spatial Assimilation? Contextual Mobility and Neighborhood Attainment among Norwegian Immigrant Descendants

We study contextual mobility and neighborhood attainment among immigrant descendants using administrative data from Norway. We find that immigrant descendants often remain in adult neighborhood contexts—characterized by relative economic disadvantage and comparatively few native-origin residents—that largely resemble their childhood neighborhoods. Intergenerational stability is strongest among descendants of immigrants from Pakistan, the Middle East, and Africa. Further, group-level differences in individual socioeconomic attainment, family background, and characteristics of their childhood neighborhoods account for a substantial part of the adult native-immigrant gaps in neighborhood-level economic composition, but less so for neighborhood-level proximity to native-origin residents. The role of childhood residential segregation is most important in accounting for adult native-immigrant gaps in neighborhood attainment. Our findings offer only partial support for spatial assimilation theory—which predicts that acculturation and socioeconomic progress will lead to a convergence in neighborhood profiles relative to natives across immigrant generations—but may reflect external barriers in the housing market or persistent in-group preferences for (co-ethnic) immigrant neighbors.

Ethnic residential segregation and identificational assimilation: An intergenerational analysis of those claiming single (heritage) and dual (with Australian) ancestries

Faced with increasing flows of immigrants from countries with very different ethnic and cultural compositions, identity has become an important part of the public debate on immigration and minority ethnic group assimilation. Yet, identificational assimilation, associated with the emergence of a new social identity as ethnic immigrant groups merge with host society members while often retaining some ‘inner layer’ of heritage ancestry or background, is among the least studied of assimilation sub-processes. Like other aspects of assimilation, it is an intergenerational process, but one which occurs unevenly among immigrant groups from different cultural backgrounds. Spatially, there is an underlying assumption that those more identificationally assimilated will be less segregated from host society members. Focusing on ancestral identification, whether heritage (ethnic or cultural background) only or dual (heritage-Australian), we analyse three generations of a cross-section of ethnic immigrant groups in Sydney, Australia’s largest immigrant-receiving city. Results highlight a major identificational shift in the third generation plus the ways in which intergenerational identificational assimilation, though seemingly inexorable, progresses unevenly among ethnic immigrant groups, with results affecting their spatial assimilation.

Testing the Spatial Assimilation Model on Black Ethnic Immigrant Locational Outcomes within Mature and Developing Suburbs

This study investigates black ethnic immigrant group differences in residential outcomes between developing and mature suburbs. It evaluates the extent to which foreign-born black ethnic groups’ socioeconomic status (SES) and acculturation characteristics agree with the outlines of the spatial assimilation model. Binomial logistic regression models are calculated, using data from the 2012–2016 IPUMS ACS, to examine the impact of place of birth/nativity status, SES, acculturation, family/household characteristics, and region on residence in developing versus mature suburbs within U.S. metropolitan areas. The results reveal mixed results for the expectations of the spatial assimilation model. On the one hand, and in agreement with the spatial assimilation model, residence in mature and developing suburbs is a function of increments in household income and educational levels. On the other hand, the multivariate results reveal suburban type residential outcomes that vary by place of birth and nativity status. The effects of acculturation also reveal findings that diverge from the expectations of the spatial assimilation model.