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Geographies of ethnic segregation in Stockholm: The role of mobility and co-presence in shaping the diverse city

Rokem, Jonathan, Vaughan, Laura (2018) Geographies of ethnic segregation in Stockholm: The role of mobility and co-presence in shaping the diverse city. Urban Studies, 56 (12). pp. 2426-2446. ISSN 0042-0980. E-ISSN 1360-063X. (doi:10.1177/0042098018795561) (KAR id:72038)

Abstract

This article assesses how urban segregation and ethnic diversity in Stockholm have been shaped by spatial policy and migration trajectories over time. Much of the urban studies and planning literature defines segregation as a measure of residential mixing. In contrast, our research suggests that segregation could be understood as a lack of opportunities for interaction in public space. In the case of Stockholm, space syntax network analysis and the establishment of ethnicity as a statistical category suggest that despite the social infrastructure provided by the Swedish state, the city's specific spatial configuration alongside its policies of housing allocation have resulted in severe constraints on the potential for co-presence between new immigrants and the native Swedish population. Spatial analysis suggests that the city's public transport infrastructure is a contributory factor in maintaining separation between foreign-born and ethnic Swedes. Coupled with a high level of social deprivation amongst new immigrants, the result is a multi-dimensional spatial segregation process that persists amongst the second immigrant generation, reinforcing ethnic and socio-economic area-based housing segregation. We conclude that despite Swedens long-standing political vision of social integration, its capital is suffering from increasing ethnic spatial differentiation, which will most likely persist unless a greater consideration of spatial connectivity and an introduction of ethnic and racial equality data in policy and practice are brought to bear.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/0042098018795561
Projects: Contested Urbanism
Uncontrolled keywords: agglomeration, co-presence, cohesion, diversity, housing, inequality, mobility, segregation, Stockholm, transport, urbanisation
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Funders: [37325] UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User: Jonathan Rock
Date Deposited: 11 Feb 2019 23:35 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 17:11 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/72038 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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