Ethnic congregation as a segregation factor in Göteborg, Sweden - A study of residential ethnic segregation amongst affluent and poorer immigrants

Abstract

Summary Recent research into the Swedish urban residential segregation situation has moved towards an explanatory framework which, rather than taking the point of view that ethnic segregation is reducible to economic, migratory or demographic factors, takes its starting point in ethnicity itself and the actions of the Swedish host population in particular. Within this body or work, little has so far been done to establish whether co-ethnic congregation is one of the driving forces on the city-wide general level. This thesis aims to partially fill that gap. The method deployed uses a data extract covering the total adult population of Göteborg in 2008. This is divided into ethno-cultural groups based on country of birth as well as income groups by splitting out those residents with a purchasing power enabling a relatively free choice on the urban housing market. The ethnic composition for each of the city’s small scale neighbourhoods is calculated and projected as totals for these population groups using the segregation measure of exposure. The resulting figures show the ethnic neighbourhood compositions of the city on the general, systemic level based on the resident’s own ethnic belonging and economic power. This allows an analysis of residential co-ethnic congregation, as well as possible avoidance/flight dynamics between ethnic groups, by looking at the character of the neighbourhoods chosen in the absence of significant economic constraints. The result strongly support that Swedish self-segregation is a considerable factor driving the ethnic residential segregation of the city. It reconfirms that immigrant neighbourhoods are ethnically mixed. However, the results show clear indications of residential congregation along finer ethnic lines within this pattern. It establishes that co-ethnic congregation is not alleviated by sufficient income to enable a freer choice of residence. The ethnic hierarchy reconfirmed and the flight/avoidance behaviours indicated support the recently developing framework within Swedish segregation research viewing residential segregation in light of structural racialization or more generally polarisation, with the qualification that co-ethnic congregation is an important dimension within these theory frameworks.