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Ethnic and Socioeconomic Segregation in Belgium: A Multiscalar Approach Using Individualised Neighbourhoods

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Abstract

Segregation may have profound effects when it is paired with an accumulation of inequalities. This is namely the case when ethnic and socioeconomic segregation overlap. Few studies in Europe have, however, addressed the relationship between ethnic and socioeconomic segregation in a comprehensive manner. This paper first aims at investigating the interrelation between ethnic and socioeconomic segregation in Belgium. Second it looks into the role of scale in the relationship between ethnic and socioeconomic segregation. The analyses are based on the newly available geocoded data from the 2011 Belgian census. These data were used to construct individualised neighbourhoods at nine scales with a nearest-neighbours approach for the urban agglomerations of Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege. Ethnic and socioeconomic indicators calculated for these individualised neighbourhoods were then inputted in independent factor analyses for each agglomeration. The results reveal remarkably similar segregation patterns in the three cities. Our analyses give way for three main conclusions: there is an undeniable process of spatial isolation of deprived migrants in Belgium’s inner cities; despite the central location of neighbourhoods with high concentration of migrants and poverty, the scope of isolation is considerably high, both in extension and in population density; and macro/national factors such as housing policies and territorial processes seem to shape the segregation patterns in Belgian cities.

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Fig. 1

Reproduced with permission from Luyten and Van Hecke (2007)

Fig. 2

Source: Census 2011 data; authors calculations

Fig. 3

Source: Census 2011 data; authors calculations

Fig. 4

Source: Census 2011 data; authors calculations

Fig. 5

Source: Census 2011 data; authors calculations

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Notes

  1. The 2011 Census is the first one in Belgium that is entirely based on administrative sources. It covers the whole population and the data is considered to be of high quality. For more details on the census and data quality, see http://census2011.fgov.be/ and http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/population-and-housing-census/census-data/2011-census.

  2. Although this category includes immigrants of non-European Western countries (US, Japan, etc.), these are only a very small share of the population. The indicator mainly includes non-Western immigrants, among which Turks and Moroccans account for the most important share.

  3. All the analyses and illustrations were carried out with open source software: R for quantitative methods (R Core Team 2015) and QGIS for mapping (QGIS Development Team 2009).

  4. The fact that this factor captures less variance in Brussels compared to Antwerp and Liege is undoubtedly due to Brussels’ position as the Belgian and European capital: the other factors related to European citizens and well-off areas are thus relatively more important. This does not mean, however, that the overlap between ethnic and socioeconomic segregation is weaker in Brussels.

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Acknowledgements

This work was part of and supported by the JPI Urban Europe ResSegr project “Residential segregation in five European countries– a comparative study using individualized scalable neighbourhoods”; Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [FWOTM670]; JPI Urban Europe [ResSegr]. The use of geocoded data in our work was made possible by the valuable collaboration with Statistics Belgium. We are grateful for the encouraging comments of the two anonymous reviewers.

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Correspondence to Rafael Costa.

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Costa, R., de Valk, H.A.G. Ethnic and Socioeconomic Segregation in Belgium: A Multiscalar Approach Using Individualised Neighbourhoods. Eur J Population 34, 225–250 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-018-9480-6

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