Immigrants' housing position is often explained by (lack of) resources or differences in cultural backgrounds. Recent studies have included the importance of local context. The aim of this paper is to examine Somalis' perceptions of their possibilities in four Nordic capitals' housing markets: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. The approach is an interview study based on immigrants' own explanations of what they strive for and how they assess the impact of local conditions and cultural background for their possibilities. We found that local context and cultural background intertwine and sometimes conflict with each other, but that the negotiation between cultural background and local context was individual. The conclusion is that local context and cultural background are important factors for understanding differences between Somalis on different housing markets, thus emphasising that local context and cultural background have to be studied together to understand perceived housing possibilities.

The Danish school system is based on a general belief in the quality and merits of public schooling. Until 20 years ago, more than 90% of all children attended public school. However, this trend has recently seen a decline because of rising spatial inequalities; nowhere is this more visible than in the major cities, particularly Copenhagen. One visible change has been the rise in the number of children with non-Danish backgrounds in public schools in major cities. Previous studies of Copenhagen showed that, while the level of ethnic residential segregation was moderate, the level of school segregation was remarkably high. The purpose of this paper is to revisit the case of Copenhagen through: (a) quantitatively identifying the level of ethnic school segregation in Copenhagen and the change over the last decade, and (b) qualitatively analysing the considerations regarding the school choice of parents in an ethnically diverse district. The paper identifies decreasing levels of ethnic school segregation in public schools but a markedly higher and increasing level in private schools. The qualitative material points to still-existing concerns regarding specific public schools with high proportions of pupils of non-Danish backgrounds as well as to parents who choose to overlook such concerns and opt for the local public school.

Major cities are becoming increasingly diverse, and the different aspects of diversity interact in shaping individual lives and neighbourhoods. However, existing research mainly presents the urban population living with this diversity as one group with the same overall perception of diversity. The purpose of this article is to nuance the concept of diversity through analysing the differences in urban residents’ perceptions of neighbourhood diversity and the factors shaping these perceptions. The article is based on 50 qualitative interviews with residents of Bispebjerg, one of the most diverse neighbourhoods of Copenhagen, Denmark. The overall finding is that living with diversity is a diverse experience. The article identifies five ideal types of residents to demonstrate how perceptions of diversity are being shaped. They all express a positive perception of diversity on an abstract level but voice concerns regarding concrete aspects of diversity. The article identifies key factors shaping these concrete perceptions of diversity: insecurity towards ethnic diversity; social inequality; degree of socialisation to diversity; and physical and social detachment from diversity. The findings point to the importance of acknowledging differences between perceptions of diversity for different groups of residents and of addressing the different concerns of these groups.

The purpose of this paper is to test the evidence for spatial assimilation and straightline assimilation in the transition of leaving home in Denmark. Based on data from the extensive Danish registers, the paper analyses the home-leaving patterns of Danes, Turkish immigrants, Turkish descendants and Somali immigrants. Two main findings emerged. First, while spatial segregation patterns of home-leavers were clear, inter-generational mobility did take place, supporting the notion of straight-line assimilation. Second, inter-generational effects were identified. While there was no indication that parental socio-economic situation affected the spatial segregation of home-leavers, substantial effects were found for the share of ethnic minorities in the parental neighbourhood: the higher the share of ethnic minorities, the higher the hazard for moving to an ethnic neighbourhood and the lower the hazard for moving to a nonethnic neighbourhood. Similarity in the patterns of natives and the ethnic minority groups indicates that the processes taking place might be about more than assimilation between generations.

The paper investigates ethnic minority concentration within social housing and the potentials of a strong social housing sector through an analysis of the housing careers of Somalis and Turks in Copenhagen. In a Danish context, the two ethnic groups differ greatly with respect to migration history, socio-economic resources and family characteristics as well as distribution between tenures. It is therefore interesting to study whether these differences lead to differences in housing market choices and constraints. The majority of the interviewed Somalis and Turks made their housing careers within the social housing sector, which to the interviewees offered good housing options and possibilities for shaping their own housing careers. The majority of the Somalis perceived paying interest as being incompatible with Islam. Renting thus allowed them to adhere to their religious beliefs. The advantages of the social housing sector limited the pull of owner-occupied housing. The paper thus questions the use of the home-ownership gap as an indication of a lack of ethnic minority integration.