A Comparative Study of Segregation Patterns in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden: Neighbourhood Concentration and Representation of Non-European Migrants

Abstract

In this paper, we use geo-coded, individual-level register data on four European countries to compute comparative measures of segregation that are independent of existing geographical sub-divisions. The focus is on non-European migrants, for whom aggregates of egocentric neighbourhoods (with different population counts) are used to assess small-scale, medium-scale, and large-scale segregation patterns. At the smallest scale level, corresponding to neighbourhoods with 200 persons, patterns of over- and under-representation are strikingly similar. At larger-scale levels, Belgium stands out as having relatively strong over- and under-representation. More than 55% of the Belgian population lives in large-scale neighbourhoods with moderate under- or over-representation of non-European migrants. In the other countries, the corresponding figures are between 30 and 40%. Possible explanations for the variation across countries are differences in housing policies and refugee placement policies. Sweden has the largest and Denmark the smallest non-European migrant population, in relative terms. Thus, in both migrant-dense and native-born-dense areas, Swedish neighbourhoods have a higher concentration and Denmark a lower concentration of non-European migrants than the other countries. For large-scale, migrant-dense neighbourhoods, however, levels of concentration are similar in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Thus, to the extent that such concentrations contribute to spatial inequalities, these countries are facing similar policy challenges.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10680-018-9481-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Neighbourhood Concentration and Representation of Non-European Migrants: New Results from Norway

“…The data used here are based on population register data for the entire Norwegian population registered as resident on 1 January 2011, provided by Statistics Norway. The results are compared to corresponding figures from Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium, as described in Andersson et al (2018). To facilitate comparative analyses, we have aimed to make the data as similar as possible across countries.…”

“…Our measure of the representation of non-European immigrants is calculated from the percentile distribution of the concentration of non-European immigrants in a fashion identical to that in Andersson et al (2018). Thus, non-Europeans are overrepresented in a percentile bin if the value is above 1, and under-represented if the value is below 1 (Andersson et al 2017(Andersson et al , 2018Hennerdal and Nielsen 2017).…”

“…In a special issue of the European Journal of Population, Andersson et al (2018) presented a comparative study of segregation patterns of non-European migrants in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. In all countries, individuallevel, geo-coded, register data were used to compute segregation measures based on the k-nearest neighbours approach.…”

Residential Segregation in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region: A Longitudinal Analysis Using Scalable Individualised Neighbourhoods

“…They found that neighbourhood effects are stronger at spatial scales that are much smaller than administrative units. A recent study by Andersson et al (), also using the k‐nearest neighbour approach, showed variation in ethnic concentrations across different spatial scales.…”

Ethnic residential segregation: A matter of ethnic minority household characteristics?

“…Nevertheless, recent studies in Belgium have found extensive ethnic residential segregation. Andersson et al (2017; see also Costa & De Valk, 2018) calculated the segregation of non-EU foreigners and found that close to 50% of all non-EU foreigners in Belgium would have to move to completely desegregate Belgium. Verhaeghe, Van der Bracht, and Van de Putte (2012) confirm these findings for Turkish, Maghreb, and Eastern and Central European minorities in Ghent, but they also note that segregation is declining in Ghent and Antwerp.…”