Spatial Boundaries and the Local Context of Residential Segregation

• In Event: 297 - Section on Community and Urban Sociology Paper Session. Urban Spatial Inequality

Abstract

Spatial boundaries are a defining feature of a city's social and spatial organization. Rivers, highways, and train tracks can create both physical and social distance between residents, as exemplified by the common idiom, "the other side of the tracts." Qualitative studies are rich with insight about the local meaning of spatial boundaries and how they impact residents' interaction. However, quantitative studies have focused almost exclusively on the boundaries of census tracts in measuring the prevalence and consequences of residential segregation, largely ignoring the city's spatial environment. I have developed a new method that integrates the connectivity of roads and the separation imposed by physical boundaries, and the municipal boundaries of cities and school districts into the measurement of residential segregation. I advance existing scholarship by examining how these spatial boundaries structure patterns of racial and ethnic residential segregation in several U.S. cities. Results reveal the salience of city boundaries in structuring segregation patterns in some cities, and how the presence of physical boundaries affects the composition of local environments. Further, my results show a stronger association with other forms of spatial inequality, including exposure to violent crime, than conventional methods. This research offers a new perspective on how individuals' residential context is shaped by a city's topography and its regional context. It bridges qualitative insight on the local experience of segregation and how we measure segregation for city populations.

Author

• Elizabeth Roberto, Princeton University