Residential Segregation Between Income Groups in International Perspective

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter analyzes income data from 194 cities in 14 countries to provide an overview of residential segregation patterns in a comparative perspective. We use the dissimilarity index to measure segregation between lower income households and middle-income and higher income households. The results expand results consistent with existing research to a larger number of countries. Higher income households segregation from lower income households is significantly higher than for middle-income households. High-inequality cities are more segregated, on average, than low-inequality ones. It is in the deviation from these patterns, however, that the analysis contributes to a comparative research agenda. It highlights cities and countries that do not fit general trends and raises questions about the relative role of national and local factors in influencing levels of segregation, questions the case studies delve into in the rest of the volume.