Immigrants in large Czech cities 2008–2015: the analysis of changing residential patterns using population grid data

Abstract

This article contributes to the discussion of the segregation of immigrants by presenting evidence from a new destination country of international migration. It explores residential patterns of immigrants, defined by citizenship, and their development in selected large Czech cities. The analysis is focused on six main immigrant groups. New register data provided by Alien Police of the Czech Republic are utilized for the computation of geospatial grid data. The changes in population distribution are measured by the dissimilarity index, which is commonly used in segregation research. The main result indicates a major trend of decreasing spatial dissimilarity between the Czech majority and immigrant groups. The steady and slow inflow of immigrants does not lead to distinct patterns of segregation in the country – with a few specific exceptions.