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Are Big Cities More Segregated? Neighbourhood Scale and the Measurement of Segregation

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  • Douglas J. Krupka

    (Department of Economics, Georgia State University, 14 Marietta Street NW, Suite 427, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, USA, dkrupka@gsu.edu)

Abstract

Many studies show that larger metropolitan areas are more segregated than smaller ones. To some extent, this tendency is part of the conventional wisdom. However, the reason for this tendency is not apparent. This paper suggests that the correlation between segregation and metropolitan scale is spurious. Segregation measures based on census data will tend to rank larger cities higher because larger cities have more neighbourhoods that are big enough to 'fill up' entire census tracts, while smaller cities with equally homogeneous, but smaller, neighbourhoods have to pair neighbourhoods to fill up a census tract. This bias will be reduced at smaller levels of spatial aggregation. This prediction is tested by comparing segregation measures computed at several levels of spatial aggregation and with American Housing Survey data. The results suggest that spatial aggregation effects are important: the correlation between city size and measured segregation appears to be at least partly spurious.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas J. Krupka, 2007. "Are Big Cities More Segregated? Neighbourhood Scale and the Measurement of Segregation," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(1), pages 187-197, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:44:y:2007:i:1:p:187-197
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980601023828
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher S. Fowler & Nathan Frey & David C. Folch & Nicholas Nagle & Seth Spielman, 2018. "Who are the people in my neighborhood? The ‘contextual fallacy’ of measuring individual context with census geographies," Working Papers 18-11, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Krupka, Douglas J., 2008. "The Stability of Mixed Income Neighborhoods in America," IZA Discussion Papers 3370, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Cheshire, Paul, 2009. "Policies for mixed communities: faith-based displacement activity?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 30783, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Paolo Veneri & Andre Comandon & Miquel‐Àngel Garcia‐López & Michiel N. Daams, 2021. "What do divided cities have in common? An international comparison of income segregation," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 162-188, January.
    5. Bharathi, Naveen & Malghan, Deepak & Mishra, Sumit & Rahman, Andaleeb, 2021. "Fractal urbanism: City size and residential segregation in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    6. Eva K. Andersson & Bo Malmberg & Rafael Costa & Bart Sleutjes & Marcin Jan Stonawski & Helga A. G. Valk, 2018. "A Comparative Study of Segregation Patterns in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden: Neighbourhood Concentration and Representation of Non-European Migrants," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 251-275, May.
    7. Eva K. Andersson & Torkild Hovde Lyngstad & Bart Sleutjes, 2018. "Comparing Patterns of Segregation in North-Western Europe: A Multiscalar Approach," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 151-168, May.
    8. Vicente Royuela & Miguel Vargas, 2010. "Residential Segregation: A Literature Review," Working Papers 7, Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Diego Portales.
    9. Shad Morris & Scott Snell & Ingmar Björkman, 2016. "An architectural framework for global talent management," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(6), pages 723-747, August.
    10. ., 2014. "Residential segregation and people sorting within cities," Chapters, in: Urban Economics and Urban Policy, chapter 3, pages 54-76, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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