IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirb/v49y2022i1p290-303.html

Improving assessment of urban racial segregation by partitioning a region into racial enclaves

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Dmowska

    (University of Cincinnati, USA; Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland)

  • Tomasz F Stepinski

Abstract

Frequently, a single-value metric is needed to rank urban regions with respect to the level of multiracial segregation or to compare a segregation level of a single urban region at two different times. Assessment of segregation depends not only on a metric used but also on a choice of region’s partitioning. The standard practice is to partition the region into single-scale subregions. In the United States, census tracts are the subregions of choice. Census aggregation units including tracts are delineated without a direct regard to racial homogeneity and are in fact heterogeneous. Consequently, using tracts as subdivisions leads to the underestimation of the segregation level of the entire region. Here we propose to partition a region into racial enclaves—units having boundaries that align with transitions between different racial compositions. By reflecting true demographic structure, such units minimize their internal racial inhomogeneity resulting in improved assessment of segregation. Enclaves are defined as aggregates of adjacent census blocks (smallest and the most racially homogeneous census units) of similar composition. In a typical US urban region, effective population size of enclaves is an order of magnitude larger than the size of a census tract and yet the segregation calculated based on enclaves is larger than segregation based on census tracts. The proposed methodology is described and applied to a set of 61 largest cities in the US in their metropolitan statistical areas as well as their urban areas boundaries using 1990 and 2010 block-level data. The method is compared to the standard methodology using correlations between cities’ segregation rankings.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Dmowska & Tomasz F Stepinski, 2022. "Improving assessment of urban racial segregation by partitioning a region into racial enclaves," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(1), pages 290-303, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:49:y:2022:i:1:p:290-303
    DOI: 10.1177/23998083211001386
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23998083211001386
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/23998083211001386?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Sakoda, 1981. "A generalized index of dissimilarity," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 18(2), pages 245-250, May.
    2. Mora, Ricardo & Ruiz-Castillo, Javier, 2008. "A defense of an entropy based index of multigroup segregation," UC3M Working papers. Economics we074645, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    3. Seong-Yun Hong & David O'Sullivan & Yukio Sadahiro, 2014. "Implementing Spatial Segregation Measures in R," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-18, November.
    4. 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.
    5. John Logan & Brian Stults & Reynolds Farley, 2004. "Segregation of minorities in the metropolis: two decades of change," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(1), pages 1-22, February.
    6. Jing Yao & David W.S. Wong & Nick Bailey & Jonathan Minton, 2019. "Spatial Segregation Measures: A Methodological Review," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 110(3), pages 235-250, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stepinski, Tomasz F. & Dmowska, Anna, 2020. "Complexity in patterns of racial segregation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    2. Sandro Sousa & Vincenzo Nicosia, 2022. "Quantifying ethnic segregation in cities through random walks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Alonso-Villar, Olga & del Río, Coral, 2010. "Local versus overall segregation measures," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 30-38, July.
    4. Jeremy Pais & Scott South & Kyle Crowder, 2009. "White Flight Revisited: A Multiethnic Perspective on Neighborhood Out-Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 28(3), pages 321-346, June.
    5. repec:plo:pone00:0231794 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Michel Beine & Marco Delogu & Lionel Ragot, 2020. "The role of fees in foreign education: evidence from Italy [Determinants of international student migration]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 571-600.
    7. Tse-Chuan Yang & Stephen A Matthews, 2015. "Death by Segregation: Does the Dimension of Racial Segregation Matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, September.
    8. Meghan M O’Neil & Vincent J Roscigno, 2025. "Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(1), pages 1-25, January.
    9. Ricardo Mora & Javier Ruiz-Castillo, 2009. "The invariance properties of the mutual information index of multigroup segregation," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Occupational and Residential Segregation, pages 33-53, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    10. Michel Beine & Marco Delogu & Lionel Ragot, 2017. "The Role of Fees in Foreign Education: Evidence From Italy and the United Kingdom," Working Papers 2017-04, CEPII research center.
    11. John R. Hipp & Adam Boessen, 2012. "Immigrants and Social Distance," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 641(1), pages 192-219, May.
    12. P. A. Jargowsky, "undated". "Take the money and run: Economic segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1056-95, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    13. Scott South & Kyle Crowder & Jeremy Pais, 2011. "Metropolitan Structure and Neighborhood Attainment: Exploring Intermetropolitan Variation in Racial Residential Segregation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(4), pages 1263-1292, November.
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1ck6j135a79b5pqdagv8visfep is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Lena Imeraj & Sylvie Gadeyne, 2024. "Trapped in Place? Ethnic and Educational Heterogeneity in Residential Mobility and Integration of Young Adults in Brussels," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 1-28, December.
    16. Christopher S. Fowler & Barrett A. Lee & Stephen A. Matthews, 2016. "The Contributions of Places to Metropolitan Ethnoracial Diversity and Segregation: Decomposing Change Across Space and Time," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1955-1977, December.
    17. Matthew Hall, 2013. "Residential Integration on the New Frontier: Immigrant Segregation in Established and New Destinations," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(5), pages 1873-1896, October.
    18. Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral Del Río, 2025. "From the Extent of Segregation to its Consequences in Terms of Wellbeing," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 254(3), pages 5-43, September.
    19. John Iceland & Gregory Sharp, 2013. "White Residential Segregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Conceptual Issues, Patterns, and Trends from the U.S. Census, 1980 to 2010," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(5), pages 663-686, October.
    20. Massimiliano Crisci & Michele Santurro, 2023. "Micro-Segregation of Ethnic Minorities in Rome: Highlighting Specificities of National Groups in Micro-Segregated Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-24, October.
    21. Samantha Friedman, 2011. "Bringing Proximate Neighbours into the Study of US Residential Segregation," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(4), pages 611-639, March.
    22. John H. Fleming & Neli Esipova & Anita Pugliese & Julie Ray & Rajesh Srinivasan, 2018. "DATA-SURVEY: Migrant Acceptance Index: A Global Examination of the Relationship Between Interpersonal Contact and Attitudes toward Migrants," Border Crossing, Transnational Press London, UK, vol. 8(1), pages 103-132, January-J.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:49:y:2022:i:1:p:290-303. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.