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Land Policy, Land Markets and Urban Spatial Segregation Allegra Calder What is Segregation segregation can be neither understood and Rosalind Greenstein and Why Is It Important? nor addressed without fully appreciating Frederick Boal’s (School of Geography, the role that race has played and continues s urban spatial segregation a conse- Queen’s University, Belfast) work is in- to play in American history and public quence of the normal functioning of formed by both the rich sociological liter- policy. Flavio Villaça (School of Architec- I urban land markets, reflecting ature on segregation and his own experi- ture and Urbanism, University of São cumulative individual choices? Or, is it a ence of living in the midst of the troubles Paulo, Brazil) understands segregation result of the malfunctioning of urban land between Catholics and Protestants in within a class framework, where income markets that privatize social benefits and Northern Ireland. Boal suggested that level and social status, not race, are the key socialize private costs? Is it the result of segregation was best understood as part of factors influencing residential patterns. In class bias, or racial bias, or both? Does a spectrum that ranged from the extreme Brazil and many other countries with long public housing policy create ghettos? Or, approach of ethnic cleansing to the more histories of authoritarian regimes, urban do real estate agents and lending officers idealistic one of assimilation (see Figure services are generally provided by the state. substitute personal bias for objective data, 1). As with so many policy issues, segre- In these countries, urban residential pat- thereby creating and reinforcing stereo- gation will not be solved by viewing it as terns determine access to water and sewer types about fellow citizens and neighbor- a dichotomy but rather as a continuum facilities (and therefore health) as well as hoods? Can changes in land policy lead to of degrees or levels of separateness, each transportation, utility infrastructure and changes in intra-metropolitan settlement with different spatial manifestations. other urban services. patterns? Or, do such changes come about For Peter Marcuse (Graduate School In many cases, Villaça and others assert, only from deep social changes having to of Architecture, Preservation and Plan- land market activity and urban codes and do with values such as tolerance, opportu- ning, Columbia University, New York) regulations have been used, both overtly nity and human rights? segregation implies a lack of choice and/or and furtively, to create elite, well-serviced Thirty-seven practitioners and academ- the presence of coercion. When racial or neighborhoods that segregate the upper ics from thirteen countries struggled with ethnic groups choose to live together, he classes from the rest of society, which is these and other related questions at the calls that clustering in enclaves. However, largely ignored. This view has parallels Lincoln Institute’s “International Seminar when groups are forced apart, either ex- in the U.S., where access to high-quality on Segregation in the City” in Cambridge plicitly or through more subtle mechanisms, schools and other valued amenities is last July. The seminar organizers, Francisco he calls that segregation in ghettoes. It is largely determined by residential patterns Sabatini of the Catholic University of the lack of choice that distinguishes these that are closely associated with segregation Chile and Martim Smolka and Rosalind patterns and invites a public policy by income level, ethnic background and Greenstein of the Lincoln Institute, cast a response. other demographic characteristics. Semi- wide net to explore the theoretical, his- The meaning and importance of segre- nar participants also cited the correlation torical and practical dimensions of segre- gation varies with the historical context. between disadvantaged communities and gation. Participants came from countries as For William Harris (Department of Ur- the location of environmental hazards. diverse as Brazil, Israel, Kenya, the Nether- ban and Regional Planning, Jackson State People segregated into low-income ghettoes lands, Northern Ireland and the U.S., and University, Mississippi), who writes about or neighborhoods comprised primarily of they brought to the discussion their train- spatial segregation in the U.S. South, people of color confront the downsides of ing as lawyers, sociologists, econ- modern urban living, such as omists, urban planners, regional hazardous waste sites and other scientists and geographers. As locally unwanted land uses. they attempted to come to terms Ariel Espino (Department with the meaning of segregation, of Anthropology, Rice Univer- the various forces that create and sity, Texas) presented an analysis reinforce it, and possible policy of how distance is used to rein- responses, it became apparent that force social, political and econ- there are no simple answers and omic inequality in housing. that many viewpoints contribute When social and economic to the ongoing debate. This brief differences are clear and under- report on the seminar offers a taste stood, ruling elites tolerate of the far-reaching discussion. physical proximity. For example, servants can live close to their employers, even in the same LISA J. SILVA LINCOLN INSTITUTE OF LAND POLICY4 LAND LINES • NOVEMBER 2001 house, because economic relations and be- in Washington, DC. His research findings School of Government, Harvard University) havioral norms dictate separation by class. emphasize the role of real estate agents in brought the idea of “social capital” to the steering buyers and renters into same-race discussion. As the term is being used today Why Does Segregation Persist? neighborhoods. As a consequence, blacks by sociologists and social theorists, social Prevalent throughout the seminar was an simply do not enjoy the same opportunities capital embodies the social networks and assumption that all residents of the city as whites and are far less likely to obtain social trust within communities that can (i.e., citizens) ought to have access to urban their first choice of housing, thus challeng- be harnessed to achieve individual and services, at least to a minimum level of ser- ing the public choice model. Squires also group goals. Briggs argued that social vices. However, Peter Marcuse chal- capital is both a cause and lenged the participants to think Figure 1: Boal’s Scenarios Spectrum an effect of segregation in the beyond a minimum level and to Cleansing Polarization Segmentation Pluralism Assimilation U.S., but it can be leveraged to consider access to urban amenities create positive change. Others in the context of rights. He ques- challenged the extent to which tioned whether wealth or family social capital theory and research heritage or skin color or ethnic helps to address urban spatial identity ought to determine one’s segregation. These participants access to public goods—not only argued that it tended to frame education, health and shelter, but the policy question as “How also other amenities directly related The Urban Ethnic Spectrum do we improve poor people?” to physical location. In language rather than addressing the A given city can, over time, change positions on the Spectrum. reminiscent of Henry George’s structural and institutional views on common property in the late- found that housing choice is determined mechanisms that contribute to residential nineteenth century, Marcuse asked by social or economic status. For example, segregation and income inequality. Yet, the whether it was fair or right, for example, priorities for neighborhood amenities sociologists’ view is that social capital is for the rich to enjoy the best ocean views among black house-hunters tended to dif- the very element that communities need or river frontage or other endowments of fer from those of whites, in part because to exert some element of control over their nature while the poor are often relegated they had fewer private resources (such as an immediate environments, rather than to to the least attractive areas. automobile) and were more dependent on be simply the recipients of the intended Robert Wassmer (Department of Pub- a house location that provided centralized and unintended consequences of the lic Policy and Administration, California services such as public transportation. political economy. State University) described the economic John Metzger (Urban and Regional processes involved in residential location, Planning Program, Michigan State Univ- Social Justice and Land Policy as they are understood by public choice ersity) examined the role of the private mar- Seminar participants from around the economists. In this view, house buyers do ket in perpetuating segregation. He pre- world shared examples of spatial segrega- not choose to buy only a house and a lot; sented research on the demographic cluster tion enforced as a political strategy they consider a diverse set of amenities profiles that companies like Claritas and through the power of the state. that vary from place to place. Some buyers CACI Marketing Systems use to character- • The British colonial government may choose an amenity bundle that includes ize neighborhoods. These profiles are sold in Kenya employed planning laws and ex- more public transit and less lakefront, while to a range of industries, including real estate clusionary zoning to separate native Afri- others may choose greater access to high- and finance, as well