Residential Segregation and the Integration of Immigrants: Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden
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Veröffentlichung der Arbeitsstelle Interkulturelle Konflikte und gesellschaftliche Integration, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung AKI Karen Schönwälder (Ed.) Residential Segregation and the Integration of Immigrants: Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden Discussion Paper Nr. SP IV 2007-602 Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH Social Science Research Center Berlin Reichpietschufer 50, 10785 Berlin Telefon: +49/30/25491-0 E-Mail: [email protected] Telefax: +49/30/25491-684 Internet: http://www.wzb.eu Abstract Three country studies on Great Britain (C. Peach), the Netherlands (S. Musterd/W. Ostendorf), and Sweden (R. Andersson) outline key features of ethnic residential segregation and discuss their relevance for the integration of migrants. For all three countries the degree of settlement concentration is considered moderate. Empirical results are presented on links between neighbourhood and, e. g., labour market inte- gration and inter-group relations. In a concluding chapter, Karen Schönwälder offers an assessment of the available evidence on neighbourhood effects and its relevance for the German situation. While it seems too early to draw firm conclusions, current knowledge suggests that the importance of socio-spatial structures for the integration of people with a migration background should not be overestimated. The evidence does not support a choice of political intervention strategies that focus on countering ethnic residential segregation. Zusammenfassung Drei Länderstudien zu Großbritannien (C. Peach), den Niederlanden (S. Musterd/W. Ostendorf) und Schweden (R. Andersson) skizzieren Grundmuster der ethnischen residenziellen Segregation und diskutieren deren Relevanz für die Integration von MigrantInnen. Übereinstimmend schätzen sie den Grad der Siedlungskonzentration als moderat ein. Zur Bedeutung des Wohnumfeldes für u. a. die Arbeitsmarktintegra- tion oder Gruppenbeziehungen werden einige empirische Ergebnisse vorgestellt. Karen Schönwälder bilanziert deren Aussagekraft und Relevanz für Deutschland. Obwohl sichere Einschätzungen noch nicht möglich sind, spricht der heutige Kennt- nisstand dafür, die Bedeutung sozialräumlicher Strukturen für Integrationsprozesse von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund nicht zu überschätzen und sie nicht in den Mittelpunkt politischer Steuerungsbestrebungen zu stellen. Contributors Ceri Peach is Professor of Social Geography at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St. Catherine's College. cpeach(at)ouce.ox.ac.uk Sako Musterd is Professor of Human Geography in the Department of Geogrpahy, Planning and International Development Studies of the Universiteit van Amsterdam. S.Musterd(at)uva.nl Wim Ostendorf is Associate Professor at the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies, Department of Geography and Planning of the University of Amsterdam. W.J.M.Ostendorf(at)uva.nl Roger Andersson is Professor of Social and Economic Geography at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF Institutet för bostads- och urbanforskning), Upp- sala Universitet. Roger.Andersson(at)ibf.uu.se Karen Schönwälder is head of the Programme on Intercultural Conflicts and Societal Integration at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) and teaches at the Free University Berlin. schoenwaelder(at)wzb.eu Contents Introduction 5 Karen Schönwälder Sleepwalking into Ghettoisation? The British Debate over Segregation 7 Ceri Peach Spatial Segregation and Integration in the Netherlands 41 Sako Musterd and Wim Ostendorf Ethnic Residential Segregation and Integration Processes in Sweden 61 Roger Andersson Residential Concentrations and Integration: Preliminary Conclusions 91 Siedlungskonzentrationen und Integration: eine Zwischenbilanz 101 Karen Schönwälder Residential Segregation and the Integration of Immigrants Karen Schönwälder Introduction The spatial concentration of immigrants and members of ethnic minorities is a hotly debated issue. Both in academia as well as in the wider public debate this phenomenon has recently attracted increased attention. In the German media and among politicians, the assumption is widespread that immigrants increasingly tend to withdraw into secluded communities and that so-called “Parallelgesellschaften” are about to develop in German cities or have already come into existence. Typically, “parallel societies” are seen as formations that hinder the integration of individual immigrants, provide breeding grounds for fundamentalist and anti-democratic tendencies, and contribute to societal tensions. Similar debates have been conducted in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Positive views of the ethnic community as a support structure and a framework for stable identities seem much less influential at the moment. It is highly controversial as to whether the above-mentioned worries are justified. Among academics, majority opinion tends to question the assumption that withdrawal into ethnic communities is a major tendency among immigrants, and emphasis is placed on socio- economic conditions of individual life chances rather than on identities and cultural prefer- ences. At the same time, there is renewed interest among academics in the issue of residential segregation. It seems that, in the context of a revived debate about the development of immi- grant integration in highly industrialized democratic societies and against the background of persisting inequalities, all potential determinants of the paths of integration are being recon- sidered. Additionally, methodological advances allow for more sophisticated assessments of the multiple factors that influence individual development, including the residential environ- ment. The WZB’s Programme on Intercultural Conflicts and Societal Integration invited eminent scholars from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden to outline the existing knowledge, with respect to their countries, on the residential segregation of immigrants and ethnic minority members and its relevance for overall societal integration. To what extent do immigrants and members of ethnic minorities live in neighbourhoods largely populated by co- ethnics? And in what ways is this socially relevant? Or, more specifically, what empirical knowledge exists with regard to the impact of the residential environment (the neighbour- hood) on, for example, opportunities in the labour market, identification with the polity, or social networks? Do primarily “ethnic” networks limit labour market opportunities, or does an ethnic economy provide employment to those excluded from other opportunities? Does grow- ing up in an ethnic community present a barrier to equal opportunities by inhibiting children’s acquisition of the majority language and thus their educational performance? Are mutual hostilities and group conflicts more likely if people live apart from each other? These are only some of the commonly raised assumptions in this context. 5 Schönwälder, Introduction Each of the following country studies first outlines major features of residential segregation in Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, respectively, and then moves on to discuss key findings on links between residential structures, individual opportunities and group relations. While the bulk of research in this field is on the United States, it seems more promising to look from Germany to other European countries whose urban structures, welfare state frameworks and, to some extent, similar immigration experience make them the more comparable cases. As will be seen, European research does not yet provide conclusive answers to all questions raised above. The following contributions agree that, in all three countries, the levels of resi- dential segregation are moderate, at least when compared with the US. The trends seem to be towards decreasing concentration, rather than towards consolidating ethnic enclaves. With regard to the consequences of residential environments shaped by the presence of large num- bers of co-ethnics and/or by unemployment and poverty, there is less agreement. While Mus- terd and Ostendorf (for the Netherlands) retain optimistic views, Peach (for Britain) and Andersson (for Sweden) assume that, under certain conditions, individual educational and labour market opportunities may be negatively affected by living in specific environments. The findings on connections between residential patterns and processes of immigrant integra- tion are summarized in a concluding chapter that also discusses their relevance for the Ger- man situation. The situation in Germany is the main focus of two parallel publications by our Programme that explore settlement structures of immigrants in Germany and the relevance of neighbour- hood effects (see details on back pages). 6 Residential Segregation and the Integration of Immigrants Ceri Peach Sleepwalking into Ghettoisation? The British Debate over Segregation Contents 1. Introduction 8 2. Growth and Settlement Patterns of British Minority Populations, 1951-2001 9 2.1 The Development of Britain’s Ethnic Minority Population 9 2.2 Regional Concentration 10 2.3 Urban and Intra Urban Concentration 13 3. Recent Public Debates: Ghettoisation in British Cities? 14 3.1 “Sleepwalking into Segregation”? 14 3.2 How to define a ghetto: Place-specific measures 15 3.3 Supporting Evidence for the Ghettoisation Hypothesis 20 3.4 P* Lieberson’s Isolation Indexes Show Increases 21 3.5 Intra Urban Indices of Dissimilarity 23 4. Caribbeans versus South Asians: Different Settlement Patterns, Different Trajectories of