Residential segregation in Europe and the United States: minority population growth and spatial integration

Daniel T. Lichter, Cornell University
Domenico Parisi, Mississippi State University
Shrinidhi Ambinakudige, Mississippi State University

Residential segregation is a key indicator of spatial assimilation and social inclusion among minority populations. Our paper provides up-to-date comparative estimates of residential concentration and segregation in Europe and the United States during the current period of rapid immigration and growing diversity. Areal data from Eurostat and the U.S. decennial census reveal recent patterns of population growth and dispersion of ethnic immigrant and minority populations for the most recent years. Our paper has three specific goals. First, we provide new estimates of majority-minority segregation using the index of dissimilarity (D), which are based on NUTS3 data for 26 European countries and on comparable county-level data for all 50 states in the USA. Second, we supplement these estimates of racial concentration and segregation with detailed district and census tract data from several metropolitan cities in Europe (e.g., London, Amsterdam, Brussels, among others) and the United States (e.g., Atlanta, Houston, and Chicago) which have become major immigrant and minority population centers. Third, using concatenated data on European countries and USA states, we fit several multivariate models that include key economic (i.e., poverty), social (i.e., education), and ecological (i.e., urbanization) predictors of segregation in Europe and the USA. This analyses allows for an evaluation of similarities and differences in segregation outcomes and determinants on both continents. Our fundamental goal is to provide the first comprehensive set of comparative estimates of minority segregation in Europe and the United States.