Segregation through the multiscalar lens

Significance We develop a method of measuring segregation which captures the multidimensional nature of mixing in metropolitan areas. The use of trajectory convergence analysis provides a flexible way for capturing change across all scales from small spatial units and how the rate of convergence to the citywide average modifies over space. Thus, the method provides an analysis of how far, in spatial terms, any individual or neighborhood is from the citywide multigroup distribution. We use this method to investigate ethnic mixing in the Southern California metropolitan region. The results illustrate excellent visual measures of the patterns of mixing across urban space, and the graphical trajectories reveal the spatial speed at which the process of convergence takes place.