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Exiting distressed neighbourhoods: The timing of spatial assimilation among international migrants in Sweden
Author(s) -
Vogiazides Louisa
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
population, space and place
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.398
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1544-8452
pISSN - 1544-8444
DOI - 10.1002/psp.2169
Subject(s) - neighbourhood (mathematics) , immigration , metropolitan area , geography , ethnic group , economic geography , demographic economics , settlement (finance) , social mobility , assimilation (phonology) , stratification (seeds) , sociology , economics , social science , linguistics , philosophy , seed dormancy , mathematical analysis , botany , germination , mathematics , archaeology , finance , dormancy , anthropology , payment , biology
Different theoretical frameworks offer competing explanations for the settlement patterns and residential mobility of international migrants. Some highlight migrants' neighbourhood preferences, whereas others emphasise structural constraints in the housing market. This paper aims to test three theories on migrants' socio‐spatial mobility—the theories of spatial assimilation, place stratification, and ethnic preference—by investigating the extent to which migrants move away from distressed immigrant‐dense neighbourhoods in the Swedish cities of Stockholm and Malmö, as well as the timing of that mobility. Applying discrete‐time event history analysis to unique Swedish longitudinal register data, the paper reveals considerable differences in the residential mobility patterns between migrant groups and between the two cities. It also finds that newly arrived migrants are more likely to move away from distressed areas compared with long‐established ones. These results cast doubt on the spatial assimilation theory, indicating evidence for the place stratification theory. The paper contributes to an enhanced understanding of the determinants of residential segregation in Swedish metropolitan areas.