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Measuring geographic segregation: a graph-based approach

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Abstract

Residential segregation is a multidimensional phenomenon that encompasses several conceptually distinct aspects of geographical separation between populations. While various indices have been developed as a response to different definitions of segregation, the reliance on such single-figure indices could oversimplify the complex, multidimensional phenomena. In this regard, this paper suggests an alternative graph-based approach that provides more detailed information than simple indices: The concentration profile graphically conveys information about how evenly a population group is distributed over the study region, and the spatial proximity profile depicts the degree of clustering across different threshold levels. These graphs can also be summarized into single numbers for comparative purposes, but the interpretation can be more accurate by inspecting the additional information. To demonstrate the use of these methods, the residential patterns of three major ethnic groups in Auckland, namely Māori, Pacific peoples, and Asians, are examined using the 2006 census data.

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Notes

  1. In the segregation literature, the Lorenz curve is often constructed by plotting the cumulative proportion of one population group against that of the other group. The concentration profile is different from the Lorenz curve in the sense that it plots the cumulative proportion of the population group against their relative demographic share in geographic units.

  2. In the 2006 census, Samoan was the largest population group in this broad ethnic category (49.3 %), followed by Cook Islands Māori (21.8 %), Tongan (19.0 %), Niuean (8.4 %), Fijian (3.7 %), Tokelauan (2.5 %), and Tuvaluan (1.0 %). Although each of these groups has distinct cultural, linguistic, and historical backgrounds, we analyze the “Pacific peoples” data as a whole to demonstrate the use of the proposed approach. Note that the census respondents were able to choose more than one ethnic group to describe their ethnicity. The sum of the individual proportions in this data set therefore exceeds 100 %.

  3. While it may be beyond the scope of this paper to explain why Pacific peoples (and the Māori population) are clustered in the southern Auckland, previous studies suggest that the presence of state housing in this locality has attracted low-income Pacific peoples (Johnston et al. 2008).

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 24-02309. We are thankful to the anonymous referees for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8568, Japan

    Seong-Yun Hong & Yukio Sadahiro

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  1. Seong-Yun Hong
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  2. Yukio Sadahiro
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Correspondence to Seong-Yun Hong.

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Hong, SY., Sadahiro, Y. Measuring geographic segregation: a graph-based approach. J Geogr Syst 16, 211–231 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10109-013-0190-7

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