Minority Ethnic Groups on The Dutch Housing Market

Introduction:

Ethnic segregation is consolidated by differences between ethnic groups with regard to their moving decision. Using unique registration data on population flows between neighbourhoods we show that native Dutch living in neighbourhoods where ethnic minorities are overrepresented are more likely to move than minority ethnic residents. Moreover, they move much more often to ‘white’ neighbourhoods. Urban policies in the Netherlands focus on countering this tendency of segregation, but are based on simplified assumptions with regard to the causes of residential segregation. Next to that, the optimism about the positive effects of social mix is hardly substantiated by empirical research.

What is ethnic groups segregation?

In the literature on ethnic groups segregation, however, there is also attention for possible positive effects of ethnic segregation. Spatial concentrations can have an important expressive function, assisting with the maintenance of a groups’ cultural traditions. Next to that, living in an ethnic enclave makes it easier to maintain ethnic networks, through which people are able to derive benefits from each other and offer support to one another. Moreover, ethnic neighbourhoods may function as a safe haven in a hostile environment and they may provide alternative channels for social mobility.

How can segregation processes be explained?

The spatial segregation of ethnic groups has been an essential topic in urban geography and urban sociology for more than 80 years. In the 1920s, researchers in the Chicago School were pioneers in this field. They described the spatial patterns of different immigrant groups in the city of Chicago and were particularly interested in the dynamics in these patterns. Their descriptions of the dynamics featured the terms invasion, succession, and dominance derived from biology. The inflow of a new group of residents into a neighbourhood is, according to Park (1925), comparable to the invasion by a new species of an existing ecosystem.

Spatial segregation of immigrants in the Netherlands:

How can the current segregation of immigrants in Dutch cities be characterized? What developments can be identified? And how can these developments be explained? In this section we first pay attention to the overrepresentation of immigrants in the big cities. We then consider the development of segregation within the four largest cities. Is segregation increasing or decreasing with respect to the rest of the country? Which neighbourhoods are affected by the strongest increase in the share of immigrants?

Countering segregation: urban policies in the Netherlands:

The present Dutch urban policy aims to reduce the concentration of low-income households in urban neighbourhoods and to combat the negative effects of the concentration of minority ethnic groups on their integration. The issue of countering segregation has already been (back) on the agenda since the second half of the 1990s, but the policy focus used to be mainly on income segregation. In line with changes in the Dutch political climate in the last few years, however, the concern with the concentration of poverty in certain neighbourhoods has been given way to the anxiety about ethnic concentration.

Neigbourhood choice and ethnic groups specificity:

The HDS and HRN sample are large samples that are person-based and representative of the Dutch population aged 18 and over but not living in institutions. The data set contains not only information about the present housing situation but also about residential mobility since two years before the interview. For those who moved in the last two years, the previous housing situation and the previous postal code is known.

Conclusion:

Although the level of ethnic segregation in the biggest Dutch cities is fairly stable or even declining (in the case of Rotterdam), there is an increasing concern among politicians about the (supposedly) detrimental effects of segregation on the integration of minority ethnic groups. Undoubtedly, this concern is partly brought about by the increasing share of ethnic groups in the cities. As a consequence, the average member of a minority ethnic group now lives in a district with a lower share of native Dutch than a few years ago, despite the fact that the level of ethnic segregation did not increase.

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