How did the research turn out? What were the findings? Researchers themselves report briefly on the research they have undertaken with funding support from the Formas Research Council.
Editor: Margaretha Nordahl
Creation of immigrant-dense neighbourhoods: migrations in urban Sweden that generate segregation and networks
Roger Andersson (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Uppsala University.
Email: Roger.Andersson@ibf.uu.se

Housing choice causes distress
The objective of this project was to develop understanding of ethnic housing segregation. The point of departure in a migration-oriented model is that "ordinary people" are seen as active players in the segregation process and that, analytically, the causes of segregation should not be differentiated from its consequences. The latter implies, inter alia, that we all place different values on the qualities of districts and neighbourhoods when we decide to move. The majority population (households of Swedish origin) may, for instance, regard an area with many immigrants as a "problem area" and decide to avoid it.
A comprehensive study was made of how the ethnically segregated town is created and recreated through the movements of households, assuming that ethnically segregated areas influence the housing choice of the majority population through out-migration of "Swedish" households from areas with few Swedes and reduced in-migration to these. An investigation was also made of the role which ethnic networks have for the in-migration of immigrant households to immigrant-dense areas. Finally, an analysis was made of the way in which different types of institutional regulatory systems and players influence ethnic segregation processes.
The results are published in two doctoral theses (Åsa Bråmå, 2006 and Kenny Jansson, 2008). Bråmå demonstrates how distressed housing estates constantly lose their more established population (people who have been in Sweden longer and have work) while they have a large inflow of those who are less well established (new arrivals and the unemployed). Even though many households move frequently, the character of these areas is not changed. If the State and municipalities want to change the situation in distressed areas, it is necessary that they develop an insight that segregation is a problem not only for a number of poor neighbourhoods which have few Swedish inhabitants but also for the whole town. Jansson has decided to work in a more ethnographic and geo-philosophical tradition and poses fundamental questions regarding the importance of geographical form for interpersonal relations.
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