Temporal Changes and Urban Differences in Residential Segregation: A Reconsideration

Residential segregation is most commonly measured with the index of dissimilarity, an indicator that eliminates or at least minimizes the effect of group size. An asymmetric measure of isolation is described here, one which takes composition into account. Although it taps the same process in part, the measure provides a different way of approaching segregation and is found not to be a simple product of a composition variable coupled with the index of dissimilarity. Earlier conclusions about intercity differences and temporal changes in segregation between 1960 and 1970 are reconsidered. Centrain features of segregation are indicated that hitherto were unappreciated. Recognition of them yields some radically different conclusions about the segregation process, shifts over time, and differences among cities. The asymmetrical approach also explains why racial and ethnic groups have different perceptions about the magnitude of and the trends in segregation.