Ethnic Clusters in Amsterdam, 1994-96: A Micro-area Analysis

Ghetto formation is a recurrent item in debates on urban futures all over the world, the Netherlands not excluded. Many people express their fear for extreme separation between ethnic groups. Many Europeans tend to believe that the recent growth in the number of immigrants in the larger cities will lead to ghetto-like developments, as has happened in US cities with regard to the black population. However, little evidence is available to support that idea. In this paper, this question is addressed based on micro-level spatial data for immigrant groups in Amsterdam. Data were available for two recent years, which provided the opportunity to study the dynamics of ethnic concentrations. Conclusions are, first, that the spatial segregation of immigrant groups in Amsterdam is far from the ghetto-type segregation in US cities; and secondly, that there are indications of the instability of ethnic concentrations, which is considered an indication against the development of ghettos as well. Characteristics of the Dutch welfare state may provide part of the explanation.