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Ecological expansion theory states that racial segregation occurs as part of the normal life cycle of an SMSA. Individual preferences working through the marketplace lead to differentiation between suburban communities. This paper questions the assumptions of a free and open market. An alternative model—the dual housing market model—views the housing market as structured to provide very different opportunities for blacks and whites. Hypotheses generated by each model about changes in the two components of black residential patterns—the total percent black in suburban rings and the distribution of blacks among suburbs—are tested for the 1970–80 decade. Based on 44 large suburban regions, the results support the dual housing market model. We suggest that the racial structuring of the housing market underlies the ecological processes presumed to determine changes in black suburbanization and segregation.
Stearns et al. (Mon,) studied this question.