Ethnic residential patterns in a welfare state: Lessons from Amsterdam, 1970–1990

Abstract The study of ethnic residential differentiation has been guided by the assumption that housing is a dimension of the general participation in society. The level of residential segregation was seen as closely related to participation on the labour market and in the school system. Along this line of reasoning interference by the state in the housing market on behalf of ethnic groups would not only provide these groups with better housing but also improve their position on the labour market and in the school system. The housing situation of immigrant groups in Dutch cities has improved during the last decade while their position on the labour market has deteriorated. This article describes this ‘anomalous’ development and provides an explanation. In post industrial societies the labour market no longer appears to be the primary field of interaction determining other spheres of societal interaction. Housing, work and education have become (relative) autonomous circuits. This explanation needs further operationalisation and testing, but provides an interpretation of the meaning of residential patterns in modern cities that the traditional theory fails to explain.