The Development of an Urban Subsystem: The Case of the Negro Ghetto

ABSTRACT The Negro ghetto represents an expanding residential spatial configuration in all of the major metropolitan areas in the United States. The process of ghetto development is essentially related to the refusal of Whites to share residential space with Blacks on a permanent basis, and to the search behavior employed by Blacks in seeking housing accommodations. An attempt has been made to predict the changing scale of the ghetto configuration in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1960–1970. A simulation model was developed for this purpose. The model employed can be described as a strict segregation model since all Negro housing demand is satisfied within contiguous space, described here as ghetto space. It is apparent from the results that the model includes some inherent weaknesses, but only a few are related to its conceptual base. In general the simulated pattern of Negro residential occupance in Milwaukee is characterized by general overprediction in a low income area along the eastern side of the ghetto and by underprediction along the northern margin of the ghetto. The actual pattern of black residential-movement in Milwaukee demonstrated that the heaviest entry occurred in an area of more desirable housing.