Quantitative indices of residential segregation. The case of the immigrant population in Barcelona

Abstract

The residential segregation of a town shows the level of inequality in the distribution of the inhabitants between the different areas. It is interesting to obtain a quantitative vision of the residential segregation in order to prevent and to act in the most affected territories by this process. This article suggests segregation measurements for the immigrants from different point of views, using spatial statistics and geographic information systems. With this tools it studies the distribution of the immigrants for the city of Barcelona. The results indicate a decrease of the segregation between 1996 and 2001. Nevertheless it notes significant differences according to the origin of every studied group.