Black Residential Segregation in the Era of Urban Sprawl

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between alternative metropolitan land use patterns, including those characterized as “sprawl,” and Black residential segregation. Previous studies have explored this question using limited attributes and empirical measures of both land use and segregation. This econometric study advances the understanding of that relationship in several ways. First, the paper defines land use as a countervailing, multi-dimensional, phenomenon. Metropolitan areas do not generally exhibit high-sprawl (or low-sprawl) characteristics across multiple measures; rather, they typically exhibit some combination, or “configuration,” of low-sprawl and high-sprawl attributes. Second, the paper examines the relationship between such configurations and several of the segregation dimensions suggested by Massey and Denton (1988). Third, the paper analyzes results using the 2010 decennial Census. This study explores the contribution and transmission of countervailing spatial land use patterns to changes in Black segregation levels, and the implications of such changes for land use policies and regulations. These complex effects bring new precision and insights to the analysis of racial inequality in an age of rapid demographic change.