Forty years of immigrant segregation in France,1968–2007. How different is the new immigration?

Abstract

Analysing restricted access census data, this paper examines the long-term trends of immigrant segregation in France from 1968 to 2007. Similarly to other European countries, France experienced a rise in the proportion of immigrants in its population that was characterised by a new predominance of non-European immigration. Despite this, average segregation levels remained moderate. While the number of immigrant enclaves increased, particularly during the 2000s, the average concentration for most groups decreased because of a reduction of heavily concentrated census tracts, and census tracts with few immigrants. Contradicting frequent assertions, neither mono-ethnic census tracts nor ghettos exist in France. By contrast, many immigrants live in census tracts characterised by a low proportion of immigrants from their own group and from all origins. A long residential period in France is correlated with lower concentrations and proportion of immigrants in the census tract for most groups, though these effects are sometimes modest.