Racial Integration in Residential Neighborhoods

Abstract

Stable racial integration of residential neighborhoods has been studied using measures of physical distance, social distance, and type of neighborhood organization. All three concepts describe different dimensions of stable integration, but they are seldom com bined. When these concepts are interrelated, attainment of stable racial integration can be seen as a process, and a clearer continuum of interracial neighborhood types can be distinguished. This paper develops new measures of physical, social, and organizational integration which should allow more accurate analysis of the process by which neighbor hoods attain and maintain stable racial integration. These measures can aid social scientists and community planners m distinguishing those factors that predispose orfacilitate stable integration in a society where most institutional arrangements predispose segregated living.