Spatial
Inequalities
At the
broadest level, our cross-cutting theme on Spatial Inequalities highlights
the fact that the three basic population processes - fertility, mortality,
and migration - occur in specific locations. It refers to research on
the determinants and consequences of varying spatial distributions of
populations across major axes of social differentiation, especially race,
ethnicity, nativity, and social class. This theme is driven by pivotal
demographic changes and stark demographic realities, including (but not
limited to) high levels of residential segregation by race in US cities,
changing patterns of immigration to the US, and rapid third world urbanization.
Our theme on Spatial Inequalities recognizes that variations in the spatial
distributions of racial, ethnic, and SES are often pronounced, that these
disparate physical locations have important ramifications for the demographic
behavior, socioeconomic status, and health of these subpopulations, and
that spatially-disadvantaged groups actively seek to remedy these inequalities
by moving to new neighborhoods, new communities, and, in the extreme,
new countries.
The relevance
of spatial inequalities for our associates' research on migration, immigration,
and residential mobility is perhaps the most obvious. Indeed, a unique
strength of population research at Albany is a core of highly productive
researchers working on issues related to population redistribution.
A dominant and recurrent theme of our research in this area is the importance
of race and ethnicity in shaping urban residential patterns. Albany
researchers focus on both the causes and consequences of these racially-structured
population patterns. Nancy Denton is well-known for her work
on racial residential segregation, culminating in the award-winning
book, American Apartheid (with D. Massey). Denton has also explored
racial differences in the spatial isolation of immigrant and poor elderly,
and how families participating in the Moving-to-Opportunity (MTO) program
adjust to their new neighborhood environments. Richard Alba and
John Logan, both individually and collaboratively, have written
extensively on the residential patterns of minorities in U.S. metropolitan
areas, giving particular attention to the locational attainments and
suburbanization patterns of racial, ethnic, and immigrant groups, while
Alba, Logan, and Denton have examined race-specific patterns of population
change at the neighborhood level. Logan's "Census 2000" project
has generated a wealth of information about contemporary segregation
patterns in US cities, and has actively communicated these findings
to the media and policymakers. Regina Bures received substantial
funding from NSF for an in-depth, historical study of racial residential
segregation and African American geographic mobility in Charleston,
SC during the 20th century. Youqin Huang also studies ethnic
residential patterns and neighborhood succession in the US. Scott
South and Glenn Deane have examined racial differences in
patterns of residential mobility, and South has written a series of
papers on the determinants of residential mobility between neighborhoods
of varying racial composition and socioeconomic status. The consequences
of racially- and ethnically disparate population distribution patterns
for the well-being of minority groups are evident a variety of projects.
Denton, Deane, and Lawrence Raffalovich are exploring the impact
of neighborhood racial composition on housing appreciation. Hayward
Horton is examining the preconditions for successful African American
community development. Steven Messner and South have studied
the impact of racial residential segregation on patterns of interracial
marriage and crime, and South has studied the effect of neighborhood
characteristics on black and white family formation patterns. With funding
from the Ford Foundation, Donna Armstrong, an epidemiologist,
is exploring the effects of transportation access to medical services
on racial differences in coronary heart disease mortality. Logan and
Messner have examined the impact of residential segregation on violent
crime rates in suburban areas, and Alba and Logan have examined racial
and ethnic differences in exposure to neighborhood-level crime.
A fairly
recent initiative on population redistribution is the Urban China Research
Network, coordinated by Logan, Zai Liang, Youqin Huang, Christopher
Smith, and Jennifer Rudolph. Developed with support from
the Mellon Foundation, the Urban China Research Network is a multidisciplinary,
multi-institutional network of scholars conducting and supporting research
and training activities focusing on internal migration and its impact
on urbanization in contemporary China. Specific research themes include:
changing spatial organization of Chinese cities; the dynamics of rural-to-urban
migration; the operation of urban labor markets; the impact of migration
on the delivery of urban services; the housing settlement patterns of
migrants; the impact of migration on urban social problems; the relationships
between urban and rural populations; and the family patterns and household
characteristics of migrants. Logan and South received additional funding
from the Mellon Foundation to build interdisciplinary connections between
demographers and urban studies specialists with interests in urban China,
and this has led to an edited book in preparation in which every chapter
is co-authored by a China specialist and a scholar familiar with another
part of the world. CSDA research on migration both within China and
between China and the US was enhanced significantly by the recent hiring
of Zai Liang, who joined our faculty as Associate Professor of
Sociology in the Fall of 2002. Liang has been a member of the Urban
China Research Network since its inception. Liang's current projects
include a study of market transition and migration within China and
primary data collection for a study of immigration from China to the
US (including interviews in both countries). Christopher Smith's work
in this area focuses on the impact of internal migration on health and
the growth and consequences of the China's "floating population."
Relatedly, Messner is beginning a study to explore the impact of China's
floating population on crime and victimization in Chinese cities.
The Urban
China Research Network and other research projects on population movement
and distribution both involve the study of immigrant assimilation. Alba
has received funding from both NSF and the Russell Sage Foundation to
study the socioeconomic incorporation and attainments of the second
generation of immigrants in the US, France, Canada, and Germany. With
NICHD support, Logan has begun exploring the settlement patterns of
U.S. immigrants at the turn of the last century. Margarita Cervantes-Rodriguez
studies the incorporation of Latin American immigrants in South Florida,
with a particular focus on transnational ties and remittances, and developing
comparisons with cities in Spain. South, also with NICHD support, is
studying the internal migration patterns of Latino immigrants. Further
complementing research on immigrant assimilation and settlement patterns
is the recent addition to the associate roster of Angie Chung,
who joined us after having been a Social Science Research Council postdoctoral
fellow at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University
of California, San Diego. Chung's research blends quantitative and qualitative
methods to explore immigrant adaptation and acculturation, with a particular
focus on Korean and Chinese immigrants. Her work also examines the impact
of community characteristics on the development of immigrant children.
Experience in the uses of Geographic
Information Systems is an essential ingredient in the development of
research on Spatial Inequalities. Several associates offer expertise
in this area. Deane is well known for his early work with Ken Land on
spatial autocorrelation. Logan has served for the last three years on
the advisory board of the Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science
(UC-Santa Barbara). Deane and Messner have collaborated with Luc Anselin
for several years on research involving the spatial analysis of crime
statistics; a related application of GIS methods is found in Piyusha
Singh's research on the spatial distribution of use of guns
in criminal violence. Alba and Logan have worked together to apply spatial
statistics to the identification of ethnic neighborhoods. Denton, Glenn
Deane, and Larry Raffalovich use exploratory spatial data analysis
(ESDA) to identify spatial clusters and spatial outliers in housing
values and to identify the areal covariates of housing values in research
on African American homeownership. Catherine Lawson has extensively
applied GIS methods to the analysis of transportation systems, while
these methods are a central tool in archaeological reconstruction of
community settlement patterns in the research of Michael Smith
and Marilyn Masson. We have made progress also in GIS training,
including graduate courses introduced in 2001 and 2002 in sociology
(Logan), criminology (Singh), and in the School of Public Health.
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