Residential Segregation in Europe: A Comparative Study of Spatial Segregation Patterns in Urban Areas across 30 Countries

Tobias Rüttenauer , UCL
Kasimir Dederichs, University of Oxford
David Kretschmer, University of Oxford

Residential segregation can profoundly shape immigrant integration, access to opportunity, and inter-group relations. Yet we lack systematic evidence on how segregation levels vary across European cities and what structural factors drive these patterns. This study addresses two questions: (i) How does immigrant-native segregation vary across urban areas in Europe, and how much of this variation stems from local versus national contexts? (ii) Which urban and country-level characteristics are consistently associated with segregation? Using harmonised 1×1 km grid-level data from the 2021 European census, we calculate spatially weighted Dissimilarity Indices for all 717 Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) across 30 countries. We combine these measures with rich data on housing, demographics, economy, education, and immigration policy. To identify robust correlates, we apply Specification Curve Analysis across 24,000 regression models. Segregation is highest in Western and Northern Europe, but 40% of variation occurs within countries. At the urban level, higher segregation is linked to larger populations, lower densities, smaller immigrant shares, greater support for far-right parties, higher immigrant-native economic inequality, and lower homeownership rates. At the national level, economic inequality is negatively associated with segregation, while welfare spending, housing investment, and MIPEX scores show no consistent effects. These findings offer the most comprehensive comparative assessment of immigrant segregation across Europe to date, revealing how structural conditions shape spatial integration – and raising new questions about the urban and national contexts in which segregation emerges.

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 Presented in Session 64. Flash Session Residential Context and Spatial Segregation in Migrant Populations