Laura Vaughan

Segregation, mobility and encounters in Jerusalem: The role of public transport infrastructure in connecting the ‘divided city’

This paper assesses ways in which urban segregation is shaped and transformed by Jerusalem’s public transport network, enhancing mobility and potential group encounters. We suggest that segregation should be understood as an issue of mobility and co-presence in public space, rather than the static residential-based segregation that continues to be a central focus of debate in urban studies. We explore public transport infrastructures, considering how their implementation reflects the variety of ways that transport can have impact: segmenting populations, linking populations and/or creating spaces for interaction or conflict between the city’s Jewish Israeli and Arab Palestinian populations. Space syntax network analysis suggests that in the case of Jerusalem, access to public transport is multi-dimensional: as well as providing access to resources, it shapes opportunities for spatial mobility that may either overcome or reinforce area-based housing segregation. We discuss these opportunities in the light of Jerusalem’s on-going ethno-national division in an increasingly fractured urban reality.

There was a Priest, a Rabbi and an Imam...: an analysis of urban space and religious practice in London's East End, 1685-2010

ABSTRACT This article explores the relationship between patterns of immigrant settlement and religious practice in the East End of London over the past 350 years. It questions what needs religious attendance satisfied for the incomer and additionally examines the role played by the religious organization; variously as center for charitable support, locus of social organization in an “alien” culture, bridge between cultures, and source of economic opportunity. Using the combination of historical investigation and spatial analysis—applying space syntax methods of mapping networks of movement and patterns of settlement—the article sheds light on the interconnections between the various roles of the chapel, small synagogue, and mosque in this area of first settlement. The article ends with a discussion regarding the way in which configuration of public space transforms the individual migrant identity. The article concludes that places of worship satisfy a variety of needs in the life of the migrant and that over time religious need and external practice change—some becoming more, and some becoming less in tune with those of the host society.

Geographies of ethnic segregation in Stockholm: The role of mobility and co-presence in shaping the ‘diverse’ city:

This article assesses how urban segregation and ethnic diversity in Stockholm have been shaped by spatial policy and migration trajectories over time. Much of the urban studies and planning literature defines segregation as a measure of residential mixing. In contrast, our research suggests that segregation could be understood as a lack of opportunities for interaction in public space. In the case of Stockholm, space syntax network analysis and the establishment of ethnicity as a statistical category suggest that despite the social infrastructure provided by the Swedish state, the city’s specific spatial configuration alongside its policies of housing allocation have resulted in severe constraints on the potential for co-presence between new immigrants and the native Swedish population. Spatial analysis suggests that the city’s public transport infrastructure is a contributory factor in maintaining separation between foreign-born and ethnic Swedes. Coupled with a high level of social deprivation amongst new immigrants, the result is a multi-dimensional spatial segregation process that persists amongst the second immigrant generation, reinforcing ethnic and socio-economic area-based housing segregation. We conclude that despite Sweden’s long-standing political vision of social integration, its capital is suffering from increasing ethnic spatial differentiation, which will most likely persist unless a greater consideration of spatial connectivity and an introduction of ethnic and racial equality data in policy and practice are brought to bear.