Terje Wessel

DOES DIVERSITY IN URBAN SPACE ENHANCE INTERGROUP CONTACT AND TOLERANCE

Abstract. Contemporary urban theory has started to question the elevation of diversity as a panacea for enduring urban problems – segregation, prejudice and intergroup hostility. This critique coincides with an opposite tendency within classic contact theory and research. The latter tradition has developed an increasing enthusiasm for face‐to‐face interaction. The contact hypothesis, which presupposes established contact, has received conclusive support independent of target groups and contact settings. Research on ‘lived diversity’, which includes both contact and lack of contact, offers two supplementary insights. It shows, on the one hand, that boundaries are inscribed in social spaces. Physical proximity between ethnic and social groups tends to have a minor effect on interaction. Interaction, on the other hand, is not essential to attitude formation. Both subfields within contact research have confirmed that urban space may act as a catalyst for tolerant attitudes. This observation corresponds with increasing recognition of affective states, such as empathy, anxiety and group threat. Contact research has therefore, in summary, transcended the scope of the contact hypothesis. It has expanded into the realm of urban theory, which foreshadows future collaboration between the two traditions. Some key points for such exchange are suggested at the end of the article. Future research should combine an open‐ended approach to casual contact with a diversified conception of diversity and a richer conception of urban space. A move in this direction would leave substantial space for geographical research.

UPWARDS, OUTWARDS AND WESTWARDS: RELOCATION OF ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS IN THE OSLO REGION

Abstract Our purpose in this article is to examine socio‐economic and spatial integration of ethnic minorities in the Oslo region. We analyse relocation between 1998 and 2008 for members of ten minority groups along three overlapping dimensions: upwards in the neighbourhood hierarchy, outwards from the inner city to all suburbs, and westwards from a less affluent to a more affluent part of the region. The results provide some limited support for spatial assimilation theory. Two minority groups, Iranians and Vietnamese, comply partly with the theory. Another group, Filipinos, has stagnated in its socio‐economic and spatial integration. The remaining groups do not relocate in accordance with the native pattern, or fail to integrate in socio‐economic terms. The discrepancy between theory and results is most pronounced along the westward axis. We interpret the results in a broader context of regional and national circumstances: spatial assimilation theory may have different utility in different welfare regimes, depending on spatial inequality and the politics of place.

Long-term Neighbourhood Effects on Education, Income and Employment among Adolescents in Oslo

The study of neighbourhood effects has spread within Europe over the past decade. This article extends previous European research by focusing on Oslo, Norway. The main question relates to individual development among adolescents: does the social composition of the neighbourhood affect the socioeconomic status later in life? The study applies a multilevel approach and utilises longitudinal register-based data. The results reveal small but significant effects of neighbourhood deprivation on educational achievement and, even less pronounced, on income. Some effects on unemployment are also observed, but only in the short run. The strongest associations obtain for concentration of welfare recipients in the neighbourhood, which emphasises the importance of social value and social participation. A crude comparison suggests that neighbourhood effects in Oslo are slightly smaller/larger than similar effects in Swedish/UK cities.

The impact of housing policies and housing markets on ethnic spatial segregation: comparing the capital cities of four Nordic welfare states

This paper examines how ethnic segregation is connected to an ethnic division of the housing market and a spatial separation of different housing tenures in four Nordic cities. Explanations for the differences across the cities are found by comparing housing markets and housing policies. The housing markets are in all four cities ethnically segmented with high concentrations of immigrants in some forms of tenures (especially social/public housing) and low concentrations in others. We further discuss the reasons for the observed pattern. The paper shows that the spatial distribution of immigrants is strongly connected with the tenure composition of neighbourhoods. Ethnic divisions of housing tenures thus contributes to segregation, but the effect is much dependent on how tenures are distributed spatially. It is shown that ethnic segregation in three of the cities is connected to social housing, while cooperative housing is crucial in the fourth. It is also shown that a policy of neighbourhood tenure mix in one of the cities has resulted in a relatively low degree of segregation in spite of high concentrations of immigrants in social/public housing.

Spatial Integration of Immigrants in Nordic Cities: The Relevance of Spatial Assimilation Theory in a Welfare State Context

This article investigates the relevance of spatial assimilation theory in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm. An important backdrop is the “Nordic model of welfare”: We assume that welfare generosity decreases the speed of spatial integration. The study uses non-Western immigrants as a target group and natives as a reference group. We register location in 2000 and 2008, and analyze integration in terms of neighborhood status and residential segregation. The results show, in all cities, a lack of aggregate upward mobility in the spatial hierarchy. We also find a negligible effect of upward earnings mobility on upward spatial mobility. Upward spatial mobility increases integration in ethnic terms, but other factors work in the opposite direction and contribute to prevailing segregation. The results as a whole strengthen the purported association between welfare state characteristics and spatial integration. Deviant outcomes, particularly in Helsinki, are explained by immigration history and housing market structure.

Challenges to Substantive Democracy in Post-Apartheid Cape Town. The Politics of Urban Governance Transformations and Community Organising in Delft

En lika viktig förutsättning för kolonisationen var även den östeuropeiska rian, en nödvändig inrättning för torkande av svedejerågen, som Wedin behandlar något överglidande. En intressant näringsgren var dessutom boskapsskötseln i tiden där finnarnas boskapsbestånd visar en betydande avvikelse jämfört med den svenska befolkningens mera begränsade. Författaren gissar, att behovet av gödsel var särskilt stort på de magra moränmarker som användes som åkrar, detta är dock mindre troligt, då inkomsterna och födan kom från svedjelanden, som inte krävde någon gödsling. Kunde en immateriell faktor som östfinnarnas uppfattning, att korna var kvinnornas egendom, i de nya förhållandena ha spelat någon roll? Från näringarna övergår författaren till sådana markörer, som syntes i byggnadsskicket och gårdsformerna. I detta avsnitt polemiserar Wedin mot det synsätt, som till exempel Nils Keyland och Albert Hämäläinen har representerat och som hon kallar för «evolutionistiskt». Denna «darwinistiska» modell skulle innebära, att skogsfinnarna successivt skulle ha utvidgat sitt boende från ett enkelt pörte till en grupp byggnader för olika ändamål som bostadshus, ria, fähus, bastu, bodar och lador. Emellertid är det svårt att förstå, hur kolonisationen skulle ha kunnat ske på något annat sätt. De enstaka pörten, som ändå finns i finnmarkerna och som har fungerat som «allrum», avfärdar författaren som bostäder för särskilt proletariserade finnar och inte som boendets ursprungsform. De icke-materiella markörerna språk, släktnamn och ortnamn tillägnas ett rätt litet avsnitt. Slutsatsen måste vara, att språket var den starkaste gruppbildande markören, starkare än näringarna, som kunde växla från tid till annan. Språket och svedjebruket var dessutom kopplade till varandra på det sättet, att det avancerade svedjebruket till sin komplicerade terminologi var helfinskt. En av de mycket typiska markörerna, storfamiljen, har Wedin helt enkelt hoppat över. Bondesamhällets strukturer, familjemönster och släktsammanhang, som i Finland har varit ett betydande forskningstema med många publicerade rön under ett par decennier, har inte alls beaktats. I stället för konflikter betonas harmonin, bortsett från den uppenbara intressemotsättningen mellan finnarna och bruksnäringen. Wedins sätt att se på forskningsobjektet är lätt idealiserande. Brottslighet, fattigdom och elände existerar nästan inte i det skogsfinska samhället, inte heller isolering i negativ mening framkallad av etnisk eller språklig särart. Ändå är det troligt, att konflikter av något slag måste ha funnits inom skogsfinnevärlden. Det är t.ex. känt, att finnarna dolde sitt språk och ursprung, något som skulle ha varit onödigt, om förhållandet mellan ursprungsbefolkningen och dem hade varit alltigenom gott. Samtidigt som temat har uppfattats på detta breda sätt har författaren varit sträng att inte närmare studera de utvecklingslinjer i olika fenomen, som går utöver undersökningsområdet Norrland. Denna begränsning har utgjort ett hinder, när problemlösningen på grund av det mycket ojämnt bevarade källäget inte har gått att finna i material, som berör landskapet. Särskilt orsakerna till kolonisationens början samt de skäl, som har lett till att svedjebönderna har avbrutit sina försök att ta upp torp i vissa delar av Norrland, finns att söka utanför undersökningsområdet. Trots den ovan framförda kritiken har avhandlingen också ovanligt många positiva sidor. Den fyller en viktig plats i kunskapen om denna säregna befolkningsgrupp. Wedins avhandling är rikt illustrerad med teckningar, färgfoton och lantmäterikartor i färg, vilket gör framställningen synnerligen njutbar.

Industrial Shift, Skill Mismatch and Income Inequality: A Decomposition Analysis of Changing Distributions in the Oslo Region

This paper examines changing income inequality in the Oslo region between 1993 and 2000. Adopting a decomposition approach, the analysis reveals that both earnings inequality and post-tax inequality remained stable across educational groups, a finding that contradicts skill mismatch theory. Arguments relating to industrial shift turn out as more relevant: there is a clear dispersion of earnings and a substantial dispersion of post-tax income in certain industries, specifically producer services, high-tech distribution and, more ambiguously, high-tech manufacturing. The change is concentrated at the top end of the distribution and appears to reflect a combination of unbalanced growth, labour market environments and tax policy. It is suggested that Oslo during the transformation to a post-industrial economy is increasingly departing from Norwegian egalitarianism.

Housing and welfare in Norway: compensation or double deprivation?

Distributive achievements in the housing sector in Norway are evaluated and it is argued that occupation, education and wages all have a weak influence on the distribution of poor housing. Specifically, three occupational groups — unskilled workers, skilled workers and clerical officers at the lowest level — enjoy a compensating pattern of housing consumption. However, there are clear signs of new inequalities related to type of household and immigration background. There are also conspicuous socio-economic inequalities in the major cities. On this ground, a comprehensive housing policy still has legitimate tasks to solve.

Mixed neighbourhoods and native out-mobility in the Oslo region: the importance of parenthood

The extent to which the native-born population accept living in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods is receiving more and more attention throughout Europe. The Norwegian debate around this topic started in the 1990s and tends to centre on education and children’s welfare. Thus, our main question is whether native parents are prone to leave neighbourhoods with a high share of ethnic minorities. For this purpose, we utilise ‘white flight’ theory, particularly Ingrid Gould Ellen’s revised proxy thesis. The key mechanism, according to Ellen, is fear of neighbourhood decline. Drawing on register data for the Oslo area, and tracking moves in 2010, we provide circumstantial evidence for the thesis. Both parents and parents-to-be are more sensitive to the concentration of ethnic minorities than are households without children. The size of the effect depends upon housing tenure, with a higher level of out-mobility among homeowners. There is also a marked geographic pattern, with less stability in Oslo East. None of these patterns was found in a control group consisting of non-natives. We conclude by highlighting the importance of housing structure and housing diversity policies.

Amundsen, Helene. 2014. Adapting to Change – Community Resilience in Northern Norwegian Municipalities

This thesis investigates community adaptation in two municipalities in Northern Norway. The two municipalities, Berg and Øksnes, were selected in order to understand how northern coastal communities are responding to climatic changes. The research questions are phrased as follows: (1) What is motivating the communities’ adaptation to changing social, political, economic, environmental, and climatic conditions, and what are the implications for understanding climatic change adaptation? and (2) What are the salient aspects of community resilience, and what is the relevance in the context of future challenges, including the impact of climatic change? Adaptation in this respect is the process of responding to change, whereas resilience is the ability to bounce back through adequate measures. The thesis consists of an extensive introductory chapter and four articles. Three articles are sole-authored and deal primarily with substantive issues: