Ethnic segregation and the role of public housing in Amsterdam

Dutch cities are characterized by moderate levels of ethnic (and social) segregation if compared with other countries in the Western world. Dutch cities are also famous for their large share of public housing in the total stock. Not surprisingly these two features are frequently supposed to be causally related. However, in this contribution this association is challenged on the basis of a review of existing and well- described segregation situations, and on the basis of an empirical GIS analysis of micro-level data from the Amsterdam population register. Ethnic segregation may also develop within the large public housing sector