Spatial inequalities in Western cities: A comparison of North American and German urban areas

Since metropolitan areas in North America and Western Europe reflect similar social and economic divisions in society; similar degrees of spatial inequality for social and housing indicators are expected. This proposition was tested for seven cities (four in West Germany, two in the United States and one in Canada) for 1960–61 and 1970–71. Eight of the nine social indicators showed approximately equal inequality scores, once scale differences are controlled. Minority groups in American cities were significantly more spatially concentrated than those in German or Canadian cities. Areas of multiple housing deprivation were more clearly defined in American cities and the populations living in these areas were predominantly minority, old, renters and welfare recipients, a sharp contrast to deprived areas in cities in the other two nations. The German urban social mosaic is becoming more ‘Americanized’ as postwar housing shortages give way to increased homeownership, suburbanization and greater social class segregation.