Pupils on the move: School catchment area segregation and residential mobility of urban families. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bernelius, Venla; Vilkama, Katja
• Other Names: Boterman Willem guest-editor.; Musterd Sako guest-editor.; Pacchi Carolina guest-editor.; Ranci Costanzo guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Urban studies. Volume 56:Number 15(2019:Nov.)
• Page Start: 3095
• Page End: 3116
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: families with children -- residential mobility -- school catchment areas -- school segregation -- urban segregation; 有子女的家庭 -- 居住流动性 -- 学区 -- 学校隔离 -- 城市隔离; Cities and towns -- Periodicals; City planning -- Periodicals; 307.1216
• DOI: 10.1177/0042098019848999
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0042-0980

Abstract

Socio-spatial segregation has been recognised as an important factor affecting school segregation and educational attainment in urban schools. As urban populations grow and socio-spatial segregation has become a pressing issue in many contexts, a more sophisticated understanding of the interconnections between spatial and school segregation is needed, including the role of school catchment areas as a possible mediating factor. In our article, we focus on the two-way relationship between urban residential mobility and catchment area segregation in Helsinki, Finland. Using fine-grain statistical data we analyse how the long-term changes in spatial segregation have changed catchment area populations and how residential mobility of families with children is, in turn, related to catchment area composition. The analysis focuses on the majority population whose residential choices typically have the strongest impact on segregation patterns in cities. Our main finding is that there is a systematic relationship between socio-spatial segregation and catchment area differentiation, where the disadvantaged areas are consistently left behind in the general socio-economic development. Even though the institutional school quality is high throughout the city, the residential choices of families with children feed into the self-perpetuating cycles of segregation, as the most disadvantaged areas are rejected and privileged areas favoured in mobility patterns. The results highlight the need for urban educational policies with a high sensitivity to the persistent socio-spatial inequalities shaping educational opportunities.