Urbanism and minority-group spatial isolation in early twentieth-century U.S. cities

Studies guided by urbanism theories disagree about the extent to which city size and minority-group size affect ethnic group boundaries. The present study resolves these disagreements by reanalyzing Lieberson’s data on the spatial isolation of Blacks and Southern, Central, and Eastern European groups in early twentieth-century U.S. cities. Regression analyses incorporating ideas from ethnic stratification and urban dominance theories—ideas overlooked in past urbanism research—show, consistent with subcultural theory, that group size’s positive association with minority-group spatial isolation overrides city size’s negative or non-significant association with such isolation. This finding’s statistically robust support affirms subcultural theory’s argument that urbanism hardens group boundaries, reinforcing ethnicity’s salience in urban life. Yet, the results’ modest substantive significance accords with compositional theory’s proposal that ecological variables have relatively meager associations with presumed urbanism outcomes, implying that compositional theory’s null hypothesis may still be a viable alternative in studies of ethnic boundaries and minority-group spatial isolation.