Evolution of concepts of spatial segregation in US cities

Abstract

Spatial segregation has been and still remains a popular object of study among city researchers representing geography, sociology, and economics. The core of the corpus of conceptual works on this subject is composed of works devoted to US cities. Russian and Western European researchers in their works usually either use or criticize the American experience. However, at the moment in the domestic literature there is no comprehensive review of conceptual approaches to the study of the segregation of American cities. Over the almost 100-year history of this direction, theoretical and methodological approaches have changed several times. This article provides a review of thematic literature on American cities over the entire period of study of this phenomenon. There are six main stages in the development of this research field. These include the work of the Chicago School, quantitative studies of segregation as a social problem, original ideas from radical and critical geographers, concepts based on the notion of the racial hierarchy of society, publications of the Los Angeles School and theorists of polarization, as well as the two most recent major concepts. spatial segregation – «quartered city» by P. Marcuse and hyperghettoization by L. Wacquant. The key positions on which the representatives of these directions do not converge are highlighted - the reasons, driving forces and the nature of the segregation process. The logic of the change of prevailing views is traced and conceptual additions are identified.