THE RESIDENTIAL-MOBILITY OF ETHNIC-MINORITIES - A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS

Studies of ethnic minority settlement in major cities usually depend u pon snapshot evidence derived from periodic population censuses. The o bjects of such research are usually city regions, neighbourhoods or ce nsus tracts, and changes through time can not be undertaken as process studies but only as comparisons between given dates. In discussing th e residential mobility experiences of ethnic minority populations it w ould be extremely valuable to be able to use individuals as the resear ch units instead of geographical areas. This possibility exists for th e study of ethnic minority residential mobility in the Paris region th rough the secondary analysis of a major survey carried out in 1986 by the French National Demographic Research Institute (INED). The results of such an analysis lead to a questioning of certain established idea s on the importance of the inner city for residence, but provide confi rmation of higher-than-average mobility rates.