UNDERCLASS NEIGHBORHOODS IN TEMPORAL AND ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

This article places the growth of an urban underclass in the broader c ontext of trends in inequality and the stratification of place in glob al cities. Using Chicago as a case study, we construct a multidimensio nal typology of urban neighborhoods to illuminate trends in the spatia l distribution of opportunity, the impact of immigration on the city's ecological structure, and modal patterns of neighborhood change. Our empirical analysis documents (1) the increasing spatial polarization o f Chicago's neighborhoods, fueled by a concentration of both affluence and socioeconomic disadvantage; (2) the erosion of working-class area s as an ecological category; (3) the emergence of Hispanic neighborhoo ds as a distinct ecological type; and (4) the existence of race-specif ic patterns of neighborhood upgrading. These trends have broader impli cations for the study of spatial inequality in advanced industrial cit ies.