Head for the ethnoburb

Here's a thoughtful note on Urban Photo by Christopher Dewolf about suburbs, based on the notion of the ethnoburb, “a hybrid of a traditional ethnic enclave and a typical suburb” suggested by Chinese geographer Wei Li.

Dewolf suggests that “since ethnoburbs are such insular yet affluent places, ethnic minorities have far more freedom of choice when it comes to assimilation.” If new immigrants are increasingly heading straight for the suburbs, informed by traditional word-of-mouth networks, will this mean fewer poor urban enclaves? Does it imply that immigrant populations find it easier to assimilate because the forces of global media have made the culture into which they have moved less starkly contrasting? Presumably the key factor as usual is the degree of choice that relative wealth allows, and so perhaps the suburban sense of perceived safety and security is more valued by more people, than the sense of belonging associated with place and historically-developed norms. I’m reminded that one leading commentator on social capital has recently suggested that more diverse places are places in which people don’t talk to their neighbours much. More diversity means lower levels of co-operation within neighbourhoods, that’s the prediction, on a planet where over the next few decades all countries in the western world are likely to see increased levels of ethnic diversity.