Urban segregation and socio-spatial interactions : a configurational approach

Urban segregation is an inherent feature of cities and becomes a problem when excluding or hindering certain groups from accessing services, activities and spaces. In Brazil, segregation by social class is dominant in the structure of cities and public policies rarely address urban configuration as part of the segregation problem. This work addresses segregation with a shift in emphasis from traditional housing segregation to segregation as the restraint of socio-spatial interactions, thus including other facets of the phenomenon that have not yet been properly explored and seeking new spatially relevant metrics. This paper aims to present a methodology of segregation analysis based on configurational models and develop an empirical application in a Brazilian city. Representing the probabilities of interaction between different socio-economic groups in public spaces, a configurational model was used, addressing retail-residence spatial relationship. The attributes of population size, household income and number of retail establishments were considered. The results allowed identifying the probabilistic residence-retail trajectories for high and low income groups, providing a first measure of spatial segregation. The conclusions seek to highlight the importance of configurational approaches for segregation studies, as well as to show potentialities and limits of this methodology