Using space–time visual analytic methods for exploring the dynamics of ethnic groups' residential patterns

Abstract

In this article, we present a methodological framework, based on georeferenced house-level socio-demographic and infrastructure data, for investigating minority (or ethnic) group residential pattern dynamics in cities. This methodology, which uses visual analytical tools, is meant to help researchers examine how local land-use configurations shape minorities' residential dynamics and, thereby, affect the level of minority–majority segregation. This methodology responds to the need to refer to the relationship between local land-use configurations and the identity of a building's residents, without simultaneously revealing sensitive house-related details. The research was instantiated on the residential patterns exhibited by the Arab community in Jaffa, Israel. The residential data were collected for over 40 years at four different moments, each associated with the population and housing censuses conducted by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of the Interior. Using this methodology enabled us to remain on the level of the individual building when identifying the relationships between spatial land-use configurations and rates of change in ethnic composition and the Arab community's residence pattern dynamics at different geographical scales. It likewise allowed us to identify the qualitative changes in the population's residential preferences during the pattern's development.