Race, Space and ScaleAuthor(s): Trevor R. LeeSource: Area, Vol. 10, No. 5 (1978), pp. 365-367Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20001396 .

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Comment 365

Lastly, on the crucial national scale problems of reducing unemployment and reversing the decline in Britain's manufacturing sector, I would add to Hudson's concluding questions two others. Is it possible to achieve greater manufacturing investment and international competitiveness, on which expansion of both public and private sector service industry jobs and hence reduction in national unemployment could perhaps be based, without a more positive policy of fostering the many efficient firms in the non-assisted regions of Britain? And secondly, if special aid is to be given to certain areas to reduce socio-economic inequalities, do not unemployment, racial problems and deprivation in the conurbations demand that they, as a group, be accorded the first priority rather than the broad assisted regions which have been favoured since the 1960s?

References Ashcroft, B. and Taylor, J. (1977) ' The movement of manufacturing industry and the effect

of regional policy', Oxford Econ. Pap. N.S. 29, 84-101 Atkins, D. H. W. (1973) 'Employment change in branch and parent manufacturing plants in

the UK: 1966-71 ', Trade Ind. 30 August, 437-9 Keeble, D. (1971) ' Employment mobility in Britain ', in Chisholm, M. and Manners, G. (eds)

Spatial policy problems of the British economy (Cambridge) ch. 2 Keeble, D. E. (1972) ' Industrial movement and regional development in the United Kingdom',

Tn Plann. Rev. 43, 3-25 Keeble, D. (1976) Industrial location and planning in the United Kingdom (London) Keeble, D. (1977) 'Industrial movement', in The Open University Fundamentals of human

geography (Milton Keynes) Course D204 Mackay, R. R. (1978) ' The death of regional policy-or resurrection squared? ', Disc. Pap. 10,

Cent. Urb. Reg. Dev. Stud., Univ. of Newcastle upon Tyne Moore, B. and Rhodes, J. (1976) 'Regional economic policy and the movement of manu

facturing firms to Development Areas', Economica 43, 17-31 Moseley, M. J. and Darby, J. (1978) 'The determinants of female activity rates in rural areas:

an analysis of Norfolk parishes ', Reg. Stud. 12, 297-309 Norman, P. (1978) ' Empty days on the dole', Sunday Times 8089, 23 July, 17-18 Northcott, J. (1977) ' Industry in the Development Areas: the experience of firms opening

new factories ', Polit. Econ. Plann. 43, Broadsheet 573 Rose, H. (1978) 'A de-skilled town', New Society 45, 20 July, 133-4 Slowe, P. M. (1977) Advance factories in British regional policy, Regional Studies Association

(London) Townroe, P. M. (1975) 'Branch plants and regional development', Tn Plann. Rev. 46, 47-62

4. Race, space and scale Trevor R. Lee (University of Tasmania) writes:

Jones and McEvoy (1978) make a number of pertinent comments about geographical analyses of racial and ethnic segregation in British cities. However, they have mis represented some of the work they criticize, and they have emphasized a form of analysis which is narrow in scope and the use of a data source which is applicable only to certain distinctive minority groups.

Jones and McEvoy's comments that the analysis of segregation at inappropriate scales has led to misinterpretations of segregation in British cities is certainly true in a number of cases. One of the greatest offenders was the Institute for Race Relations' (IRR) Rose Report (1969) which has doubtless been an influential document for

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366 Comment

policy makers in the 1970s. However, the shortcomings of such analyses have been recognized for some time. Thus, the IRR report has been criticized for analysing the concentration of ethnic and racial minorities at a scale which masks the most critical features of the distribution (Lee, 1973a, p. 478). From a behavioural or perceptual viewpoint the racial composition of a street or a block of council flats may be far more relevant to whites and blacks alike than is the ethnic composition of a larger areal unit. Jones and McEvoy are correct to point out the value of micro-studies, but they imply that recognition of this fact has been overlooked in previous geographical work.

This is not true. For example, Peach (1965, pp. 208ff.) used addresses obtained from electoral rolls, newspapers and fieldwork to plot the distribution of coloured immi grants in High Wycombe for the period 1958-62. While such techniques are difficult to pursue in large urban centres, other studies that have used aggregate data have clearly stated the significance of the scale factor (for example, Lee, 1973a).

Micro-scale studies, such as that reported by Jones and McEvoy, make important contributions to our knowledge of the spatial and social environments of minority group settlement in British cities. This is not to say, however, (as Jones and McEvoy imply) that analyses of ethnic and racial segregation are without value at other scales.

Clearly, the base level of analysis must be related to the purpose of the study. For exam ple, Jones and McEvoy criticize Lee's work (1973b) which ' . . . actually takes the GLC boroughs as its data set, and ... asserts that segregation of blacks has lessened since 1961 ' (Jones and McEvoy, 1978, p. 163; italics added). In fact, Lee states that the boroughs are too large and heterogeneous to calculate measures of segregation such as the index of residential dissimilarity (1973b, p. 146) and he points to the micro-level as a critical scale for the study of segregation from a behavioural perspective (1973b, p. 157). Recognizing the influence of scale, it seems entirely appropriate that a picture be obtained of the broad trends in the changing distribution and concentration of

minority groups within a metropolitan region, and that borough data be used for that purpose. For example, it adds an important dimension to the study of ethnic and racial segregation in London to know that the inner boroughs' share of major immi grant groups declined in the decade 1961-71, and that, despite substantial minority population growth for the metropolis as a whole, some boroughs of concentrated settlement in 1961 experienced absolute, as well as relative, losses of black immigrants. Such trends would be nigh impossible to determine from an analysis of street-level data only. Jones and McEvoy's suggestion that the ' true dimensions of segregation ' occur only at the micro-scale (1978, p. 164) seems to focus research on only one dimen sion of a multi-faceted situation. Certainly, policies can and do operate on more than one scale, and it seems appropriate that geographical analyses also operate at all scales from the regional (Peach, 1966) to the neighbourhood (Kearsley and Srivastava, 1974). All can contribute to the mosaic of knowledge of the social and spatial structure of cities and regions. What is critical, is that the interpretations drawn from such data and analyses are appropriate for the scale employed, and that due recognition is given to the effects that scale will have on the measures used in the analysis.

The problems of accurately locating minority populations are numerous (Krausz, 1969) and the dearth of readily obtainable data below enumeration district level is a

major obstacle to micro-level studies. Jones and McEvoy have usefully employed electoral rolls to determine the location of Asian-occupied dwellings in Huddersfield in a similar way to the Glasgow study of Kearsley and Srivastava (1974). However, electoral rolls or city registers can only be used for populations without obviously anglicized surnames. It would be impossible to use surnames in electoral rolls to identify, for example, the location of West Indian households. Moreover, there is no knowledge of the extent to which electoral roll data for Asian households are distorted by non-registration. Kearsley and Srivastava, for example, believe that the more transient Asians have probably been under-recorded in their data (1974, p. 111).

To determine the accuracy of electoral roll data for measuring segregation it is pertinent to know, for example, whether Asians in areas of concentrated settlement or

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Comment 367

in dispersed localities have greater levels of under-registration. It is plausible to postulate two opposing relationships between levels of ethnic concentration and electoral registration. On the one hand, if geographical dispersal and electoral registra tion were both reflections of some form of integration, then Asians in highly concen trated areas may be substantially under-represented in electoral roll data. On the other hand, there is much more incentive for a concentrated minority to obtain high levels of registration to maximize its political power, since a well-organized and geographically concentrated minority population may have a significant influence in local elections-especially if majority population turn-out is low. It would be extremely useful to obtain a measure of the accuracy of electoral rolls as data sources for popula tions that can be identified by surname. One means of doing this would be to incorpor ate checks of electoral registration into household surveys which include substantial numbers of Asian households in any sample.

Given the limited application of electoral roll data for studying different minority populations, further consideration should be given to alternative sources of data for

micro-level studies. Household surveys are an obvious alternative, and have been used, for example, to examine the degree of dispersal of West Indians at the micro-scale (Lee, 1977, pp. 106-7). However, household surveys are expensive and cumbersome research tools. The growing tendency for local councils to conduct their own surveys and mini-censuses may well provide an extremely valuable data base for many micro level studies in geography.

There are many issues which arise from Jones and McEvoy's paper which could be usefully discussed and debated at length. These include the concept of the ghetto, what residential segregation means in terms of social relations between groups, and whether or not there is a greater need for geographers to view segregation as a dynamic process (the propensity of social groups to draw closer together or further apart) rather than a static pattern of residential distribution. Unfortunately, the race for space in this forum also involves a time constraint-perhaps monitored in cloud-land by Jones and McEvoy's own cuckoo-clock.

References Jones, T. P. an I McEvoy, D. (1978) 'Race and space in cloud-cuckoo land', Area 10, 162-6

Kearsley, G. W. and Srivastava, S. R. (1974) 'The spatial evolution of Glasgow's Asian community', Scott. geogr. Mag. 90, 110-24

Krausz, E. (1969) 'Locating minority populations: a research problem', Race 10, 361-8 Lee, T. R. (1973a) 'Ethnic and social class factors in residential segregation: some implications

for dispersal ', Environ. Plann. 5, 477-590 Lee, T. R. (1973b) 'Immigrants in London: trends in distribution and concentration, 1961-71',

New Community 2, 145-58 Lee, T. R. (1977) Race and residence: the concentration and dispersal of immigrants in London

(Oxford) Peach, G. C. K. (1965) ' Socio-geographic aspects of West Indian migration to Great Britain',

unpubl. D.Phil. thesis, Univ. of Oxford Peach, G. C. K. (1966) 'Factors affecting the distribution of West Indians i!i Great Britain',

Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. 38, 151-63 Rose, E. J. B. and Associates (1969) Colour and citizenship: a report on British race relations

(London)

Death The Council of the Institute has received with regret the news of the death of the following member:

H. J. Savory, West London Institute of Higher Education.

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