ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the vectors of Uyghur residential segregation in China, and then explores some of the consequences for Xinjiang and Chinese society more broadly. It explains a mix-modal methodology, combining a range of qualitative and quantitative indictors, in order to chronicle the extent of Uyghur segregation at different spatial scales and over time. Spatial polarisation attenuates ethnic tensions/conflicts by minimising competition and social interactions. China's ten million Uyghurs are arguably one of the most segregated ethnic minorities in the world. The isolation of Uyghurs within Chinese society is obvious to even the most casual of observers. In the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region (XUAR), the vast majority of Uyghurs lives, study, work and socialise alongside their coethnics with only limited interactions with China's Han ethnic majority. The ethnic demography of Xinjiang is a politically sensitive topic, to adopt a critical stance towards any data generated by government sources.
