ABSTRACT
Segregation and discrimination are key words in the lexicon of social geography. Whereas segregation is the more widely used word and concept, it has integral links with the process of discrimination and also with other key processes such as assimilation and prejudice. Over the longer history of social geography, studies have been dominated by the influence of race and ethnicity, but now include gender, sexuality, impairment and age. Race has dominated, but one thesis is that race and class are closely intertwined, and a key function of discrimination and segregation is to deny access to greater wealth and status. There are de facto separate residential areas as the products of discrimination and segregation. The ability of the suburb to maintain and enhance its separateness and distinctive character is as much a testimony to the power of these processes as is the persistence of the impoverished ghetto. In the social geography of the city, this mosaic of residential areas with its visible symbols of power and prestige on the one hand and disadvantage and poverty, on the other, offers evidence of discrimination and segregation as key social, economic and political processes.
