ABSTRACT
Non-Western ethnic minorities have traditionally been concentrated in the densely populated west of the Netherlands, and especially in the four largest cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. This concentration has increased in recent years. The proportion of non-Western ethnic minorities in some neighbourhoods and districts has increased more than might be expected on the basis of the organic population growth. In these neighbourhoods, not only are problems of decay and safety an issue, but also a lack of social cohesion. In the public and political debate ethnically segregated neighbourhoods are seen as an important obstacle to the integration of ethnic minorities. However, some Dutch authors question this line of reasoning. As a consequence of modern modes of transportation and communication, they argue that place of residence loses its importance for finding a job as well as maintaining social contacts (see, e.g. Bolt, 2004; Ostendorf ampentity Musterd, 2005). This argument could well apply to the socio-economic position of ethnic minorities. The influence of the neighbourhood on socio-economic integration is, as has been shown in earlier Dutch research, rather small (for an overview Veldboer ampentity Duyvendak, 2004). However, for several aspects of socio-cultural integration it is too early to draw this conclusion. First, amazingly little research has been done, either in the Netherlands or abroad, on the consequences of ethnic concentration for socio-cultural integration. Second, the research that has been done in the Netherlands points to the existence of neighbourhood effects. These effects are especially profound in explaining inter-ethnic contacts between ethnic minorities and indigenous Dutch: in neighbourhoods with many ethnic minority residents, inter-ethnic contacts less frequently occur (Tesser et al., 1995; Van der Laan Bouma-Doff, 2005).
