THE SCALE OF URBAN STRUCTURE FROM AN INTEGRATION
PERSPECTIVE: A STUDY OF SWEDEN
Kati KADARIK
Uppsala University, Sweden, kati.kadarik@ibf.uu.se
One important part of integration is formal civil rights, i.e. engagement in structures of
society. In Sweden the immigration policy states that immigrants have a right to equal
living conditions as much as the natives, meaning that immigrants should have
access to jobs, employment, healthcare, communication etc. This paper will study the
access to these structures of society methodologically through the scale of urban
structure. The accessibility will be evaluated from an individual residential
perspective, measuring whether there is variability in distance (both in numbers of
individuals and in physical distance) to the nearest amenity (e.g. school, hospital,
train station). Does this differ between areas in the urban fabric – are some areas
more integrated in terms of accessibility to these societal structures and service
supply points? How does the accessibility vary between parts of Sweden? Can the
deviations be attributable to class and ethnicity? Finally, will the answer to these
questions help us design a model of scales for how to study social integration
depending on the context and urban structure? The paper will employ unique
individual longitudinal Swedish registry data and spatial analysis techniques together
with statistical methods. EquiPop program will be used to calculate different k-levels.