Residential Segregation in Cincinnati

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Urban social and spatial geography is largely connected with household income. In class the texts of Kaplan and Berube have been examined to demonstrate that these concepts are directly related. The Claritas Corporation has created “lifestyle clusters” that attempt to explain the division in social geography along with the occurrence of different divides within cities. The complexity theory goes along with this concept explaining that a city is a series of intricate processes and can be understood through the different elements of an urban area.

Cities are often considered emergent systems and processes that can be related to biology and these processes are often driven by human activity. This is often called macro societal behavior, which are behaviors that endure longer than their component elements. Urban areas can also be related to top-down processes and then studied through the neighborhoods. Cities are not areas that can be viewed as a whole, but are broken down for better understanding of their complexity.

By examining different texts, and especially census data and Claritas Corporation’s “lifestyle clusters” a definition of urban spaces socially and spatially is created. Also, due to technological advances, the ability examines cities and their functioning is more accurately determined. The lifestyles also resulted in the Potential Rating Index for Zip Markets, New Evolution, or PRIZM NE. This was a process that assigned zip codes to predefined clusters according to the socioeconomic characteristics of the area. Different characteristics included; wealth, race, age, ethnicity, family structure, etc. This study also explained spatial information and how cities are divided. A goal of these clusters is to reach the com...

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...ing neighborhoods in Cincinnati.

Ultimately by reading and understanding the texts of Kaplan and Berube, along with supporting theories, the segregation of neighborhoods socially and spatially can be better understood. The urban core of Cincinnati is deteriorating due to this segregation and this is not only factual but something that can be said by visually examining the area. Cincinnati is not just an urban area that experiences this fragmentation, it is defined by this seperation. Ultimately, Cincinnati must work against the trends that have occurred to limit residential segregation and converge cities. It is a challenge to remove people from what they are familiar, but through education and an awareness of this fragmentation and the deteriorating city people can overcome their comfort to embrace different nationalities and ethnicities that are not their own.

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