Housing Turks and Moroccans in Brussels and Amsterdam: The Difference between Private and Public Markets

In this paper, the settlement patterns of Turks and Moroccans in Brussels will be compared with the patterns of the same groups in Amsterdam. It will be argued that housing market variables explain a lot of the differences between the two cities. The large number of (affordable) social dwellings in Amsterdam forms a significant contrast with the virtual lack of these dwellings in the Brussels area. Historical variables account for these different kinds of housing stock. Cultural variables, differences between and within the categories of Turks and Moroccans, can be seen as an additional explanatory factor for the segregation and concentration patterns of Turks and Moroccans in both cities.