The Distribution of Segregation in Atlanta

The Atlanta standard metropolitan statistical area, in 1960, was an increasingly urbanized area characterized by population growth, expansion, and economic dominance of the central business district. It is in precisely such a context that ecological theory proposes a greater amount of residential segregation in the inner zones of the metropolitan area than in the outer zones. This proposition was empirically tested over five socioeconomic indicators. Census tracts were classified into eight concentric zones emanating from the metropolitan center with the intraclass correlation coefficient employed as a measure of segregation. Observed results strongly support the hypothesis. A density gradient was also demonstrated. The further proposition that density represents an intervening link between the ecological variables of distance and segregation was examined in this context.