Abstract

VILLAMIZAR SANTAMARIA, Sebastián F. Social inequalities, spatial inequities? Analysis of the socio-racial segregation in Bogotá (2005-2011). Rev. colomb. soc. [online]. 2015, vol.38, n.2, pp.67-92. ISSN 0120-159X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/rcs.v38n2.54901.

Bogotá is a socioeconomically segregated city, but little is known about the influence of race in this process. This article attempts to explore this relationship using spatial analysis with data from the 2005 census. In spite of its low proportion of Afrocolombians, they show slightly worse vulnerability indexes than the white/mestizos in the city. This can be appreciated from the analysis of educational attainment of household heads, the incidence of hunger, youth unemployment and school desertion, among other variables. Furthermore, Bogota shows clues of having a racial residential segregation pattern, in which there are some clusters of black population in the South, North-West and Downtown. This pattern overlaps with segregation derived from class, in which there is a North-South distribution axis with a strong variation in the center and the West. The combination of the socioeconomic situation with the racial inequalities creates a particular segregation pattern for Bogotá in which it seems that class seems to play a greater role than race. In other words, there is a higher chance that an Afrocolombian might have life conditions that are closer to their white/mestizo neighbors than to another black person in a different neighborhood belonging to a different social class. Nonetheless, the population of African descent finds itself in a much greater disadvantage than white/mestizos in terms of potential access to public goods such as communal soup kitchens and both public and private schools. In other words, the spatial distribution of these goods in the city is not completely equal, which means that the neighborhoods where there is a higher percentage of black population do not have a significant provision of these goods. As such, this research concludes that one should employ the lenses of both class and race to better understand spatial justice inequalities in the city.

Keywords : class; spatial inequality; residential segregation; race.

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