Cities’ attraction and retention of graduates : a more-than-economic approach

This work was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (Aspirant Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen).In skilled migration research, the role of the study location in graduates' residential behaviour remains unclear. This paper addresses this lacuna by examining the attractiveness and retention of higher education cities for local attendants in the period after study, using Belgium as an empirical case study. Drawing on a unique linkage of census and register data for 1991- 2010, logistic and Cox regressions illustrate the relative success of smaller cities once individual, familial and contextual factors are considered. Location-specific characteristics beyond the economic are found to shape skilled migration towards the higher education localities, particularly in the short term.PostprintPeer reviewe

Demographic dynamics across urban settings and implications for ethnic geographies

There remains a tendency to treat demographic components of urban change in isolation from one another, neglecting the interplay between them. Thus, research has fallen short of an integrated demographic approach for explaining ethnic densification and segregation. To address this shortfall, this paper attends to the dynamics of the components of demographic change and in particular their migrant- and location-specific expressions. The analyses use linked individual-level comprehensive Belgian census data from 1991 and 2001, focussing on 12 ethnic groups and five cities. The demographic decomposition provides three conclusions: the contribution of demographic components of population change varies spatially at city and neighbourhood levels; co-ethnics in differing urban settings have heterogeneous demographic experience; and demographic components of change are generally reproducing ethnic geographies, but some trends of deconcentration are observed. These findings provide a more nuanced perspective on segregation debates and demographic models of migrant integration

A comparative approach towards ethnic segregation patterns in Belgian cities using multiscalar individualized neighborhoods

Levels of spatial segregation in Western European cities are persistent over space and time. To demonstrate the degree or appearance of spatial segregation, most studies on urban residential patterns still rely on fixed spatial units, aspatial measures and single scales. However, a spatial or temporal comparison of patterns and levels of segregation based on such units or metrics is not without problems. To that end, this paper takes an explicit geographic approach and considers individualized neighborhoods using EquiPop-software, allowing various scales. Using the k-nearest neighbors for all individuals increases international comparability and facilitates interpretation, so far often hampered in segregation research. This multiscalar, multigroup comparative approach on ethnic urban geographies – using Belgium as a case study – provides an empirical illustration of a valuable method and tool applicable in segregation research, thereby furthering the comprehension of the increasingly diverse urban geographies and building on emerging work in the US, Europe and beyond

Waar blijven de Vlaamse rectoren met hun 'krachtige verklaring' over Isra\uebl?

Abstract: Vinden de besturen van de Vlaamse universiteiten mensenrechtenschendingen tegen Oekra\uefners erger dan die tegen Palestijnen, vragen tientallen academici zich af