Agglomeration and Immigration: What Makes Natives Move?

This project examines the dynamics behind the mobility patterns in Denmark. Does the increasing number of immigrants impact the urbanization forces in Demark and the mobility of natives towards creating mere homogenous residential areas within the larger cities?  

In the first part of the project we will document the basic mobility dynamics between regions and within cities over the last three decades. It aims to provide stylized facts to answer questions such as: What characterize the main attributes of all residences in Denmark? What characterizes the areas they move to with regard to income, housing prices and neighborhood composition? How long do they stay in the area? Especially, do these patterns differ between native-born Danes and immigrants?

The second part of the project analyses the demographic and social consequences of the mobility patterns of these two groups. We seek to answer questions such as are there neighborhood characteristics that contribute to create and accelerate the potential process of ethnic and socio-economic segregation between regions and within cities. 

The third part of the project will contribute to the ongoing political and public debate on the gains and losses of urbanization in Denmark by estimating the value (measured by wages (incomes)) of living and working in bigger cities, i.e. the gain of agglomeration.