Wealth and Identity: The dynamics of dual segregation

Abstract: We extend our model of wealth segregation to incorporate migration and study the tendencies towards dual segregation - segregation due to identity (migrants vs. residents) and segregation due to wealth. We find a sharp, non-linear transformation between segregated and mixed-wealth states as neighborhood wealth thresholds become less stringent, allowing agents to move into neighborhoods they cannot afford. The number of such moves required for the onset of this transformation varies inversely with the likelihood of agents willing to move into less wealthy neighborhoods. We also find that this sharp transformation from segregated to mixed wealth states is simultaneously accompanied by a corresponding non-linear transformation from a less identity-segregated to a highly identity-segregated state. We argue that the decrease in wealth segregation does not merely accompany, but in fact drives the increase in identity-based segregation. This implies that lowering wealth segregation necessarily exacerbates identity segregation and that therefore, this trade-off could to be an important consideration in designing urban policy. Additionally, we find that the time taken for the tolerance levels of residents to be breached is significantly lesser under rapid migration. This rapidity of breach of tolerance could potentially underpin the intensity of resident responses to sharp bursts of migration.