Amsterdam: A city divided?

Amsterdam is an ethically, culturally and socially diverse city, in which people of all backgrounds have fused together a truly international capital.

However, a map produced by the NRC suggests that that those diverse communities are becoming increasingly segregated, with people living with others ethnically similar to themselves.

The map shows that those of non-western origin, live overwhelmingly in the west and the south-east of the city, almost deserting the city-centre.

According to the O+S, Amsterdam’s municipal Department of Research and Statistics, those "Dutch of non-western origin" prefer to live within their respective community bases.

"There simply exists a pattern in the city in which Turkish and Moroccan Amsterdammers choose for Nieuw-West, whereas Surinamers pick Zuidoost," says Jeroen Slot, Deputy Director for O+S.

The trend appears to be long-term. Of Dutch youth, only 22 percent of Moroccan-origin, 15 percent of Turkish-origin and 13 percent of Surinamese-origin want to see more "ethnic Dutch" people in their district.
Fully customisable map can be found here.

It is argued by the report that the "Ethnic Dutch" on the other-hand, have a strong preference to live within the A10 ringweg, excluding many of the more ethnically diverse neighbourhoods.

The O+S conclude that this may cause problems for the city, if communities choose to live in segregation. "That pattern perpetuates. That does not have to be a bad thing, as long as the city provides other opportunities for people to mingle. Otherwise there is no balance between avoiding and encountering and you end up with a collection of disjointed areas instead of a city."

However, there were some interesting findings in the report, that suggested the segregation was drawn by education, as much by race. Higher-educated youth had similar preferences, regardless of their ethnic background.