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PEP 0002 Residential Segregation Module

Author David C. Folch <david.folch@asu.edu> Serge Rey <srey@asu.edu>
Status Draft
Created 10-Feb-2010
Updated  

Abstract

The segregation module combines a number of previously developed and to-be-developed measures for the analysis of residential segregation. It will include classes for two-group and multi-group aspatial (classic) segregation indices along with their spatialized counterparts. Local segregation indices will also be included.

Motivation

The study of residential segregation continues to be a popular field in empirical social science and public policy development. While some of the classic measures are relatively simple to implement, the spatial versions are not nearly as straightforward for the average user. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a Python implementation of residential segregation measures currently available. There is a standalone C#.Net GUI implementation (http://www.ucs.inrs.ca/inc/Groupes/LASER/Segregation.zip) containing many of the measures to be implanted via this PEP but this is Windows only and I could not get it to run easily (it is not open source but the author sent me the code).

It has been noted that there is no one-size-fits-all segregation index; however, some are clearly more popular than others. This module would bring together a wide variety of measures to allow users to easily compare the results from different indices.

Reference Implementation

We suggest adding the module pysal.segregation which in turn would encompass the following modules:

  • globalSeg
  • localSeg

References