Understanding the Vicious Circles of Segregation. A Geographic Perspective

The aim of the project is to better understand segregation between socioeconomic and ethnic groups in Estonia. The project goes beyond residential neighbourhoods by exploring segregation also in other life domains, including work, schools and leisure. Segregation in those domains is (re)produced through individual level sorting processes and the contextual effects people get from those domains. We have been using a unique combination of large-scale longitudinal microdata, (a) linked Estonian population censuses (1989, 2000, 2011) and register data; and (b) smartphone data, complemented with GIS layers with activity sites and a post-tracking survey. As an outcome of the project, a) have a better understanding of the links between segregation in different life domains; b) developed new methodological tools for smartphone-based spatial mobility and segregation research; c) facilitate PhD studies; and d) contribute to the development of smart and inclusive urban planning.

The main role of the Mobility Lab is to collect smartphone tracking data with the application MobilityLog and analyse the co-presence of different ethnic and socioeconomic groups in different activity sites.

Research output

Silm, S., Tominga, A., Saidla, K., Poom, A., Tammaru, T. (2024). Socio-economic and residential differences in urban modality styles based on a long-term smartphone experiment. Journal of Transport Geography, 115, hhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.103810

https://sisu.ut.ee/circle-of-segregation/results

Public presentations and media coverage

  • 11-12.11.2021 Ethnic differences in people’s activity space based on mobile positioning data Siiri Silm “International conference on integration 
  • 09.11.2021 Etnilised erinevused inimeste tegevusruumis mobiilpositsioneerimise andmetel Siiri Silm Seminar “30 aastat lõimumist” Narva jah https://integrationconference.ee/narva/
  • “30 years of integration: success stories, challenges, and unused opportunities” Tallinn jah https://integrationconference.ee/en/
  • Silm, S., Mooses, V. Videoloeng: kuidas liiguvad Eesti erinevad rahvusrühmad? Novaator.err.ee, 15.10.2021, https://novaator.err.ee/1608370788/videoloeng-kuidas-liiguvad-eesti-erin…
  • Orru, K., Silm, S. Kuidas ühiskond mobiilpositsioneerimisest võidaks. Postimees, 17.04.2020, https://leht.postimees.ee/6951548/tu-teadlased-kuidas-uhiskond-mobiilpositsioneerimisest-voidaks  
  • Mooses, V. (2021) Veronika Mooses selgitas doktoritöö tulemusi segregatsioonist ja mobiiliandmetest Kuku raadio saade “Kukkuv Õun”. 23.07.2021
  • Mooses, V. (2021) Doktoritöö: eestlased ja venelased liiguvad segregatsiooni nõiaringis. Postimees. 10.07.2021
  • Silm, S. (2020) Mobiilpositsioneerimise andmed inimeste liikuvuse uurimisel. Arenguseire Keskuse veebiseminar “Millise tuleviku toob meile inimeste liikuvusandmete kasutamine?”. 09.04.2020
  • Mooses, V. (2019) Põnevad kaardid: kuhu reisivad eesti või vene keelt rääkivad inimesed? Novaator. 11.02.2019
  • Project name: Understanding the Vicious Circles of Segregation. A Geographic Perspective
  • Duration: January 2019–December 2021
  • Funding: Estonian Research Council
  • Lead partner: Ministry of Energy, Infrastructure and Digitalization Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
  • Principal Investigators at University of Tartu: Tiit Tammaru
  • Principal Investigators at the Mobility Lab: Siiri Silm, Anto Aasa
  • People involved: Veronika Mooses, Anniki Puura, Janika Raun, Pilleriine Kamenjuk, Daiga Paršova, Ago Tominga
  • Project webpage: https://sisu.ut.ee/circle-of-segregation
  • Project information in the Estonian Research Information System