Ethnic contact zones in the Moscow region: delimitation and analysis based on the data from mobile operators

For the first time in Russia the study provides a comprehensive analysis of ethnic contact zones (ECZ) in the Moscow region using data on the location of foreign migrant users from the mobile operators. The B.M. Ekkel’s Index of Ethnic Mosaicity (IEM), tailored to the specific features of cellular data, has been used to identify the ECZs. Previously, the index has been primarily calculated for countries and regions. It was not applied at the intra-urban and intra-agglomeration levels because of the lack of reliable statistical databases. The high spatial resolution of cellular operator data allowed for the consideration of interethnic contact density at the level of localities measuring 500×500 m². As a result of the analysis, approximately 60 ECZ were identified in the Moscow region, which differ significantly in their spatial and functional characteristics. Most of these areas are located in or near Moscow or in the closest urban districts. A typology of ECZ is proposed based on the leading factors of their origin. About one-fifth of all ECZ coincides with major transport hubs, such as airports, bus and railway stations, and the intersection of major highways. Approximately the same number of ECZ is in the residential areas of Moscow and its satellite cities, with affordable housing and good transport accessibility to the center of the agglomeration. Another common type of ECZ is formed in the areas of active housing development. Specific types of ECZs associated with social, business, and cultural activities of foreigners have also been identified near large universities, diplomatic missions, and religious sites. Finally, the development of the largest ECZ (Novomoskovskaya, Yugo-Vostochnaya, and Yuzhnoportovaya) could be attributed to several factors at once, making them a specific complex type of ECZ. In addition, other parameters such as the area, the amount of potential migrant contacts, and their intensity within a given territory were taken into account. It is believed that the developed approach to ECZ delimiting and analyzing may become one of the tools for geospatial analytics of ECZ and monitoring risks of inter-ethnic conflict at a local level.

1. Babkin R.A., Mahrova A.G., Medvednikova D.M. Inostrannye migrant v Moskovskoj aglomeratsii: prostranstvenno-vremennoj analiz na osnove dannyh sotovyh operatorov [Foreign Migrants in the Moscow Agglomeration: Spatio-Temporal Analysis Based on Mobile Network Operator Data], Izvestiya Rossijskoj akademii nauk, Ser. geograficheskaya, 2024, no. 2(88), p. 105–118, DOI: 10.31857/S2587556624020014. (In Russian)

2. Dorofeeva D.Yu., Savoskul M.S. [Changes in the ethnic mosaic of Russian regions], I.A. Danilova, O.A. Kharaeva (еds.), Etnicheskaia demografiia [Ethnic demography], Ser.: Demograficheskie issledovaniia, Moscow, MAKS Press Publ., 2010, p. 72–93. (In Russian)

3. Eckel B.M. Opredelenie indeksa mozaichnosti natsionalnogo sostava respublik, krayev i oblastej SSSR [Determination of the mosaic index of the national composition of the republics, territoriesand regions of the USSR], Sovetskaia etnografiia, 1976, no. 2, p. 33–42. (In Russian)

4. Etnicheskie rynki v Rossii: prostranstvo torga i mesto vstrechi [Ethnic Markets in Russia: Space of Bargaining and Place of Meeting], V. Dyatlov, K. Grigorichev (еds.), Irkutsk, Publishing House of ISU, 2015, 343 p. (In Russian)

5. Fernandez-Huertas Moraga J., Ferrer-i-Carbonell A., Saiz A. Immigrant locations and native residential preferences: Emerging ghettos or new communities? Journal of Urban Economics, 2019, vol. 112, p. 133–151.

6. Garipov Ya.Z. O metodike kolichestvennogo izmereniya urovnya mezhetnicheskogo obscheniya [About a Technique of Quantitative Measurement of the Level of Interethnic Communication], Vestnik ekonomiki, prava i sociologii, 2015, no. 3, p. 194–197. (In Russian)

7. Grzegorczyk A. The Paris suburbs – blessed or cursed? Suburbanization Versus Peripheral Sustainability of Rural-Urban Areas Fringes, Urban Development and Infrastructure Series, M. Czerny, G. Hoyos Castillo (eds.), 2014, NY, Nova Publ., p. 89–102.

8. Katz B., Berube A., Lang R. Redefining Urban and Suburban America: Evidence from Census 2000, Brookings Institution Press, 2003, 305 p.

9. Krizkova I., Simon M. Measuring residential segregation of non-European migrants using the individualised neighbourhood method: How does Czechia fit to the European landscape? Applied Geography, 2022, vol. 144, p. 102730.

10. Li W. Anatomy of a New Ethnic Settlement: The Chinese Ethnoburb in Los Angeles, Urban Studies, 1998, vol. 35(3), p. 479–501.

11. Lysenko A.V., Azanov D.S., Vodopyanova D.S. Etnokontaktnye zony Severnogo Kavkaza [Ethnocontact zones of the North Caucasus], Vestnik Stavropol’skogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2011, vol. 3, p. 165–170. (In Russian)

12. Manakov A.G. Dinamika etnicheskoj mozaichnosti territorij Severo-Zapadnoj Rossii v 1897–2010 gg. [Dynamics of Ethnic Fractionalization of Territories in North-West Russia in 1897–2010, Regional’nye issledovaniya, 2016, vol. 2 (52), p. 72–83 (In Russian)

13. Membretti A, Quassoli F. Discriminare in tempo dicrisi. La relazione tra immigrati e agenzie immobiliari a Milano e Pavia, Mondi Migranti, 2015, vol. 1, p. 169–189.

14. Montalvo J.G., Reynal-Querol M. Ethnic Polarization, Potential Conflict, and Civil Wars, American Economic Review, 2005, vol. 95(3), p. 796–816.

15. Nemeth A. Ethnic diversity and its spatial change in Latvia, 1897–2011, Post-Soviet Affairs, 2013, 34 p.

16. Nielsen M., Hennerdal P. Changes in the residential segregation of immigrants in Sweden from 1990 to 2012: Using a multi-scalar segregation measure that accounts for the modifiable areal unit problem, Applied Geography, 2017, vol. 87, p. 73–84.

17. Park R., Burgess E., McKenzie R. The city. Social Science, University of Chicago Press (repr. 1925), 1984, 239 p.

18. Pokshishevsky V.V. Etniccheskie protsessy v gorodah SSSR i nekotorye problemy ih izucheniya [Ethnic processes in the cities of the USSR and some problems of their study], Sovetskaya etnografiya, 1969, no. 5, p. 3–15. (In Russian)

19. Posner D.N. Measuring Ethnic Fractionalization in Africa, Аmerican Journ. of Political Science, 2004, vol. 48(4), p. 849–863.

20. Pospelov E.M., Krupnik I.I. Etnokontaktnye zony v evropejskoj chaste SSSR (geografiya, dinamika, metody izucheniya) [Ethnocontact zones in the European part of the USSR (geography, dynamics, methods of study)], Moscow, Izd-vo Mosk. fil. Geogr. ob-va USSR Publ., 1989, 164 p. (In Russian)

21. Safronov S.G. Sovremennye tendentsii transformatsii etnicheskogo sostava naseleniya Rossii [Modern trends in the transformation of the ethnic composition of the population of Russia], Baltiiskii region, 2015, no. 25(3), p. 138– 153, DOI: 10.5922/2074-9848-2015-3-9. (In Russian)

22. Sturm J., De Haan J. Income Inequality, Capitalism, and Ethno-Linguistic Fractionalization, The American Economic Review, 2015, vol. 105(5), p. 593–597.

23. Terenina N.K. Indeks etnicheskoj kontaktnosti kak instrument izucheniya territorij so smeshannym natsionalnym sostavom naseleniya [The index of ethnic contact as a tool for studying territories with a mixed national composition of the population], Pskovskii regionologicheskii zhurnal, 2022, vol. 18(1), p. 101–116, DOI: 10.37490/S221979310018427-2. (In Russian)

24. Terenina N.K., Krotok R.N. Izmenenie etnicheskoj neodnorodnosti regionov Rossii v 2010–2020 godah v svete kontseptsii etnokontaktnyh zon [Changes in Ethnic Heterogeneity of Russian Regions over the 2010s‒2020s in the Light of Ethnic Contact Zones], Geografiya i Prirodnye Resursy, 2024, vol. 4, p. 5–15, DOI: 10.15372/GIPR20240401. (In Russian)

25. Varshaver E.A., Rocheva A.L., Ivanova N.S. Faktory i mehanizmy skladyvaniya mest rezidentskoj kontsentratsii migrantov vokrug rynkov [Factors and Mechanisms of the Formation of Migrant Residential Concentration Areas Around Markets], Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, 2021, no. 5, p. 425–449, DOI: 10.14515/monitoring.2021.5.1939. (In Russian)

26. Vendina O.I., Panin A.N., Tikunov V.S. Sotsialnoe prostranstvo Moskvy: osobennosti i struktura [Social Space of Moscow: Peculiarities and Patterns], Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya, 2019, vol. 6, p. 3–17, DOI: 10.31857/S2587-5566201963-17. (In Russian)