Spatial Assimilation and Its Discontents: The Changing Geography of Immigrant Integration in Metropolitan America

Abstract Immigration represents a choice of individuals and families, often under structural constraints and pressures, to move from one society to another in search of a better life. The changing geographic arrangements create new theoretical and policy-related challenges for scholars of immigration as well as urban planners. This article begins with a brief review of the literature on traditional economic and spatial assimilation, as well as the challenges posed to that model by new patterns of immigration. It then explores some basic patterns in “new immigrant gateways,” pointing out different patterns by gateway type in terms of suburbanization and spatial isolation. Furthermore, the article turns to Los Angeles, considering some different patterns that have emerged in this metropolis and arguing that the trends there may foreshadow things to come. Finally, it deals with implications for theory and practice at the intersection of economics and urban planning.