Modelling the spatial dynamics of Mainland China-born migrants in Australia |
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| Authors: | Siqin Wang Thomas Sigler Jonathan Corcoran Yan Liu |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australias.wang6@uq.edu.au;3. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, migration from Mainland China (MC) to Australia has become increasingly significant. In contrast to previous migrant waves, post-2000 MC-born migrants in Australia are more likely to be highly skilled and/or financially independent, and often migrate under skilled, business and investment visa programs. Though scholarship has explored various facets of MC-born migrants’ settlement in Australian cities, the spatial dynamics of settlement, and change over time associated with these shifts in socio-economic profile, have remained unexplored. This paper draws on three census periods, and employs a local indicator of spatial autocorrelation together with a geographically weighted regression. We conclude that the settlement patterns of MC-born migrants in Australia do not follow the ‘straight-line’ assumptions of spatial assimilation theory, nor are they tied explicitly to socio-economic factors in the majority of capital cities. Instead, the settlement patterns of MC-born migrants vary by city: Sydney and Melbourne display the most spatially segmented settlement patterns; while Adelaide and Perth exhibit increasing levels of concentration as the number of MC-born migrants grows. Results indicate that while MC-born migrants are somewhat likely to cluster at the early stage of group formation, within-group spatial patterns are articulated by social attributes as the group grows in size and significance in a metropolitan context. |
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| Keywords: | MC-born migrant ethnic concentration geographically weighted regression spatial evolution residential pattern Australia |
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