Mobility patterns are associated with experienced income segregation in large US cities—Moro 2021

The traditional understanding of urban income segregation is based on static residential patterns. These don't capture the income segregation implied by rich social interactions in places that may affect individual choices, opportunities, and mobility. Using a large-scale, high-resolution mobility data set of 4.5 million mobile phone users and 1.1 million places in 11 large American cities, we show that income segregation can vary even within close spatial proximity. To understand fine-grained income segregation patterns, we introduce a Schelling extension of a well-known mobility model and show that experienced income segregation is associated with an individual's tendency to explore new places as well as places with visitors from different income groups (social exploration). Interestingly, while the latter is strongly associated with demographics, the former is strongly associated with mobility behavior variables. Our results suggest that mobility behavior affects income segregation of individuals. To measure income segregation, urban researchers should also consider mobility behavior.

Moro, E., Calacci, D., Dong, X. et al. Mobility patterns are associated with experienced income segregation in large US cities. Nat Commun 12, 4633 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24899-8