Activity Spaces and the Measurement of Clustering and Exposure: A Case Study of Linguistic Groups in Montreal

Population segregation measurement is a topic of broad interest in the social sciences. In this paper we draw from recent advances in the spatial analysis literature to derive individualized measures of clustering and exposure. Recent research on accessibility has seen a shift from place-based measures to person-based ones. Similarly, the notion of residential clustering and exposure patterns, while typically related to the distribution of population in zonal systems, can be modified to account for heterogeneous experiences of urban space. In particular, at the individual level, the degree of clustering and exposure is related to personal mobility and the individual experience of space. In this paper we turn to the question of whether individuals belonging to different groups and living in different areas of a city observe differences in their clustering and exposure to population groups over space. The proposed procedure is applied empirically to the case of Montreal to explore how native English speakers of various levels of mobility experience exposure.