Since decades integration of people with a foreign background in European societies seems to cause some problems. According to statistics, some groups in the Netherlands show significant differences when it comes to education and professional achievements and as a result live in neighbourhoods separated from other more successful people.

The aim of this research is to find out what the likelihood is, for people with a certain foreign background, living in 1 of the 4 biggest cities in the Netherlands, to live in certain ‘socially deprived areas’ versus ‘good areas’. We have analysed this for the years 2000 and 2015 in order to see if there has been an improvement over 15 years, and if so: for which groups.

Secondary data will be applied. In the Netherlands the government registers every inhabitant with their address. Statistics Netherlands has access to this data and can combine with registers on housing with a variable indicating in which administrative area the house is located. Infographics will be made to show the composition of the areas according to foreign groups in the years 2000 and 2015. Maps will also be made to show the dispersal of groups with a foreign background within the city. Furthermore, an index will be composed to classify the areas into ‘socially deprived areas’ versus ‘good areas’. A very interesting addition to this study will be to compare it (through literature) with the situation in other European cities in order to make comparisons regarding the development of segregations in cities.