Abstract

A city can comprise of settlements with different ethnic backgrounds in a given geographical space. Ethnic groups can be separately located spatially but that does not imply that their quality of life is similar and facilities are equally distributed. This study thus conducted to identify the patterns of segregation of population according to their ethnicity and the factors behind the ethnically segregated neighbourhood in Thimbirigasyaya Divisional Secretariat Division (DSD), with the help of population data in 2017. This paper employed the Duncan and Duncan’s (1955) method of Dissimilarity Index to calculate the Segregation Index of population by using Microsoft excel software. The levels of segregation are categorized in this study according toMassey & Denton’s (1988) method for Dissimilarity Index.The Geographical Information System (Arc map10.1) was employed to map out the Index of Segregation of twenty Grama Niladhari Divisions (GNDs) in Thimbirigasyaya DSD. Factors behind the segregation were identified by the questionnaire survey in selected GNDs. Results revealed that the patterns of segregation can vary in urban spaces. North-central and North-Eastern part of Thimbirigasyaya DSD received high Segregation Index value for Sinhalese with high socio economical levels. Tamils are moderately segregated in the South-western corner of the DSD. Muslims’ segregation is relatively low in the DSD, but according to Grama Niladhari Divisions (GND) wise, Kuppiyawatta east and Dematagoda GNDs show the highest Muslim population. When different ethnically segregated neighbourhoods in DSD are compared, it is clear that there are several social and economic inequalities, which affect the minor groups comparably. Muslim neighbourhoods are located in underserved areas with fewer facilities and unclean environment with lower economic levels. Therefore, better solution to minimise these problems is to develop mixed ethnic neighbourhood in urban spaces in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Dissimilarity, Ethnicity, Geographical Information System, Segregation Index, Thimbirigasyaya DSD