Is Diversity Bad for Cities?

It has become increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger. But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam -- famous for Bowling Alone" his 2000 book on declining civic engagement -- has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.

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Your thoughts?

Comments

[John]

Interesting. This, like so many things, convinces me that Houston (where I live) in a highly unusual city - it's the most genuinely diverse place I've ever lived (racially, ethnically, and economically) and has a much healthier civic culture than I experienced in Boston or Washington, or in Connecticut where I grew up.

What's interesting here is that the diversity doesn't just show up in citywide demographics, but on the block level. Yes, there are much whiter than average upscale areas, and ghettoes, and so on, but there are just so many parts of this city where peopple mix very comfortably as neighbors and coworkers.

Putman's comments make me think that as much as people look down on Houston, and despite the real flaws that this city (like all cities) has, we are definitely getting something right here in a way that it not typical of the US.

[Wendy]

It may be that we need to distinguish between different categories of city. There are regional cities, major hub cities and world hub cities, to put forth three basic types in which "diversity" may play out differently.

One could argue that diversity is a key component of making world cities and national hub cities what they are in the global and national economies -- for the reasons Richard argues and more.

Diversity in hub cities and world cities in part results from a steady flow of people and businesses coming (and going), and the more new people as a percentage, the more likely they are to mingle. The more existing residents are accustomed to newcomers, the more open they are to new ideas, cultures, ways of doing things etc.

In less dynamic cities, it may be that the scenario described by Putnam is more likely to play out in which long standing residents retreat into their cultural enclave, while the newcomers do the same.

Houston probably exhibits traits of a US hub city and a world city.

[daver]

I could be wrong but the arguement for diversity isn't about those factors that Putnum studied. The arguement for diversity is that diversity attracts talent and therefore leads to better regional economies.