The geographic distribution of foreigners in West Germany

Abstract

O'Loughlin J. (1985) The geographic distribution of foreigners in West Germany, Reg. Studies 19, 365–377. The distribution of the five million foreigners among the cities of West Germany is highly variable. Economic, trend surface and mixed space-time interaction models were chosen to analyse the changing distribution from 1964 to 1981. The early settlement of foreigners (1964) was predominantly determined by the location of job opportunities while the second immigrant wave (1970) showed strong spatial diffusion down the German urban hierarchy. At the present time (1981), first-order spatial and temporal interaction or contagion effects are significant in determining the settlement pattern. The general south to north latitudinal settlement trend is weakening over time as migration responds less to distance (intervening opportunity) and more to local economic factors, immigration legislation, family reunification, and local contagion effects.