Mobility-based segregation: a network approach in a Global South scenario

Cities’ spatial structure shapes socioeconomic exchanges and everyday experiences. Urban environments can foster encounters and interaction, but can also reinforce exclusion, separation, and isolation among social groups. Segregation is typically analyzed as a static, residence-based phenomenon. Although relevant, this approach overlooks segregation as the absence of copresence between social groups, a minimum condition for social interaction to occur. This study explores a methodological approach for analyzing mobility-based segregation across spatial scales, applied to a Global South city. We use a weighted network centrality model (Potential Movement) in Santa Maria, a medium-sized city in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, modeling its street network as a spatial system weighted by the distribution of income groups and service locations across four catchment radii: 500 m, 1,000 m, 1,500 m, and a global radius. The overlap between the potential movement of high- and low-income groups is quantified using the Jaccard similarity coefficient. Results show that mobility-based segregation occurs at all spatial scales but is most pronounced at the micro scale (500 m). We discuss these findings within the “15-Minute City” concept, an urban framework in which individuals can meet daily needs within a 15-minute walk or bicycle ride from home.