Introduction
According to several literature reviews, there are quite a number of causes and effects of ethnic residential segregation. The effects of ethnic concentration continue to increase over time due to its dynamism and rapid changes in the ethnic composition of a region. The Bureau of Immigration and Population Research (BIPR) has done several study analyses about the impacts of ethnic concentration among the Indochinese (Lewis 1979 p 26). According to the institute, ethnic residential concentration has been overlooked, and their trends followed to the letter. In 1980’s, up to 45,000 Vietnamese born individuals arrived in the city as permanent residents, thus making Vietnam the second largest source. The Vietnamese residents comprise individuals from Vietnamese and Chinese background. The Cabramatta region of Fairfield in Sydney has numerous attraction sites and forms a focal point for ethnic concentrations (Birrell 1993, p 28). This has led to the promotion of some portion of the far west of Sydney into a tourist attraction.
Ethnic residential concentrations always come up with various social, political and economic consequences. In Fairfield, a significant concentration in the region has taken place. According to 1986 population statistics, it only accounted for approximately 29.6 percent of the overall Vietnamese born individuals. By contrast, the number is relatively low compared with the current situation in the region (Burnley 1994 p 73). Out of the 29.6 percent population, only 6.3percent of the whole Fairfield population was accounted in the research study. Ethnic institutions have played a major role in retaining a large population of Vietnamese in the region. According to Vivian, residential concentration largely depends on the recent arrivals of Vietnamese residents. Blainey objects the works of Vivian since she does not take into account the effect of ethnic institutions on ethnic residential concentration. According to statistical records, a large number of the Vietnamese born migrants abode in Melbourne or Sydney (Dunn 2004 p 42).
Cabramatta suburb in south-west Sydney region has the largest population of Vietnamese community in Australia. Cabramatta region is located in the New South Wales part of the Fairfield government region. According to the 2011 census population statistics information, 6,330 of 22, 676 overall responses stated Vietnamese as their heritage (Dunn 1998, p 515). The number shows quite a low percent of the whole population with their heritage as Vietnamese. The statistics also indicated that, 29 individuals out of the whole population stated that both parents were born in Australia. At the same time, the statistics were compared with individuals in Cabramatta of Chinese background (2004, p 43). The research found that 25 persons out of a population of 6,157 had stated that both parents were born in Australia.
According to these studies, it is clear that there is very high percentage of the whole population of people living in the Cabramatta region with ethnic background of both Chinese and Vietnamese. Ethnic concentration of such kind can have both positive and negative impacts on both individuals (Boal 1976 p 62). The effects of such ethnic residential concentrations can spread out to the rest of the population and the society in general. According to the aforementioned statistical information, a large population of Chinese and Vietnamese ethnic residence is the first generation Australians or first arrivals in the region. As a result, a group of non-speaking English in the region has emerged. According to the 2011 statistics data, 62 percent of the Cabramatta population constitutes non-English speaking individuals (Dunn 1993 p 30).
Ethnic concentration of Vietnamese and Chinese individuals within the Cabramatta area provides a positive impact to these groups. For instance, due to the high population of Vietnamese people in Cabramatta region, many of the shops and buildings’ fronts have been written in the Vietnamese language (Winchester Kong & Dunn 2003). The Vietnamese people also import goods directly from Vietnam and sell them in Cabramatta.
The Vietnamese residences in Cabramatta region have networked together in various economic activities. As a result of using the Vietnamese language, most of the business activities in the region have flourished. Cabramatta area has accommodated a lot of visitors from different parts of the world. Unemployment level in Fairfield is the highest relative to other areas in Australia. According to 1991 statistics records, about 21.9 percent of the entire workforce was unemployed. Education and welfare institutions in Cabramatta find it hard to cope up with the non-English speaking Vietnamese residents (Dunn 1998 p 507). High levels of unemployment can thus be attributed to low education levels and lack of professional skills.
In conclusion, poor education have led to performance in schools, making most of the youth in Cabramatta end up in drug usage, which is a serious social problem. The poor performance limits the attainment of the required grades for the youth to join tertiary education institutions. The effect of ethnic residential concentration has been widely exhibited in the social aspect. The community has experienced serious social problems due to the deterioration of the city in moral and behavioral practices. Crime rates in the area have also increased over the years as a result of the high number of unemployed youth in the streets. The level of poverty is still high due to the increased level of unemployment in the region.
References
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Boal, FW 1976. ‘Ethnic residential segregation’, in: D.T. Herbert and R.J. Johnston (Eds), Social areas in cities, volume 1: spatial processes and form, London, John Wiley, pp. 41-79.
Burnley, IH 1994. ‘Immigration, ancestry, and residence in Sydney’, Australian Geographical Studies, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 69-89.
Dunn, KM 1993. ‘The Vietnamese concentration in Cabramatta: Site of avoidance and deprivation, or island of adjustment and participation?’, Australian Geographical Studies, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 228-45.
Dunn, KM 1998. ‘Rethinking ethnic concentration: the case of Cabramatta, Sydney’, Urban Studies, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 503-27.
Dunn, KM 2004. ‘Islam in Australia: contesting the discourse of absence’, The Australian Geographer, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 333-53.
Lewis, PF 1979. ‘Axioms for reading the landscape’, in The interpretation of ordinary landscapes: geographical essays, D.W. Meinig (ed.), Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 11-32.
Winchester, HPW, Kong, L, Dunn, KM 2003. Landscapes: ways of imagining the world, Pearson Education, London (Ch 2)
