EthniCity of Leisure: A Domains Approach to Ethnic Integration During Free Time Activities

This paper takes a domains approach to understanding ethnic segregation; ethnic segregation occurs in different ways in different domains (such as the residential neighbourhood, workplaces, leisure, etc.). Where most studies focus on residential segregation, this study focusses on ethnic segregation during leisure time. We investigate the most common leisure time activities, activity sites and the interaction between members of minority and majority populations as they spend their time out-of- home and out-of-workplace. Conceptually we link leisure time segregation both with residential and workplace segregation, in line with the domains approach. Our case study area is Tallinn, Estonia, and the main findings show that leisure time activity patterns have become very similar across the main ethnic groups, which is different from what is found for workplace and residential segregation. This shows the integrative potential of leisure time activities. However, different ethnic groups tend to visit different activity sites as leisure sites are related to where people live.