The evolution of compounding residential inequalities: A multiscale analysis of neighbourhood change trajectories in Amsterdam

Traditionally, studies of spatial inequalities only consider one single dimension, such as income, and one spatial scale - usually a neighbourhood determined by administrative boundaries. Although the existing literature increasingly recognises the multifaceted nature of inequalities in cities, this paper introduces a novel approach by integrating the multidimensional and multiscale perspectives to understand the evolution of social and spatial inequalities over time. Drawing on clustering techniques based on factor analysis and using individual-level geocoded register data from the metropolitan agglomeration of Amsterdam, our methodology classifies neighbourhoods by grouping detailed residential locations with similar socioeconomic, demographic and housing characteristics across multiple geographical scales. Through sequence analysis, we identify trajectories of neighbourhood change from 1999 to 2022, revealing patterns in the timing, duration, and sequencing of shifts across various dimensions. Our results bridge gaps in the multidimensional and multiscale neighbourhood classification literatures, providing a better understanding of how social inequalities interact and overlap in space. By examining the path dependence between different dimensions of spatial and social inequalities, this study provides insights into the processes that produce and reproduce social stratification in cities that may act at different geographical scales for different groups of people. Moreover, the rich and granular data paint a detailed picture of how residential contexts are segregated and how the trajectories of neighbourhood change are distributed spatially. This research offers an innovative framework for visualise and study the dynamic evolution of urban structures over time.