Immigrant City, Global City? Advantage and disadvantage among communities from Asia in Sydney

This paper examines the patterns of residential concentration and dispersion and the socio-economic profiles of major immigrant groups from Asia in Sydney at the 1991 Census, taken soon after the largest immigrant boom in Sydney's urban history, which occurred between 1986 and 1988. It makes use of detailed birthplace, language and religion cross-tabulations by area and socio-economic indicators, as well as four-digit occupational data from the Census. It then tests to what extent immigration snows from different parts of Asia have been linked to Sydney's emergence as a global city, and whether the disadvantage or advantage associated with the settlement of some communities is tied to restructuring, globalisation, language difficulties, residential concentration, or other factors.