Cross-local ties to migrant neighborhoods: The resource transfers of out-migrating Turkish middle-class households

Abstract Our research looks into the cross-local ties of Turkish middle-class households who have moved out of inner-city migrant neighborhoods. Whereas previous research has predominantly focused on social networks within migrant neighborhoods, less attention has been paid to the ties of leaver households back to their migrant neighborhoods. When middle-class households move away from a migrant neighborhood, do they cut all ties with the old neighborhood and do their social, cultural and economic resources really become lost to it? The paper draws on research conducted in two big cities in Germany. Findings are based on qualitative interviews with Turkish-origin second-generation households and social network analysis. In analyzing cross-local ties back to the old neighborhood, we focus on the role of social ties, co-ethnic infrastructures, public familiarity and social participation. Research findings illustrate cross-local social and institutional ties maintained over years and challenging place-based perspectives on residential segregation.