Mapping changes in spatial patterns of racial diversity across the entire United States with application to a 1990–2000 period

• 1990–2000 change in racial diversity is assessed using demographic grids.
• Statistics of transitions between different neighborhoods is visualized.
• Change in spatial extents of various racial neighborhoods are mapped.
• Landscape metrics are used to identify change in topologies of neighborhoods.
• Diversity maps for 1990 and 2000 are accessible using a GeoWeb tool.

Changes in racial configuration patterns are affected by uneven population growth of different racial/ethnic groups and by modification of social attitudes. A comprehensive assessment of these changes is important for effective policymaking. Conventional assessments, which rely on tabular census data, are restricted to a handful of major metropolitan areas and do not provide spatial information. Here we propose using high resolution categorical demographic grids to assess and map spatio-temporal changes in racial configuration patterns over the entire United States. Recently published demographic grids for the years 1990 and 2000 are classified into neighborhood types based on the local level of diversity and the dominant race. Codifying the 1990–2000 transitions of neighborhood types for all grid cells yields a transition grid, which provides raw information for all subsequent assessments. The change is evaluated from three different perspectives: overall statistics, mapping, and neighborhood topology. A change diagram visualizes diversity change from statistical perspective using transitions collected from the entire U.S. Change map reveals complex spatial transitions between different neighborhood types; examples of change maps for metropolitan areas of Chicago, San Francisco, and Houston are shown and described. Topologies of spatial change for various neighborhood types are also visualized showing the specific manner of transition from one type of neighborhood to another. Presented methodology opens the door to much more comprehensive and in-depth assessment of changes of racial and diversity patterns.