School and Residential Segregation in the Reproduction of Urban Segregation. A Case Study in Buenos Aires

The link between residential and school segregation is widely recognized as a key to explaining urban inequalities. However, most studies have focused on countries of the global north. This paper outlines to identify to what extent socioeconomic residential segregation explains secondary school segregation in Buenos Aires (Argentina). Based on a linear programming method, the study proposes a hypothetical pupil allocation model that takes into account the capacity of schools and is used as an ideal typus to compare with the real socioeconomic school composition. Using a ‘decompose method’ of segregation differences to analyze the differences in segregation indices and a local segregation analysis, this paper finds that in a residential context with low segregation but high social inequalities, school segregation is a social mechanism that allows maintaining spaces of differentiation and distancing between groups. In discussion with the idea of a 'vicious circle of segregation', this article argues for the potential of a multi-domain approach to segregation, to understand how different domains work in articulated and complex ways to reinforce urban segregation.