The geographic distribution of foreigners in West Germany

A review of the geographic distribution of the 5 million foreigners resident primarily in the urban areas of the Federal Republic of Germany is presented. "Economic trend surface and mixed space-time interaction models were chosen to analyse the changing distribution from 1964 to 1981." The results suggest that the settlement of foreigners in the 1960s was primarily influenced by job opportunities, whereas immigrants in the 1970s were more spatially diffused down the urban hierarchy. In 1981, "first-order spatial and temporal interaction or contagion effects are significant in determining the settlement pattern. The general south to north latitudinal settlement trend is weakening over time as migration responds less to distance (intervening opportunity) and more to local economic factors, immigration legislation, family reunification, and local contagion effects." (summary in FRE, GER)