Italian settlement in Sydney, 1920–78

Italian settlement in Sydney has been distinguished by its poly-nuclear pattern of concentration and also widespread dispersion. The classical invasion-succession and concentric models of population movement have been less applicable to the process of settlement growth and change of the Italians for several reasons: first, the importance of chain migration and the resultant ‘urban village’ clusters and identifications; second, the possibility of owner occupancy of housing in ethnic concentrations through the conversion of the inner city rental market to an o wner occupier market of individual dwellings, so that concentrations could survive; and third, the tendency, despite substantial residential mobility within the first generation, for many longer-established residents to stay behind in the concentrations—the reverse of the classical models. The decision to stay or move is in part a matter of choice, but language constraints have been influential. Many recent arrivals and younger persons have by-passed the residential concentrations and their institutional structures because of better education and skills and because they could join relatives who had moved out, so that chain migration ultimately acted to disperse settlers after originally concentrating them.