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ABSTRACT
This paper contends that urban segregation in contemporary cities is not well understood and that the standard index of dissimilarity (D) routinely used to measure levels of segregation is an inappropriate quantitative measure of segregation in the multi-ethnic, spatially complex, late-modern city. In order to address the problem (a) the segregation phenomenon is re-conceptualised, (b) various recently developed alternative measures of segregation are assessed, (c) the use and limitations of the standard index of segregation is discussed, and (d) a measure of multi-ethnic, spatial segregation more appropriate to South African conditions is identified and applied using 1991 and 1996 census data for Pretoria. It is recommended that Wong's multi-ethnic, spatial segregation index, SD(m), replace the traditional two-group structural segregation index, D, for measuring urban segregation levels in post-apartheid South Africa.