Muslim Life in Germany - Deutsche Islam Konferenz

Aspects of Integration 281
tions on the housing market (Friedrichs 2008: 394ff; Häußermann/
Siebel 2004: 153ff.; Horr 2008). Furthermore, in the case
of smaller groups of origin in particular, living in an area with
a large proportion of foreigners is not tantamount to ethnic
segregation, which relates specifically to the concentration of
persons of the same origin in a residential area (Friedrichs 1995:
79). It is nevertheless to be assumed that the higher the proportion
of Germans in the residential environment, the more opportunity
immigrants will have to establish and foster contact
with natives. A lower proportion of foreigners in the residential
area is thus interpreted as an indicator of greater opportunities
for integration.
5.2.5.1 Proportion of foreigners in the residential area
In the course of the study “Muslim Life in Germany” the
interviewees were asked whether they live in a residential area
inhabited predominantly by foreigners. Two thirds of all interviewees
with a migrant background from a predominantly Muslim
country (68 per cent) answered this question in the negative.
32 per cent were of the opinion that their residential area was
inhabited predominantly by foreigners. This means that around
one third of interviewees with a migrant background live in a
residential area with a high proportion of foreigners.
This corresponds roughly to the percentage cited by Turkish
interviewees in the RAM study. The figure is higher for this
group than for the reference groups of Italians, Greeks, Poles
and migrants from the former Yugoslavia (Friedrich 2008: 50).
A breakdown according to interviewees’ countries of origin
reveals that persons originating from sub-Saharan Africa (39