Migration and the City

Urban diversity is first and foremost a context of social, economic, cultural and political relations. In the world’s major metropolises, it is formed by the interweaving of the history of a particular context and the diverse practices taking place at various geographical levels. This can take form via exchanges at a local scale – for example, in a neighbourhood – among transnational networks of migrants; or it may involve global economic and cultural networks propelled by large multinational companies, state authorities and globalized elites, as we discuss in Session 2 below. Through empirical studies carried out in cities spanning Asia, Latin America, South Africa, the Gulf States and Europe, the participants in the first two sessions cast light on the complexity of urban diversity.

Border cities may serve as transit and temporary spaces for refugees, asylum seekers and "irregular" migrants who look for opportunities to migrate onwards beyond initial transit countries. Due to the protracted nature of migration journeys and their associated risks, these transit migrant populations often stay in border cities longer than initially envisioned.  As a result, border cities are also confronted with the arrival of a diversity of service providers ranging from international humanitarian NGO workers, state officers, international organization employees, journalists, researchers, entrepreneurs and smugglers. Short or long-term stays of these actors lead to physical and social transformations of urban neighbourhoods and border towns. In addition, prevailing restrictive border policies may subject these cities to top-down physical changes, such as the construction of border walls, the deployment of extra security measures and even the creation of cemeteries for abandoned corpses of migrants. This panel will focus on the socio-spatial changes in border towns in Europe and Latin America.

Migration is typically understood as an urban phenomenon affecting larger cities. But in countries with highly managed immigration systems such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, efforts have increasingly been made by different levels of government to encourage migration to smaller centres. Often, smaller cities view international migration as one way to grow the local population and economy, and a range of stakeholders, including local organizations, employers and community members, mobilize to welcome migrants to their communities. Despite this, many smaller cities continue to struggle to provide the services, housing options and employment opportunities that migrants need. There is clearly a need to better understand the experiences of smaller communities as destinations for migrants and what can be done to improve their success. This panel will take a comparative approach with speakers from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

Suburbanization as a global phenomenon has presented multifaceted patterns of change in various contexts. Migrant settlements in suburban spaces add complexity to suburbia by bringing diverse demographics, (inter)cultural practices, new built forms, and new meanings of space and community. These migrant spaces challenge the conventional organization of suburbia. Governments, practitioners and academics must often reconcile the competing needs of diversity and urban growth played out in changing land uses and physical forms (e.g., neighbourhood character and heritage preservation), competing claims for space and rights to the city (e.g., who has access to resources), and considerations of equity and social inclusion (e.g., who belongs to and in the community). This panel examines migration-related suburbanization in different countries to cast light on narratives of everyday suburban life, diversity management, growth and development, policy and governance, and socio-spatial (in)equity and (in)justice.