Cities of Migration showcases good ideas in immigrant integration and promotes innovative practices that create inclusion and urban prosperity.

Browse the Good Idea Index

Conversations

Featured StorySanctuary Cities: Democracy’s Last Stand

Cities are proving to be the last bastion of safety for the “huddled masses yearning to...More.

Featured StoryThe New Normal: Interview with Mechelen Mayor Bart Somers

Mayor Bart Somers, Mechelen: “Refugees made our city better….. They helped my fellow citizens overcome...More.

Featured StoryOpening Hearts and Homes to Refugees: Airbnb

“Initially, everyone sees this as a housing issue. Over the longer term it’s actually helping to....More.

Learning Exchange

Featured Webinar We Speak Translate: What does a Google App have to do with Immigrant Settlement?

Kate Longpre, Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (Canada) in conversation with Aleem Ali, Welcoming Cities (Australia) to discuss how immigrant service organizations can use smart technology and corporate partnerships to achieve deeper impact; how the We Speak Translate project, supported by Google, is training hundreds of “power users” to build awareness about resettlement, integration and inclusion; and how community organizations and local businesses in your city can get involved.More.

Webinar Video Family Matters: Local Strategies for Integrating Immigrant and Refugee Families

Immigration is a family affair. National policy may define your status, but the experience of arrival and integration, especially in the case of families, is felt locally. In Spain, the City of Barcelona makes family reunification a local priority; in Canada, cities like Toronto have welcomed hundreds of refugee families through citizen-led responses to Canada's national refugee sponsorship program. What works? More.

Archived Videos Past Webinar Videos

Find archived videos and resources. More.
Municipal Leadership

Mayors on Migration

  • “Les ciutats han canviat, estem obertes, i hem de fer que la gent que se sent cridada a les ciutats en formi part.”
    — Xavier Trias, l’alcalde de Barcelona

  • “Immigrants are a positive force in Finnish society.”

    Jussi Pajunen Mayor of Helsinki

  • “Immigrants tend to open more small businesses, which leads to more jobs.”

    Raquel Castañeda-López Council member from Detroit

  • “Naturalization is much more than an administrative act. It is the declared belief in our state and our society.”

    Olaf Scholz First Mayor, Hamburg

  • “Promoting and embracing diversity is essential in today’s context, as it is a reality faced by more and more cities the world over.”

    Dr. Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman Mayor, Southeast District, Singapore

  • “I want our city to be the first destination for immigrants because they are going to create the jobs, create the new companies, the businesses of the future. We have to be the most welcoming cities we can be.”

    Rahm Emanuel Mayor, Chicago, US

  • “Bilbao is an open city. At the City Council we encourage values of coexistence, dialogue and management of cultural diversity. In Bilbao, all persons, whether from Bilbao or outside, have the same opportunities and access to services offered by the city.”

    Iñaki Azkuna Mayor, Bilbao, Spain

Mayors on Migration

 

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