Introduction: Migration, Cities, Diversities ‘Old’ and ‘New’

Abstract

Across the globe, more people — from more varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds, subject to more varied conditions of mobility and legal status — come into regular contact with one another in today’s growing cities. Population diversification and urban expansion are two linked processes that serve to define our times. How do these processes unfold, especially in terms of social relations? The dynamics of urban diversification — despite their increasing ubiquity — remain seriously under-researched. We know little about how people in diversifying urban settings create new patterns of coexistence or how and why they might tend towards conflict. Social scientists have yet to fully describe and theorize the developments and implications of migration-driven diversification, especially in the key urban spaces where new migrants live. This book addresses the knowledge gap.