Epilogue: Chicken or Egg? The Role of Newcomer Migrants in the Revitalization of ‘Left-Behind’ Areas

Abstract

This contribution questions the common assumptions and practices concerning the hosting of newcomers in depopulated, remote and disinvested places in order to revitalize these places. While newcomers can contribute to new socioeconomic vitality in marginalised areas, they should not be taken as the only or main solution. Drawing on the debate surrounding the migration–development nexus, which has mainly been applied in global South contexts, I advocate demigrantizing our thinking and debunking the divide between newcomers and locals. Rather than focusing on the integration of migrants, emphasis should be put on how diverse members of these changing communities, regardless of their length of residence, can attract the right (e.g. sustainable and inclusive) projects and investors. I argue that the reallocation of public funding, new (translocal) solidarities and people-based investment plans are imperative if we are to solve the problem of growing poverty and inequality in Europe.