In early 2020 JPI Europe launched the Urban Migration call, inviting transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral researchers and practitioners to create projects that align, synthesise or consolidate existing knowledge on urban migration across disciplines on national and local levels. The aim was to facilitate knowledge transfer and learning from different European contexts, cities and countries, to create greater engagement and understanding in migrant as well as host communities. Participating countries in the call were Austria, Germany, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The call was organised into three topics:

1. Socio-spatial integration and citizen involvement;
2. Urban governance of housing issues;
3. Enhancing cities’ administrative capacities and supporting evidence-based integration policies (managing migration).

Eight projects have now been chosen, representing different migration types and categorised according to three principles:

• Political boundaries (internal vs. international migration);

• Movement patterns (step, circular or chain migration);

• Taking a decision-making approach (voluntary vs. involuntary migration).

Johannes Bockstefl, Secretariat of the call said:

'The Urban Migration call wanted to bring together already existing knowledge on migration across disciplines and countries and translate this knowledge into concrete action. The eight selected projects meet these goals perfectly and will facilitate knowledge transfer and learning from different contexts, cities and countries. In this way, a knowledge base on urban migration can be formed as a basis for future JPI Urban Europe activities in the field.'

Selected projects

The EMPOWER project: Empowering Cities of Migration: new methods for citizen involvement and socio-spatial integration

This project will train community-based researchers from marginalised neighbourhoods across three European cities experiencing population change. The researchers will work with local communities and actors to develop new methods of solving housing and urban planning problems through cooperation with local people. This will minimise the risk of social exclusion in diverse urban areas.

LoReMi: Local Responses to Precarious Migrants: frames, strategies and evolving practices in Europe

This project will examine and enhance strategies at the local level to address the exclusion of migrants from essential services. It will explore the challenges migrants with insecure resident status face, in particular the experiences of migrant women. The project seeks to strengthen transnational knowledge exchange to inform and improve future practice.

ProSHARE: Enhancing diversity, inclusion and social cohesion through practices of sharing in housing and public space

The project aims firstly to explore the ways in which residents in socially mixed neighbourhoods share spaces and resources, and secondly the potential and limits of sharing for bringing diverse populations together. The project will build on existing research and conduct ‘Practices-of-Sharing-Labs’; real world experiments across eight European cities. Results will be circulated to the scientific community, stakeholders, and the general public.

MAPURBAN:  Migrant mobility and access to public urban resources

The MAPURBAN project will improve migrants’ access to urban resources such as public transport and civic and cultural institutions’ in Stockholm, Berlin and London, building on existing research and urban policy.

Inclusive Housing: Inclusive Housing policies: housing is the beginning

This project will deal with the obstacles faced by refugees in accessing long-term housing, to improve their situation and also that of other disadvantaged groups in the context of urban migration. Building on existing expertise in migration, integration and the potential of the housing market, partners will share information and learn from specific local challenges and approaches. Then, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, recommendations will be made for future housing policies and practices.

MICOLL: Migration and housing: meeting refugees’ housing needs through collaborative housing programmes 

For many refugees in Europe, affordable, quality accommodation is difficult to find and key to their integration. This project explores the potential of collaborative housing solutions for the long-term integration of refugees, and delivers recommendations for urban policy-making in this area.

HOUSE-IN: The Housing-Integration-Nexus: shaping exchange and innovation for migrants’ access to housing and social inclusion 

The HOUSE-IN project consortium sees housing as an important element of migrants' social inclusion within urban neighbourhoods and draws on extensive research. It will identify gaps at the housing-integration intersection as well as collecting innovative housing strategies and assessing their impact and potential for facilitating better integration and housing.

The Art of Belonging: Social integration of young migrants in urban contexts through cultural place-making

This project brings together city leaders, artists, and researchers to promote integration and increase social participation in communities affected by migration. It will develop and implement arts programmes for migrants in case-study cities in England, Germany, and Sweden, seeking to enhance place-making and encourage social belonging.

Find out more.