Inclusion and diversity: governance, policy and practice of housing migrants in cities in Europe 

Dr Orna Rosenfeld has been cultivating dedication for inclusion and diversity for over a decade. Cities are vital actors in the process of immigrant integration. Migration is an integral part of the development challenges shaping patterns of urban growth, as well as the economic, social and cultural vibrancy of cities. Spontaneous migratory patterns suppose a social, cultural and economic challenge for both host and newcomer communities. In these situations, it is migrants who often bear the burden of exclusion from the opportunities in their new country, for example in the provision of basic and social services such as housing. However, the housing dimension of inclusion is only weakly developed in most integration strategies compared with other issues such as employment, language training and citizenship.

 

Dr. Orna Rosenfeld was invited by Professor Judith Allen to contribute to research on this issue for the Fondazione ItalianiEuropei and Forum internazionale ed europeo di ricerche sull'immigrazione. Their work began in 2010 and has fruitfully continued since to include collaborators such as Dr Teri Okoro and Dr Maria Psoinos. At the outset, the goal of their research was to explore links between affordable housing policies and integration policies. Through number of studies they have expanded their research to examine links between national and local integration visions and policies, identify and analyse multilevel governance structures successful in integrating migrants and host communities in cities in the United Kingdom and later Europe.  This work was resulted in publications in Italy, Spain, the UK and Belgium. It has been presented at the United Nations, Alpbach European Forum and Cambridge University, among other places. Dr. Rosenfeld has been interviewed by the press to share the key results.