Migration, governance, and the co-production of urban spaces

This chapter explores how cities are spaces in which the daily lives of migrants are governed and how that governance is contested. We review literature on cities, migration, governance and the microdynamics of superdiverse societies. Based on examples from the global North and South we argue that the study of migration governance needs to extend beyond top-down regulation processes and involve migrants as city makers as well, in addition to examining the ways in which migrant and non-migrant city dwellers interact. We advocate for studying the governance and politics of urban space and its link to migration by looking at three dimensions in interaction: (1) the regulation of international migration and their implications for the local level, (2) the governance of urban migrants at the city level, and (3) the urban context as a space within which migrants are active city makers who link city spaces to elsewhere, and thereby shape its governance.