Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/253239 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
SWP Research Paper No. 8/2021
Publisher: 
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Berlin
Abstract: 
The international debate on migration policy increasingly views cities as game changers since cities have to find rapid, efficient, and lasting solutions to problems relating to forced displacement and migration. However, this assessment also has its critics. From a European perspective, cooperating with African cities is important because migration from Africa is expected to rise in the short and medium term. From an African perspective, there is a wish to extend the potential for legal migration and for intercontinental mobility. Existing cooperation between African and European cities shows that the actors involved pursue very different objectives. Their potential for participation is limited but simultaneously highly dependent on political will and context. In order to make use of cities' potential for cooperation, particularly in shaping legal migration, cooperation instruments must be designed in such a way as to give cities adequate funding and sufficient powers. Divisions between urban and rural areas should not be deepened, and social conflicts should not be exacerbated. Public funds should be used preferentially to support existing networks, especially those of small and medium-sized cities; such cities should be involved above all in the shaping of labour mobility and migration and in the reception of refugees. Philanthropic funding of cities and city networks can also be helpful in harnessing the potential of municipal actors.
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Research Report

Files in This Item:
File
Size
818.85 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.