Cities and the challenge of diversity: a study in Germany and France

Project leader: Karen Schönwälder • Researchers: Christian Jacobs, Christine Lang, Michalis Moutselos, Maria Schiller, Lisa Szepan


The CityDiv project investigates how cities in Germany and France respond to the increasing diversity of their populations. While there is a considerable body of research specifically on cities and migration, both changing realities and gaps in the existing literature call for a theoretically and empirically systematic approach. As distinct from previous work, this project extends the focus beyond the city government and administration to a wider range of actors in order to capture the shift from urban government to urban governance. The implications of governance structures for the representation of previously disadvantaged groups are one key interest of the study. We are also examining a large number of cities in the two countries to allow systematic comparisons of cities and gain insights into what drives their responses to diversity. A large survey of urban actors is complemented by studies of specific questions (urban networks, cultural policies, urban planning) using a range of methods.

Key research questions are:

  • how cities intervene in the structures and relevance of diversity (through explicit and implicit diversity policies);
  • how diversity is represented in governance networks;
  • in what ways responses across cities and across the two countries differ and what drives these different responses. 

link to project site

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