The new research environment Refugee Migration and Cities: Social Institutions, Political Governance and Integration in Jordan, Turkey and Sweden (SIPGI), has been granted close to SEK 18 million from the Swedish Research Council. Andrea Spehar, director of the Centre for Global Migration, University of Gothenburg, will lead the project.
The aim of the research environment is to contribute to new knowledge about political and social possibilities and limits for urban integration. Large cities in Sweden, Turkey and Jordan will be analysed in the project.
“Cities are often the first point of contact for newly arrived refugees and migrants, and well-functioning integration policies are very important - both for the migrants’ wellbeing and for sustainable city development,” said Andrea Spehar.
“The cities need to ensure long term integration of new citizens, who otherwise risk alienation from society without access to the labour market, housing, healthcare or education.”
The selection of cities in Jordan, Turkey and Sweden is based on their different political, economic and social preconditions for immigration. All three countries have also received large numbers of Syrian refugees since the year 2013.
Researchers from Sweden, Turkey, Jordan and the USA will participate in the research environment. They come from many different research disciplines such as political science, peace and development research, social anthropology and geography.
What do you hope your research will lead to?
“The project will generate new knowledge in several research areas related to integration and segregation in an urban context. Through the research programme, we will expand and strengthen knowledge about integration and social cohesion in cities, as well as improve the comparability of collected data and increase theoretical knowledge about political governance and social cohesion linked to refugee migration,” said Andrea Spehar.
The Centre for Global Migration at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, is the host of the research environment, in close collaboration with the Programme on Governance and Local Development at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at Lund University and the Migration Research Institute (MiReKoc), which is Turkey’s leading migration centre. The project will run for a period of six years.
Contact and more information:
Andrea Spehar, associate professor in political science, and director of Centre for Global Migration.