International conference, 12-13 October 2015, Cutler’s Hall, Sheffield

Organisers: MRG and Sheffield Methods Institute

Rapid urbanization is radically changing the economic, financial, social, and ecological landscape of our planet. It has been identified as the single greatest development challenge and opportunity for the 21st century. International migration has been, is and will continue to be a key vector both shaping and being shaped by urbanization. As the UN-Habitat Manifesto for Cities notes, the world has entered an urban era where cities have taken centre stage, inevitably shaping the social and spatial structures and trajectories of cities. The international conference Migrants in the City will provide a forum for the examination of key questions related to contemporary international migration in the context of urban development, residential segregation and diversity. The conference is designed to be global in focus. Contributions are welcomed that reflect on the causes and consequences of all forms of international migration (for example, for employment, for family reasons, to seek refuge, to study) in urban settings, but that also explore intersections between migration, urban development and key related issues, including:

• effects of economic restructuring;
• rising income inequality within and between host/destination countries;
• the growth of megacities and the implications for segregation and migration;
• settlement patterns, diversity, and spatial persistence;
• development and wellbeing implications of migration and segregation;
• effects of climate and environmental change;
• gender and family life of migrant communities and issues of identity;
• the meaning and practice of security;
• migration and urban governance;
• methodological challenges/innovations for migration and segregation research.

Speakers:

• Rt Hon Charles Clarke, former British Home Secretary
• Audrey Singer, Brookings Institution, Washington DC
• Madeleine Sumption, Oxford Migration Observatory
• Ronald Van Kempen, University of Utrecht

You can watch some talks from the conference here.