Immigration and Urban Vitality: How Newcomers Make Cities Strong

In this book, you will be presented with ample types of evidence on why and how national and international immigrants provide key inputs that make prosperous city life possible. Things are not easy for many immigrants; cities are not bastions of economic equality, and urban change happens. But the mobility of people coming in and out of a city from near and far away is what makes cities so attractive, and where people can find a place for themselves, a community of like-minded people, and conviviality with people who are very different in many dimensions. Snowstorms, pandemics, blackouts, and other crises make city residents realize how interdependent they are with other city residents, known and unknown, and with food producers.
There cannot be sufficient city growth with people coming from other parts of the state, country, and world. This is so obvious and common that it often goes unobserved, the exception being when many people from other parts of the world come around the same time to the same set of city blocks and are visibly different because of the color of their skin, the way they must dress for religious reasons, or the language they speak. But we forget that this is not unique to U.S. cities. That this is not new; this is as old as cities. Also, these newcomers become old-timers over time, who then may comment negatively about new visible transplants and interlopers. But contemporary cities do not have walls, nor gates; there is no lord who has to accept a new urban resident or citizen. This book goes into detail, in an engaging way, about this history and provides examples of these dynamics in the metro areas of New York City, Washington, DC, Paris, and Mexico City.