Arrival neighbourhoods as spaces of integration?

Abstract

Building on scientific debates on the function of ethnically segregated urban neighbourhoods, this thesis spotlights newcomers’ arrival processes. Using the traditional arrival neighbourhood Dortmund-Nordstadt as an example, it analyses the everyday practices of newcomers and established migrants in accessing and sharing arrival-specific resources as well as the spaces in which encounters and resource exchanges take place. The thesis, which is based on three sub-studies, shows that certain arrival infrastructures and brokering practices located in arrival neighbourhoods can play a key role in facilitating newcomers’ access to resources. Alongside the many formal (municipal and civil society) advisory and support institutions, this study revealed that access to resources is often gained through social connections established in non-formal semi-public spaces, such as cafés, shops and service facilities or places of worship. Established migrants in these semi-public spaces often act as arrival brokers, significantly contributing to a newcomer’s arrival process. These findings demonstrate that traditional arrival neighbourhoods offer a variety of resource access opportunities for newcomers. These result from the existence of a vast range of knowledge and experience shared by a very diverse local population, as well as from a wide range of arrival-related infrastructures which, beyond their primary functions, offer opportunities for exchange and access to social networks. By highlighting the relevance of non-formal infrastructures and brokering practices at the local level, this thesis contributes to a better understanding of the role of place for migrant arrival.