THE MINISTRY OF REFUGEE, IMMIGRATION AND INTEGRATION AFFAIRSTHE MINISTRY OF REFUGEE, IMMIGRATION AND INTEGRATION AFFAIRS
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"Cultural diversity in European cities "
The challenges of urban global-local development as well as cultural diversity need to be meet by holistic strategies and policies in order to use the opportunities positively and in order to remove and eliminate barriers. This especially applies to cultural diversity existing in the cities, that is, when the complexity of ethnicity meets the complexity of urban life within urban spaces.
In this connection the national level and national authorities play an important part. Firstly, the general political, economic and legislative frameworks for urban policy are being made and decided at this level. Secondly, by formulating and announcing political principles, goals and guidelines on cultural diversity in cities, national authorities signal the importance of this dimension of urban development and strategies. Thirdly, experience shows that the success of integration and promotion of urban cultural diversity varies from city to city (also within the same country) depending on the formulation and implementation of local urban policies. Therefore, fundamental principles of equality of opportunity, minimum standards for service, etc. for all urban citizens regardless of which city they live in have to be guaranteed by national authorities.
Some Member States have incorporated the goal of promoting urban cultural diversity into overall national urban policies. Not as the only main goal, but as one of several important dimensions, which have to be considered in order to promote sustainable urban development.
For example in the Netherlands ethnic minorities constitute one of the target groups of urban policy. Actually, the ethnic perspective on urban development and the urban perspective on ethnic integration have been combined for a couple of decades by now. In 1983 the Dutch government published the document 'Policy Document on Minorities' announcing that the government was going to develop a policy geared towards the socially deprived areas in the big cities, where large numbers of immigrants had settled. Today Dutch urban policy rests on three pillars: An employment and economic pillar, a physical pillar and a social pillar. As to the employment and economic pillar extra attention is being invested in encouraging entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities. Likewise the focus of the initiatives and measures within the social pillar is primarily on reinforcing ethnic minorities and /or vulnerable groups, on strengthening their social involvement and participation in local communities, etc.
Cultural diversity and equality are also important elements in French urban policy. In France urban policy is based on contracts with cities - contrats de ville. These contracts or urban programmes covering approximately 247 deprived urban areas are based on holistic approaches and strategies and include all essential parts of urban life: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, urban regeneration, citizen participation, etc. Involving ethnic minorities and tackling racial discrimination are two of the key principles in the current urban programme period 2000 - 2006. According to these urban principles each individual regardless of nationality should feel part of the community and its future. Furthermore, it is stressed that involvement of these communities and tackling all types of exclusion are fundamental to the philosophy of the urban contracts.
In January 2001 the British Prime Minister launched 'The New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal: A National Strategy Action Plan' containing 105 firm commitments. This new approach places emphasis on deprived urban areas, and the aim is to deliver economic prosperity, safe communities, high quality schools, decent housing and better health to the poorest parts of the country. Within this context the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit has developed a framework to integrate race equality into all aspects of Neighbourhood Renewal projects. A number of policies have been introduced. For instance the £96 million Phoenix Fund is being used to encourage enterprise in these areas so as to ensure that ethnic minorities can have access to wealth and opportunities, and the aim is to raise employment rates in these areas.
The Danish Urban Regeneration Programme is one of several initiatives focussing on the integration of ethnic minorities. The programme started as an experiment aimed at combating social isolation and segregation in disadvantaged communities in Denmark. Seven projects commenced in 1997 and in 2001 five new projects were initiated. The 12 projects are located throughout Denmark, primarily in large cities - for example Copenhagen has five urban regeneration projects in progress. The 12 projects cover geographical areas with a total population of 120.000. The projects initiated in 2001 have a time span of seven years, while the others will run for five to seven years. The total budget for the Urban Regeneration Programme is DKK 1.2 billion provided by the Central Government, the local municipalities and external funds. Two-thirds of the funding granted is targeted towards urban renewal in run-down areas, the remainder towards activities in such fields as education, employment, environment and integration of ethnic minorities.
The importance of the national level does not diminish the role and importance of either the local city level or bottom-up perspectives and strategies. On the contrary, the role of local authorities is considered to be extremely important with respect to promoting social cohesion and cultural diversity in the city.
Each city differs in relation to specific opportunities, challenges and barriers and consequently general objectives concerning for example cultural diversity have to be implemented differently in order to be effective. Furthermore, to some degree overall city strategies can ensure consistent and positive spin-on effects between specific projects and initiatives.
An increasing number of European cities experiencing cultural diversity have elaborated overall policies and strategies on cultural diversity and social inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities.
And larger European cities implement initiatives and projects (urban regeneration projects, EU URBAN Programmes, etc.) in deprived urban areas based on an integrated approach combining the aspects of cultural diversity and urban development.
Aarhus (Denmark): Integration, diversity and equality of opportunity. In 2001 the City Council of Aarhus adopted an overall integration policy for the City of Aarhus containing both a follow-up on the integration plan from 1996 and new objectives for the future policy. The overall objective of the integration policy is that refugees and immigrants should be able to help themselves and form part of regular society together with and on a par with other residents. It is highlighted in the integration plan that integration does not mean that all have to be the same - quite the contrary. Cultural differences are seen as an expression of diversity, which should be retained because it holds value to any society. The policy aims at giving all residents living in the city equal opportunities with respect to enjoying equal private space and making use of the opportunities that each individual is presented with - applying to financial, social and cultural areas.
Rotterdam (The Netherlands): Using opportunities of cultural diversity. Since 1998 the City of Rotterdam has been implementing an overall strategy on cultural diversity in order to promote ethnic integration in the city. This new strategy or perspective, which was confirmed by the policy paper 'Effective Policy on Minorities', aims at both making better use of the talents and possibilities of ethnic minorities and at the same time promoting social inclusion of ethnic minorities. More specifically, in order to provide better job opportunities for immigrants and to achieve a better match between the services and the changed composition of Rotterdam's population special attention is given to the composition of the management and staff of the city administration and the public administration. Moreover, the city also encourages involvement of the immigrant organisations in the policy-making process, just as an advisory body with representatives from the immigrant communities has been set up.
Komotini (Greece): Sustainable city for all. The overall aim of the Greek URBAN II programme 2000 - 2006 in the city of Komotini is to promote a sustainable city for all groups including ethnic minorities. One of the important objectives in the programme is therefore to promote social and economic integration of Moslems, gypsies and immigrants in the city. This involves individual groups of the population, which to a large extent show exclusion characteristics and suffer from bad living conditions, especially as concerns the gypsies. Improving the urban environment in areas where these groups live is considered to be an imperative in order to implement actions in all the territory of the region of intervention. This includes solving the extremely pressing problems of their housing, creating infrastructures closely adapted to meeting their needs in social services, improving the health services, strengthening the initiatives for the companies and for job creation, etc. The main final tasks are to integrate them as equals in local society and to provide opportunities for all social groups to co-exist.
Brussels (Belgium): The Solidarity House. The Solidarity House was founded in 2000 in order to help newcomers to integrate into the city of Brussels, both socially and professionally, by meeting the first needs of these people when they arrive in Belgium. Classes are organised into groups in which any one older than 18 years of age may unconditionally participate. No identity card is required to get enrolled for the courses - people only have to give their name. The main objective is to reach as many people as possible. Ability to speak the language(s) of the country where you are going to live is considered to be the first and basic step with respect to integration. Therefore, high priority is given to French and Dutch language lessons. Those wishing to follow complementary training modules must already have a minimum knowledge of French or Dutch. French classes are also complemented with lessons on spelling and easy writing, where people become familiar with how to write a CV and how to fill in administrative papers. Computer classes aim at making it possible for the target group to integrate into the working environment. Likewise, training in citizenship aims at helping newcomers to find their place in their new social and institutional environment. They get acquainted with the democratic operation of various institutions (Community, City, Region, and State) and they are taught a way of behaving responsibly and respectfully towards their new social environment. Visits are also organised in order to give people the opportunity to discover Belgium as well as the historical background of Europe.
Haninge (Sweden): An integrated plan for Jordbo. The municipality of Haninge is one of seven municipalities that have signed a local development agreement with the State as part of Sweden's national metropolitan policy. Haninge's local development agreement concerns the district of Jordbo. Local development efforts are distinguished by their management-by-objective, co-operative, long-term and bottom-up approach. Initiatives are being taken with respect to the labour market, Swedish language instruction, crime prevention, democracy and compulsory school education. The local development work is characterised by a multi-disciplinary approach of achieving results through parallel initiatives in different sectors. Certain initiatives can therefore affect several areas of activity. After a six-year long-term multi-disciplinary development the district has shown progress and positive development in several areas.
Sarcelles (France): Local 'plate-formes' - improving access to public services. The aim of the project is to improve the access of people of immigrant background and vulnerable people to rights and public services and to ensure the presence of public services in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Thus, the initiatives target people not integrated in institutions as well as public service workers, in particular those in direct contact with the public. Several specific actions have been taken such as reorganisation of the local administration including IT training, support packages for local authority staff and establishment of an access point for public services in the main shopping centre. Another important project initiative - being part of a national programme supported by the French central government - was the opening of two public service 'plate-formes' in the Sablons and Chardonnerettes neighbourhoods in 1997. The 'plate-formes' are managed by local authority officers, who receive members of the public and direct them to the relevant department or other public services such as post office, schools, health and social welfare services and employment centres. Furthermore, they also issue certain administrative documents.
Anderlecht (Belgium): 'Démarcherie' - equality in access to public services. In 1998 a partnership composed by the 'Mission Locale' (public agency), the Municipality of Anderlecht and associations involved in an 'integration /cohabitation' programme launched the 'Démacherie' project. The project targets people having difficulties accessing services (migrants, marginalised people, etc.), public service workers and associations working with immigrants. The main objective is to ensure equality in the access to services. Central functions of the 'Démacherie', which is a central access point to direct the public to the particular department of service they need, are: (1) Providing information and simple explanations about legal frameworks and administrative terms and procedures; (2) directing the user to the appropriate municipal department for handling their request; and (3) helping users with specific tasks such as completing forms, writing letters or contacting people.
The housing market is an important factor explaining urban segregation expressed by spatial and urban separation with respect to different social, cultural and economic groups. For example a too sharp division of ownership in different urban areas can sow the seeds of social, cultural, professional, etc. segregation. But also factors such as physical planning and general economic trends in society have an impact on urban development. Likewise, urban segregation is an important factor for explaining general social exclusion in the city, exclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities and the lack of cultural diversity in urban areas.
A general trend in European cities is that a relatively high number of migrants and ethnic minorities live in deprived urban areas - in some of these urban areas people of foreign origin constitute 80% of the population. Finland can be seen as an exception to this general European urban trend. Though the majority of people belonging to ethnic minority groups live in the biggest cities, half of them in the Helsinki metropolitan area, urban ethnic segregation is almost non-existing in Finland. However, due to the high unemployment rate among immigrants, a risk of ethnic segregation is embedded within the process of social segregation.
Urban segregation is not always a problem, either for the city or its residents. However, in practice these areas are often isolated (culturally, commercially, infra-structurally, etc.) from other urban areas, like a stigma develops about living in these areas. In areas - dominated by non-profit housing as well as private rented housing - where residents are primarily among society's marginalised and disadvantaged groups, there is a tendency for people who can afford an alternative to move elsewhere. Quite often this means that the area becomes less attractive compared to other urban areas with respect to cultural investments, commerce, business, etc. And consequently, this can further motivate people to move away - the beginning of a negative and segregating urban development.
Therefore, urban segregation often becomes a problem for people living in deprived neighbourhoods because it puts everyday welfare under increasing pressure and reinforces the risk of being socially excluded. In other words, there is a risk that deprived urban areas will reinforce and reproduce poorer living conditions for disadvantaged groups.
To be continued on the next page.
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Version 1.0 April 2003 • © The Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs. Published by The Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs, www.inm.dk
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