Handbook on Migration and Cities
by Els de Graauw, Jan Rath, and Ceren Kulkul
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (in preparation, 2026)
Open Access
This book begins with a central observation: migration and cities are inseparable. When people move, they typically move to cities. They bring with them new cultures, skills, and connections, while also reshaping the neighborhoods, institutions, and social worlds they join. At the same time, cities structure their mobility and experiences, creating both opportunities for belonging and barriers to inclusion. Together, migration and urban life form a dynamic relationship that continually transforms both newcomers and long-time residents, and in the process, redefines what cities are and can become.
With 45–50 chapters, this volume offers a wide-ranging exploration of these versatile dynamics. It moves from broad concepts and theoretical debates to grounded analyses of how cities structure these processes on the one hand, and how migration shapes housing, work, education, politics, and cultural life in cities around the world on the other. Attention is given not only to major structures and institutions but also to the everyday practices through which migrants and city dwellers create meaning, negotiate difference, and build community. Organized around themes such as concepts and debates, mobility and settlement, everyday urban life, proliferating social worlds, and politics, the collection draws on diverse disciplines and perspectives to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the intersections of migration and urban life.
Accessible yet firmly rooted in scholarship, the book offers readers the knowledge to explore cities as spaces where migration is not peripheral but central—an ongoing force that shapes the past, present, and future of urban society.