Unpacking the relationship between urban citizenship and integration strategy: a case study of Osaka (Japan) and Birmingham (UK)

Nagai, Nobuko ORCID: 0000-0002-9587-7483 (2024). Unpacking the relationship between urban citizenship and integration strategy: a case study of Osaka (Japan) and Birmingham (UK). University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This study has sought to unpack the relationship between urban citizenship and integration strategy for migrants in Osaka (Japan) and Birmingham (UK). While migration-driven (super)diversification has been evident in urban space, the mechanism of urban citizenship and its operation in the context of the city’s migrant integration has yet been underexplored. Through policy analysis of the city’s integration-related documents and qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with ‘actors’ of urban citizenship – namely, policymakers, city officials, civil society organisations and migrant-led organisations –, this research examines the framework, governance and acts of urban citizenship formulated in the integration strategy in Osaka and Birmingham, cities where old and new migration flows intersect.

This study argues that the nexus between urban citizenship and integration strategy is manifested in the multi-scalar dynamics and interactions between various actors, and the city’s integration strategy can function to affect urban membership, rights and identity of migrant residents. Actors of urban citizenship strategically use networks that extend beyond the city scale while dealing with national policy directions and discourses, which together dimensionalise the implementation of integration strategy and operation of urban citizenship. This captures the ways through which urban citizenship can be ‘co-produced’ by various actors that transcend simple top-down/bottom-up dynamics and therefore offers empirical evidence to respond to the emerging academic question of urban citizenship and migrant integration. Furthermore, by conducting data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study has made a unique contribution to scholarship by exploring the implications of the cities’ responses to the pandemic in the context of urban citizenship.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):