D5.2 State-of-the-art Report on Urban Politics and Autonomy-building Processes of the Cities

We identify autonomy-building processes as novel processes spanning multiple scales. These processes may or may not be welcome by central or municipal governments. We argue that investigating such processes can open doors and add complexity to what is generally referred to as ‘local’ in migration governance. We follow Pécoud (2021, p. 104) in his understanding of migration governance as characterised by going beyond nation states and including non-state actors, spanning different scales, and interacting with multiple global dynamics “such as global capitalism, multilateral regimes or international norms” (ibid.). While this definition is conscious of the multilevel character or migration governance, we aim to expand the focus on autonomy-building processes by and in cities, necessitating a focus on urban migration governance. We define urban migration governance as the governance of
migration and migration-related diversity at city-level, including various actors from municipal governments to non-governmental organisations and private persons, encompassing the formulation and implementation of migration-related regulations, but also their contestation. In the context of urban migration governance, there are increasing autonomy-building processes, by completing or contradicting national immigrant policies, which this state of the art report addresses.