Abstract
The Netherland is a highly diverse and dynamic migration society. However, newcomers are not distributed evenly across the Netherlands. Towns and cities may vary widely in their ethnic make-up. The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam are majority-minority cities; the majority have roots in a wide range of other countries. The same also applies to metropolitan suburbs. Other communities still remain almost exclusively ethnically Dutch. And even when cities have a substantial migrant population in common, no two communities are the same in terms of the population’s composition. Horticultural districts, for instance, are home to a large numbers of migrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe. Former industrial towns may have many ‘traditional’ migrants from Turkey or Morocco. Highly skilled newcomers from Asia or the English-speaking world are concentrated in expat enclaves. Border communities are home to many Germans or Belgians. Local diversity confronts local governments with a combination of general and specific policy challenges. Whilst some, for instance, have to deal primarily with one less skilled migrant group, others are concerned primarily with ways to facilitate the harmonious conviviality of many different groups. In this paper we will present an empirically founded typology of local diversity and related policy challenges. We also argue that this typology is relevant for a number of other European Countries (Belgian, France and Germany).
Presenters
Roel JennissenSenior Researcher, Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), Netherlands
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Community diversity, Local policies, The Netherlands, Conviviality, Ethnic minorities
