Research Panel: International Migration and Urban Development

Background
The Scania region, in principal the city of Malmö, is what we, at least by Nordic measures, can call a migration gateway. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Malmö was a major harbor of migrant departure, and it is today an important hub of immigrant arrival in Sweden. This was not least the case in the fall of 2015 when the number of asylum applications peaked in Sweden. 

The region is fast growing. Its population and economic growth depend on immigration. It is also a region with comparatively large inequalities, with foreign born being overrepresented in the poor segments of the population. Its media representation is dominated by negative descriptions of conflicts and criminality, often as related to immigration, not least in international media reporting. Both popular, political and academic debates about the develop in Malmö tend to get polarized, this panel aim at contributing to this debate building on empirically relevant and theoretically sound research. 

Purpose and approach
The purpose of the International Migration and Urban Development (IMUD) Panel is to address this contentious field of research and urban development. It consists of members with relevant fields of expertise recruited from the Local Interactive Platform (LIP) partners: City of Malmö, Lund University, Malmö University and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Its work is organized into four work packages (see below), which have been identified in a collaborative process relying on different perspectives and needs from research and practice. 

The results consist of both academic and popular writings as well as presentations in seminars, workshops and conferences. Public presentations are announced in advance in the Mistra Urban Futures Events Calendar.

The panel work is organized into the following packages: 

The reception and integration of asylum seekers and refugees in the city
Erica Righard (Associate professor, Malmö University), Klara Öberg (Post Doc, Malmö University), Mikaela Herbert (PhD Student, Malmö University), Stig Westerdahl (Associate Professor, Malmö University), Henrik Emilsson (Post Doc, Malmö University), Sandra Lundberg/Jennie Ström (Senior Advisor, City of Malmö).

Place attachments, power relations, invisible-/visible borders, and boundaries in public space
Agneta Mallén (Senior Advisor, City of Malmö), Anna María Pálsdóttir (Senior Lecturer, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Burcu Yigit Turan (Senior Lecturer, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

Translocal subjectivities and cultural emergence in the light of international migration and integrative urban planning for social sustainability
Maria Hellström Reimer (Professor, Malmö University), Per Möller (PhD Student, Malmö University), Erin Cory (Post Doc, Malmö University)

The migration–city nexus. A literature review across disciplines
Mattias Kärrholm (Professor, Lund University), Tina Gudrun Jensen (Associate Professor, Malmö University), Laleh Foroughanfar (PhD Student, Lund University), Rebecka Söderberg (PhD Student, Malmö University).