Current "Welcoming" and "Receiving Community" Initiatives as an Immigration Integration Strategy: Comparing Selected Cities of the U.S., Canada, and Europe

Abstract

JoEllen Lukavec Koester Abstract This thesis aims to demonstrate that recent trends in immigrant integration efforts in selected North American cities can be applied to European cities with the expectation of success. The first section of this thesis considers recent trends in immigrant integration theory, emphasizing those directed at host or receiving populations, and summarizes the approach the Welcoming America organization takes in terms of the integration of immigrants. The second major section of the thesis compares immigrant integration strategies used in Austin, Nashville, Dayton, and Halifax, and speculates as to which of these strategies could be applied with the expectation of success to the European cities of Birmingham and Prague. These European cities have been chosen for comparison specifically because Prague and Birmingham are presently at a critical juncture in the reception and integration of their immigrant populations. Immigration strategy employed in Birmingham and Prague in the next several years will determine, for better or worse, future trends in immigrant integration in these cities. This thesis concludes that by adopting models used in North American cities such as Nashville, Austin, Dayton, and Halifax, the European cities of Prague and Birmingham would strengthen the success of...