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New Towns have always been places characterized by migration: by definition, they have no ‘original’ inhabitants – every resident is a migrant. As such, New Towns are the prototypical ‘Arrival Cities’ and have in the past been more successful than most towns in integrating migrants or ’newcomers’. However, many of the communities in the older New Towns from the 60s and 70s seem to have stabilized in such a way that as economic and political resources diminish, migrants from outside the country have a hard time being accepted.

In this context, “New Towns, Arrival Cities” will offer a platform for citizens and migrant groups to be protagonists in elaborating innovative models of inclusive practices and policies, and will create an ongoing network of New Towns as a basis for future initiatives. It encompasses five events in five partner countries: the UK, Italy, France, Sweden, and The Netherlands.

Five New Town Labs
The project’s five events will be structured as New Town Labs, each with a two-day programme: one tour day (open to project partners only) followed by one public seminar day. The labs will be co-designed and co-organized with the local citizen participants from the host town, including participants from the migrant communities who will contribute to the definition of the themes, format and overall organization. Labs will be tailor-made to the local context and issues, while addressing global problematics that the network of partners will elaborate as an international debate.

 Lab 1 Milton Keynes, UK: “Culture, Migration and Identity” (November 22-23, 2017)
 Lab 2 Sabaudia, IT: “Re-planning collective spaces to rediscover our roots” (May 16-17, 2018)
 Lab 3 Grand Paris Sud, FR: “Citizen involvement in urban regeneration programs” (October 17-18, 2018)
 Lab 4 Vällingby, SE: “Adapting the welfare state model to better fit present needs” (December 12-14, 2018)
 Lab 5 Nissewaard, NL: “Reshaping government-citizen relations” (20-21 February 2019)