Bosswick, Wolfgang

Located on the western coast of Turkey, İzmir is the third largest city in the country. The total population, comprising the city centre, urban municipalities and surrounding rural areas, is over three million people. The administrative status of the central city has changed with the inclusion of 19 sub-provinces and 38 first-tier municipalities located within a radius of 50 kilometres. The population of the District of İzmir, which is Turkey’s third largest city also in terms of population density, steadily increased during the period 1927–2000. While the population of Turkey increased five-fold over the last 73 years, İzmir’s population increased 6.3 times. According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat), İzmir had 18,025 immigrants in 2000.

Tallinn’s population composition differs significantly from that of Western European cities in that Russian-speaking residents make up about half of its population. Only in the 1990s did the question of the integration of residents with Russian ethnicity into Estonian society arise. In 2000, the state programme ‘Integration into Estonian Society 2000–2007’ was adopted; which was followed by the ‘Integration Strategy 2008–2013’. Both the state programme and the Integration Strategy emphasise Estonian language proficiency for ‘Russians’. In the end of 2007, the city of Tallinn started to develop its own municipal integration policy intended to ensure equal opportunities for all. A diversity approach in personnel policy has not been implemented yet. In terms of service provision, by contrast, one should highlight a specific service: in order to facilitate access to municipal services by residents with Russian ethnicity, the city provides every official publication and every service in Russian as well in Estonian.

This report follows on from a 2006 Foundation study into local integration policies for immigrants in Europe, Integration of migrants: Contribution of local and regional authorities, which investigated the concept of integration. The report describes the historical and institutional factors which shaped migration policy in 12 EU Member States and analyses local integration policies in 14 European cities. While it points to the very different migration histories and patterns in different European countries and cities and the distinctive ways of implementing concrete integration measures, it identifies areas of common experience and practice. The report concludes that there is no single European integration model, and recommends taking good practice measures based on joint experience to develop a more effective and targeted integration policy.

Housing is a fundamental issue that affects the quality of life of citizens as well as being an important indicator of the degree of integration. Successful housing policies play an important role in shaping social policymaking at the local level, affecting the future integration of migrants and their descendants. This report, published jointly with the Council of Europe, presents successful practices and strategies from 20 cities participating in the first module of the European Network of Cities for Local Integration Policies for Migrants (CLIP).

This concept paper is intended to create the framework for implementing a proposed project, involving cooperation between local and regional actors in the area of integration policy at the local level. The paper first analyses the meaning of the term ‘integration’ and locates it in the context of other concepts prominent in the discourse on migrant integration.