United Nations Radio

PRESENTER:  Major cities are increasingly becoming the destination of choice for migrants from across the world. As such, effective integration policies within urban hubs are more important than ever. UN Radio's Alicia Wood  reports:

ALICIA WOOD:  In the world's largest cities, a growing number of cultural groups are trying to live side-by-side.

The International Organization for Migration says cities, as opposed to regional or rural areas, are the prime sites of 21st century migration because of the opportunities they offer.

Ratna Omidvar of the Maytree Foundation, an organization that promotes equity and prosperity among disparate groups in cities, said urban overcrowding will continue to bring different cultures face-to-face with each other.

MS OMIDVAR: "There is a relentless march towards urbanization, I understand that by 2075 close to 75% of the world's population will be living in cities. The search for a better life is a powerful motivator in the world's population and this movement of people has created new demographics of course in cities like London, Paris, New York and Toronto, but it is also creating regional hubs of diversity in places like Cardiff, in North America, Minneapolis and Winnipeg."

ALICIA WOOD: Director of UNESCO New York, Helene-Marie Gosselin, says the importance of migrant integration is not just relevant to the individual, but to the city itself.

MS GOSSELIN: "We all know that migrants are absolutely contributing very significantly, are an asset to cities both economically, but also culturally. And as culture becomes increasingly an economic asset, I think it bears remembering that. Therefore it has been proven in lots of researches that inclusive cities, multicultural cities are more likely to have a competitive edge over more homogenous cities."

ALICIA WOOD: The danger of ineffective migrant integration in cities is highlighted by Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka.

MS TIBAIJUKA: "Recent events from cities in different parts of the world testify to the devastation that can arise from the failure to ensure effective integration. We have witnessed the ugly face of xenophobia and discrimination in places where we least expected it to happen. Think of the events in Moscow, Russia, think of the events in the African neighborhoods of Johannesburg in South Africa. We have witnessed urban riots and violence in cities of both the developing and developed countries sparked off by long festering and neglected issues surrounding slums and housing estates that are the physical expression of ineffective public policies and sometimes ignorant indifference."

ALICIA WOOD: Ratna Omidvar, of Maytree, said many cities were effectively practicing migrant integration.

Producer:  Alicia Wood and Nick Baker
Duration: 2'32"