SOLICITY: Urban Sanctuary, Migrant Solidarity and Hospitality in Global Perspective

Cities play a central role in understanding migrant integration and refugee protection worldwide. While nation-states generally control migrant and refugee admission through visa, immigration, asylum, and citizenship policies, cities are the spaces where integration into social, economic, and cultural life occurs, and where a sense of belonging develops. Many cities provide protection and inclusion to residents who got denied legal status. Despite examples of urban initiatives globally, no common urban approach has been theorized, nor has there been coordinated cross-continental exchange on local policies and practices.

This seven-year partnership brings together scholars and stakeholders from the Global North and South to examine innovative urban approaches to integration, particularly for migrants and refugees rejected by national authorities. Its objectives are to advance theoretical and practical understanding of urban refuge, solidarity, and hospitality; to build urban capacities through international collaboration, networking, and knowledge exchange; and to develop novel municipal and community-based policy frameworks that enable evidence-informed local decision-making.

The project connects an interdisciplinary team of 72 researchers and partners across four continental hubs in North America, Africa, Europe, and Latin America, creating training opportunities for over 105 students and early-career scholars.

The project comparatively investigates urban policies and practices for accommodating and protecting vulnerable migrants and refugees, addressing a research gap in cross-continental analysis. It fosters international exchange and knowledge transfer between the Global North and South, responding to COVID-19–exacerbated precarity, and aims to generate evidence-based insights that support local integration, alleviate hardships, and reduce socio-political tensions.

• Advancing theoretical knowledge and practical understanding related to urban sanctuary, solidarity, and hospitality towards vulnerable migrants and refugees in the global north and south.
• Building and enhancing urban capacities to accommodate vulnerable migrants and refugees through international collaboration, networking, and knowledge exchange between researchers,
  practitioners, and urban policy makers.
• Developing novel municipal and community-based policy frameworks to facilitate innovative and evidence-based policy making at local and municipal levels for accommodating vulnerable migrants and refugees.