Governing migration in midsize cities: permanent temporariness, rigid policies and role of business

Abstract This paper looks at the framing of migration in low-scale, midsize cities and its implications for local governance. It seeks to deepen understanding of migration governance in these understudied contexts facing rapid ageing, labour shortages and increased migration inflows. Through this in-depth inductive study of three Dutch localities, we build upon academic literature on governance of migration in small and medium sized cities. Taking a qualitative approach based on field visits and interviews, we came across two overlooked aspects of local governance: temporality and the role of business. We found a hyper-fixation of local governance actors on migrant categories– especially labour migrants and refugees– and unrealistic assumptions about their length of stay in municipalities, as newcomers moved around more than they anticipated. The cities exhibited largely fragmented and uncoordinated policy responses to different migrant categories with only limited engagement of business actors. While companies strongly influenced the rising number of EU-labour migrants in the cities, there was little attention to these migrants’ social needs. At the same time, the labour potential of refugees remained overlooked. This paper recommends municipalities to develop a holistic vision on migration beyond rigid migrant categories, invest in robust regulation and in alliances with companies to foster newcomers’ incorporation in the local community so as to turn migration into an asset, rather than another challenge for low-scale midsize cities.