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This policy handbook discusses the policy-relevant results of the JPI Urban
Europe project “Interethnic Coexistence in European Cities” (ICEC). A more detailed
documentation of the research approach, methodology and local results on Amsterdam,
Stockholm and Vienna can be found in various publications available for download
from www.icecproject.com
There is not one specific mode of interethnic coexistence – neither in the
same city nor in the same neighbourhood. This is one remarkable fact uncovered by
the authors of this report during their intensive field research. Interethnic coexistence
works in many different ways and is extremely diverse. In our interviews, coexistence,
for example in Vienna, generated such polarised messages as “[…] they have their
own communities, where they meet and don’t want to have contact with us”, but also
this statement of an Austrian lady: “With Turkish residents one gets a different kind
of contact, as there is immediate understanding and openness [...]”. The quality of
coexistence and the quantity of interethnic interaction are as heterogeneous as the case
study neighbourhoods and individuals with whom we spoke. Patterns of interethnic
relations are clearly marked by the social and economic status of the neighbourhoods,
but are also influenced to a lesser degree by the proportion of the migrant population
and the ethnic mix.
The ICEC project compared neighbourhood initiatives in Amsterdam, Stockholm
and Vienna and considers their effect on local interethnic coexistence and neighbourhood
belonging. The study focused on three core questions:
1. Which local initiatives best support and strengthen the integrative power of urban
neighbourhoods as places of living and identification for an ethnically diverse
population?
2. How does participation in such local initiatives and the initiatives themselves
impact the neighbourhood belonging of local residents?
3. What kinds of differences can be found between (non)participation in top-down
and bottom-up initiatives?
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