Introduction: Understanding super-diversity in deprived and mixed neighbourhoods

摘要: This introductory chapter provides an overview of super-diversity. Contemporary cities have seen an increasing diversity of migration in terms of countries of origin, ethnic groups, languages and religions, gender, age profiles, and labour market experiences. Complex migration and asylum regimes have further contributed to the process of diversification through the multiplication of immigration legal statuses (civic stratification). Super-diversity has become especially apparent in cities that are designated as ‘global cities’, on the basis of their ability to draw heterogeneous people from all parts of the world. This book is thus concerned with the question of how urbanites from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, occupying different socioeconomic positions, speaking different languages and often with different legal statuses, can make a common life together in their city or neighbourhood.