Whether new arrivals find their feet in Germany is no matter of course. Immigrants arriving in German cities find themselves faced with a variety of barriers, whether legal, linguistic or social. Arrival infrastructures can help people access such important resources as housing, work, language courses, education and social networks. Of key importance in this respect are urban space and, in particular, neighbourhoods long characterised by migration and featuring established support infrastructures. This TRENDS issue presents the results of the international AIMEC research project, with a focus on Dortmund‘s Nordstadt district.

In the AIMEC (Arrival Infrastructures and Migrant Newcomers in European Cities) research project, an international research team spent three years (05/21-08/24) investigating how arrival infrastructures enable the participation of newcomers. The project was funded by the British ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) and analyzed arrival infrastructures in three city districts in London, Brussels and Dortmund.