Arrival City: How the Largest Migration in History Is Reshaping Our World

“Arrival City” shows us how migrants come to cities around the world, what they experience as they move from rural villages, and what they need in order to be successful in the transition. The places they settle are neighborhoods the author calls “arrival cities.”

Doug Saunders is a journalist at Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper.

The big ideas for Urban Atlanta:

1. We have arrival cities in the Atlanta area. We don’t need them to be failed places.
2. The key to helping these places is to look at their functions, not their appearance. Successful arrival cities help newcomers find their footing in a new culture. They help them find work and start businesses. They connect residents with the larger city and open the door for those who want to buy houses and build wealth. 
3. One of the things local governments can do is show restraint and forbearance. In arrival cities, home-based businesses are common, and many people may live in small houses. Wise officials will consider whether enforcing building codes and business regulations not essential to safety does more harm than good to these places.
4. Arrival cities have some unique human-service needs around connections, transportation and education. With small adjustments, local governments could respond to these needs. Example: Adult language classes could be offered in public schools in the evenings.
5. If cities respond well to the needs of immigrants, everyone in Urban Atlanta will benefit. This is because, as the book makes clear, immigrants and their children create livelier, more interesting, more economically successful cities.