Migrant economy and spatial development. A resource of urban and regional development as an object of local governance

尽管在德国的学术和公共辩论中，人们强烈主张把重点放在外国移民给社会带来的机遇而不是问题上，但移民经济几乎没有被认为是地方和区域发展的潜在资源。相应地，德国的各市、区（州）和区域规划当局很少尝试积极支持移民经济。特别是在主要城市中心以外，移徙经济的发展潜力在很大程度上仍然被忽视。拟议的项目从地方和区域发展的角度处理移民经济。其目的是确定如何在地方一级（特别是在非大都市地区）利用移民经济的发展潜力，确定将移民经济纳入地方和区域发展战略的主要障碍，并探讨如何克服这些障碍。通过解决这些问题，该研究有助于填补双重学术空白：首先，它将注意力引向移民经济在地方和区域发展战略中的潜在作用，这在最近的辩论和研究中没有得到充分承认；其次，它主要关注非大都市地区。关于方法论，拟议的项目被设计为一个案例研究，并应用不同的（定性和定量）实证研究方法的混合。案例研究选择了两个范围广泛的城乡地区：由德国商业和手工艺商会划定的不伦瑞克和罗斯托克地区。研究过程计划持续30个月，分为五个模块。基本上，它涉及对两个研究区域的移民经济进行盘点，详细分析移民经济是否以及以何种方式成为地方政治和地方治理的对象，并深入考察地方和区域发展利益相关者与移民经济代表如何相互感知和判断。拟议的项目将有助于发现在地方和区域发展战略中利用移民经济作为发展资源的机会和限制；-个案研究区域在移民经济促进地方和区域发展方面的地方和区域治理的优势和劣势；-在地方和区域发展战略框架内解决移民环境问题的备选办法。

Although a strong claim has been made in German academic and public debates to focus on the opportunities rather than the problems the immigration of people from abroad bears for society, the migrant economy has hardly been acknowledged as a potential resource for local and regional development. Correspondingly, very few attempts have been made by municipalities, districts (Landkreise) and regional planning authorities in Germany to actively support migrant economies. In particular outside the major urban centres development potentials of the migrant economy remains largely overlooked. The proposed project deals with the migrant economy from the perspective of local and regional development. It aims at ascertaining how the development potentials of the migrant economy can be made use of at the local level (in particular in non-metropolitan areas), defining the major impediments to the inclusion of the migrant economy in local and regional development strategies, and exploring how these impediments can be overcome. By addressing these questions the research helps closing a twofold academic void: Firstly, it directs the attention to the potential role of migrant economies in local and regional development strategies which had not been acknowledged sufficiently in recent debates and studies; secondly, it does so with a major focus on non-metropolitan areas. Regarding methodology the proposed project is designed as a case study and applies a mix of different (qualitative and quantitative) empirical research methods. Two wide-ranging urban-rural regions have been selected for the case studies: the regions of Braunschweig and Rostock as delineated by the German Chambers of Commerce and Handcraft. The research process is scheduled for a duration of 30 months and organized in five modules. Basically, it involves an inventory on the migrant economy in the two study regions, a detailed analysis on whether and in what way the migrant economy is an object of local politics and local governance, and an in-depth examination of how local and regional development stakeholders on the one hand and representatives of the migrant economy on the other hand perceive and judge on each other. The proposed project will result in the detection of- opportunities of and limits to using the migrant economy as a development resource in local and regional development strategies;- strengths and weaknesses of local and regional governance in the case study regions regarding the valorisation of the migrant economy for local and regional development; - options to address migrant milieus in the framework of local and regional development strategies.