Can urban fabric encourage tolerance? Evidence that the structure of cities influences attitudes toward migrants in Europe

Abstract

Does the structure of a city influence how its residents feel about migrants? Jane Jacobs railed against modernist planners who sought to replace the complex fabric of cities with suburbanized designs that prioritized sunshine and greenery. She theorized that this design trend had resulted in few opportunities for neighbours to interact with each other. In today's diverse cities, neighbourly interaction may be one key to enhancing social cohesion. Intergroup contact has been shown to reduce prejudice, and recent studies have found that even "mere-exposure" may have a positive effect. Taken together, the work of urban theorists and contact theorists implies that residents of compact cities should be more likely to hold positive attitudes toward their neighbours - including migrants. Recent research, however, casts doubt on how well contact theory applies to the lived diversity of modern cities. This paper uses data from 22 European cities to identify a relationship between one's attitude toward migrants and the design of the city in which they live. It finds that, when controlling for individual- and city-level factors, residents of cities high in "continuous urban fabric" are more likely to agree that migrants are good for their city.