Abstract The regulation of migration has mostly been regarded as a core task of the nation-state, which has the right to control its territorial borders and issue entry visas and citizenships. In the field of urban research, cities and municipalities are therefore regarded as largely dependent on state “migration regimes”. This special issue examines the central question of whether there is also a “local turn” in the field of immigration policy. The cities of Europe are dependent on immigration in order to stabilise their population figures; without immigration they would shrink. In most cases, urban policy is growth- and competition-oriented. Nevertheless, most cities have not yet developed explicit immigration strategies. Wherever this does occur, it is for the most part socially highly selective: many urban development concepts merely articulate the desire for the immigration of young and qualified workers. Many cities still rely on the influx of the “creative class” when competing with other municipalities. The immigration of refugees and asylum seekers, on the other hand, is often seen as a burden by the municipalities and is delegated to integration policy. Due to the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers by the German state, cities have very little room for manoeuvre in terms of controlling the influx of these immigrant groups. Against this background, this conceptual introductory article examines two key questions: (i) Which migration policy options do cities have and how are they theorised? (ii) Which proactive strategies can cities develop for the purpose of targeted recruitment of immigrants? Immigration Policy – A New Field of Activity for Cities?

中文翻译：

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移民政策——新的责任区域？

摘要 移民监管大多被视为民族国家的一项核心任务，民族国家有权控制其领土边界并签发入境签证和公民身份。因此，在城市研究领域，城市和市政当局在很大程度上依赖于国家“移民制度”。本期特刊探讨了移民政策领域是否也出现“局部转向”这一核心问题。欧洲城市依赖移民来稳定人口数量；没有移民，他们就会缩小。在大多数情况下，城市政策以增长和竞争为导向。尽管如此，大多数城市尚未制定明确的移民战略。无论这种情况发生在哪里，它在很大程度上都是社会高度选择性的：许多城市发展概念仅仅表达了年轻和合格工人移民的愿望。许多城市在与其他城市竞争时仍然依赖“创意阶层”的涌入。另一方面，难民和寻求庇护者的移民往往被市政当局视为负担，并被委派给融合政策。由于德国政府疏散难民和寻求庇护者，城市在控制这些移民群体的涌入方面几乎没有回旋余地。在此背景下，这篇概念性介绍性文章探讨了两个关键问题：(i) 城市有哪些移民政策选择？它们是如何理论化的？(ii) 城市可以制定哪些积极的战略来有针对性地招募移民？移民政策——城市活动的新领域？