A truly welcoming and inclusive city is not just an aspiration—it is essential to the future of our increasingly diverse urban societies.

Yet too often, policy and practice lack the theoretical and research foundations needed for meaningful and effective implementation.

This book bridges this gap, offering an interdisciplinary framework grounded in empirical research and case studies from 12 UK cities and international partners. Engaging with key governance challenges, it explores how cities define and implement welcoming policies across multiple sectors.

Moving beyond critique, this book provides a constructive, action-oriented approach to integration and social cohesion. It will be essential reading for UK policy makers, regional leaders and scholars from sociology and political science to migration studies and urban governance.