City as place of refugee settlement : The case of the intercultural city of Ansan, Korea

Keywords: city, refugee, settlement, integration, multiculturalism
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 65

Abstract

Cities are increasingly emerging as the scale and site of refugee reception and settlement. While the nation-state regulates legal terms of stay for refugees, it is the city that shapes their conditions of integration and day-to-day living. This paper explores the case of Ansan city, the largest host of South Korea’s refugee population, and examines how its urban actors contribute to the unique positioning of Ansan as a city fostering refugee settlement. In the backdrop of nationwide hostility towards refugees and a largely indifferent response of the South Korean government, the stance of Ansan is a national anomaly. With a historic presence of a sizeable immigrant population working in a nearby industrial complex, Ansan developed as city of migrants in the modern decades. The combination of a steady influx of migrants, active civil society and multicultural city branding on part of the municipal government has given rise to a conducive environment for refugees to settle in. In particular, Ansan’s pursuit of a multicultural city, first as a “multicultural-village special zone” and now, as an intercultural city appointed by the Council of Europe, has opened up refugees’ access to welfare, migrant facilities, and opportunities not available in other regions of the nation. Through archival and participatory research at a city-designated refugee support organization, I demonstrate that the city asserts itself as a key unit, which is recognized and echoed by the local organization staff and the refugees who note the value of being in Ansan and not elsewhere.