Rutter refreshingly challenges widespread thinking on integration and social cohesion. She sees most contemporary research into the topic based on Muslims and Islamophobia, and states that we must look beyond this to the roles that government, NGOs, local public services, and employers must play in wider social cohesion. Rutter considers the need for neighbourhood ‘transversal space’ which is not segregated and where migrants are visible and can mix with long-settled residents to dispel stereotypes and perceived hostilities. This book calls for political leadership to do this. Much current research focuses on the economic outcomes of migrants, rather than the success of society in socially integrating them (something far more difficult to measure). This is a good resource for supporting students in assessing the success of urban regeneration schemes and analysing how schemes solve this issue.  

Lammy argues that by our very nature, humans inherently search for belonging. The book begins with his DNA test confirming genetic links with Sierra Leone, Niger and South Africa, and follows with a biographical account of his experiences growing up in, as he sees it, a British tribal society. His social and political analysis identifies Brexit as driven by xenophobia – he writes: 'Diversity, immigration and technological progress can be hugely positive, but when they break down shared ways of life and social cohesion, it is understandable that people get defensive.' His analysis is critical of British society and the political system, citing the handling of Grenfell Tower headed by white, middle-class men. He goes on to provide a range of solutions to instil this sense of belonging, albeit largely political. These include compulsory National Service, a new British Constitution, and more mayors with devolved powers. Writers of some of the other resources included here would disagree and see cohesion coming from the bottom up, through shared social space. Good background reading on diverse communities that would serve any teacher or student well when covering urban issues and challenges.   

Oosterlynck et al provide an international comparison between cities and argue that diversity and multiculturalism do not deserve the negative connotations by which they are often labelled. They recognise that many cities have moved beyond multiculturalism, and onto ‘super-diversity’ – many other factors come into play, such as socioeconomic status, legal position, education, age and gender, making the 'local/migrant' labels unuseable. (Chapter 4 is important here, as the writer examines the term ‘others’.) Later in the book, even the term ‘hyper-diversity’ is introduced. Like Rutter, the writer identifies shared space as essential in achieving social cohesion, and this book draws on case study cities all over the world to assess how they live with 'super- diversity'. It is a book suitable for teachers and students covering urban change and regeneration, and the impacts of migration.

This resource supports teachers when considering relationships between place, migration, and urban change. Rogaly emphasises that places (in this case Peterborough) are ‘porous, extroverted, and always connected to other places’, as he moves the reader away from the all-too-common oversimplification in research of the ‘local/migrant’. He challenges this binary concept by identifying ‘non-elite cosmopolitanism’; finding evidence that working-class communities (which do not fit the stereotype of homogenised and white), negotiate, live with, and embrace difference rather than being threatened by it. Like Divercities, this certainly gives a positive outlook on social cohesion in a diverse community such as Peterborough. This book helps support students with exam questions on the impacts of migration in urban environments at GCSE and A-level (where students can draw on evidence from his ethnographic research), and the more complex analysis required for undergraduates. All will benefit from being assured that ‘non-elite cosmopolitanism’ is alive and well.