Host Cities: How Refugees Are Transforming the World’s Urban Settings

A revealing study of how the arrival of refugees affects and transforms cities

Cities all over the world experience large humanitarian influxes, and refugees and citizens alike must navigate the related risks and opportunities. Over the past twenty-five years, Karen Jacobsen has studied the interaction of refugees and cities and has trained scores of graduate students, many of whom now work with United Nations agencies or humanitarian nongovernmental organizations. Her research team at Tufts and this global network of aid workers give her firsthand knowledge of the impact of forced migration on cities and the lives of refugees living there.

Focusing on cities and refugees in Africa and the Middle East, Jacobsen draws universal lessons, distilling her research findings and wisdom from decades of experience into clear, vivid prose. The book is valuable for researchers, policy analysts, donors, and humanitarian workers in cities around the globe and for all readers trying to understand, beyond the headlines, one of the most troubling and volatile issues of our time.

Karen Jacobsen is the Henry J. Leir Professor of Global Migration at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. She has won grants from the MacArthur Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development and has consulted for nongovernmental and UN organizations, including the World Bank and UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency). She lives in Brookline, MA.