ABSTRACT
The intersection of movements of people and trade are repositioning cities and people’s positions within circuits of commerce, information, and meaning. Municipalities of all sizes are destinations and stations in people’s search for profit, passage, or protection and nodes in networks of regulation operating at multiple geographic and temporal scales. In this context, this chapter questions the practical meaning of urban inclusion and how it might be achieved in an era of mass mobility, decentralisation, and precarious work. It calls for scholars to broaden what is considered ‘migration’ and ‘urban’ policy in ways that are both more and less geographically targeted so as to capture specific migrant spaces and their connections beyond urban boundaries. In recognising the myriad formal and informal mechanisms regulating access to and use of these spaces, it points to forms of regulation rarely reflected in ‘state law’. Lastly, and perhaps most fundamentally, it suggests that the informalisation of work, politics, and regulation means revisiting the right to the city. It questions the normative basis of inclusion and the ancillary questions this raises for the objectives and efficacy of participation, representation, and incorporation.
