In this chapter we link the city to the reality of human mobility. We first analyse the relationship between city survival and human mobility, explain than why cities invest in openness and discuss the specific rights that cities have developed and that distinguish the city from the nation-state, in particular three forms of (liquid) citizenship are currently being developed in cities: informal rights to welcome migrants through the civic world of associations in the urban context, the general posture of a city that announces itself to be safe and the provision of partial rights for people who have no access to welfare and other services. Our main point is that the city produces, every day, offers of inclusion for mobile people. These rights, established alongside nation-state-defined citizenship, are instrumental to city governments’ attempts to reinforce their global economic position and are dependent on the success of this economic strategy.
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