Vision for a welcoming city

Let's imagine arriving as a newcomer in a truly welcoming city. We might find ourselves welcomed by our family and friends or, if we knew no one, by volunteer greeters. At the airport, we might see a campaign telling us that we are welcome here. Someone might point us to the local one-stop shop where we would be able to find the information we need for day one (a map and emergency numbers), but also for our first weeks and months, providing guidance on the customs of our new home as well as practical information in how to get around, enrol our children in school and get medical support. Perhaps, that evening, we receive an invitation for dinner with someone locally and are pointed in the direction of clubs and community centres that can help us to make friends. If we need to learn English, we have the option to learn online, with videos teaching us about our rights in the city, or in person, with community classes, taught by local volunteers, that can also help us make friends. If we are ready to get into work, we receive support from a local major employer or other help to make sure that we can use the skills and assets that we bring, as a doctor or teacher, or we receive support to set up our own business. While we are learning, we have access to resources in our own language to help us get by. The spaces and places of the city have been designed to promote welcoming, thinking about how people from different groups can meet and interact in an easy, convivial way, such as in parent cafes, co-developed housing spaces and museums, including those dedicated to migration.