Thoughts about the City-Region Concept from a Comprehensive and Equitable Perspective, Taking into Account the Phenomenon of Forced Migration

Abstract

The concept of city-region has become very important nowadays, due to its connection to the globalization process, as well as to regional and local development. However, this concept seems to disregard vulnerable populations —such as displaced people— by only including primary cities, where all the commercial and economic activity is centralized, in its theoretical foundations as global cities or city-region. This paper aims to approach the concept of city-region, first by analyzing the effects of globalization, forced migration, poverty and social capital, finally to outline a few strategies from the theory of social capital and social networks that lead to the regional development of that specific population and which, therefore, imply the notion of a comprehensive and equitable city-region