Refugees as Urban Stakeholders: Lessons From Reception of Ukrainians in German Cities

Valeria Lazarenko and Annegret Haase
Additional contact information
Valeria Lazarenko: Georg Simmel Center for Urban Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany / University of Hamburg, Germany
Annegret Haase: Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany

Urban Planning, 2026, vol. 11

Abstract: This article examines how reception and participation practices shape urban futures in Berlin and Leipzig, highlighting Ukrainian refugees as agents of urban change. We adopt a comparative approach to summarise and re‐analyse research carried out in several projects on the two cities. Through the lens of urban citizenship, we explore how civic engagement and participation among refugees can facilitate dialogue among urban stakeholders and support the implementation of sustainable, long‐term solutions. Unlike refugees from other countries, those from Ukraine have been granted temporary protection, which affords them a broad spectrum of rights. These include immediate access to the labour, healthcare, education, and housing markets, freedom of movement within and beyond the European Union, and the ability to commute between Germany and Ukraine. Concurrently, German host communities have demonstrated an impressive ability to communicate with Ukrainian authorities and stakeholders, facilitating collaborative discussions on long‐term solutions and the co‐creation of strategies for the future. While the proactive engagement of Ukrainian refugees in Germany invites a critical reassessment of the role of civil society actors as agents of urban transformation, this discourse should also consider double standards regarding the reception of different migrant groups. From the perspectives of forced migration research and urban future‐making, this complex scenario requires new conceptual approaches to assess its impact, challenges, and opportunities.

Keywords: agency; Berlin; Leipzig; participation; solidarity; Ukrainian refugees; urban citizenship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/11706 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v11:y:2026:a:11706

DOI: 10.17645/up.11706

Access Statistics for this article

Urban Planning is currently edited by Tiago Cardoso

More articles in Urban Planning from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().