Speaker
Description
Urban rights, as developed in the United Nations' New Urban Agenda (2016), prioritize the values of inclusivity, sustainability, and equitable access to urban resources. Cities not only function as spaces for governance and economy but also for social encounter and exercising one's rights. The agenda foresees urban spaces in which all citizens, regardless of their legal and economic status, can fully exercise their rights to housing, work, and public service. Yet, realization of such rights is closely tied to financial access, a key but oftentimes overlooked dimension of urban citizenship. Financial access, understood as access to and use of financial services, including bank accounts, credit, and savings, forms a precondition for urban life engagement. It enables access to housing, livelihood development, and social security regimes. For migrant communities, financial exclusion is not a matter of simple economic lack but one that worsens ongoing structural disadvantage, preventing access to key urban assets. In this study, specifically, the case of Iranian migrants in Italy is considered, with whom financial access is particularly challenging in terms of overcoming bureaucratization, uncertainty about legal status, and restrictions in financial operations with Iran under international sanction regimes.
The analysis places financial access in theoretical frameworks for the New Urban Agenda and for the right to the city, arguing financial exclusion be a mechanism for urban marginality. With a mixed-methods approach combining in-depth qualitative interviews and survey data from Iranian migrants in major Italian cities, the study explores the interdependencies between migration governance, economic justice, and urban equity. It seeks to draw out an imperative for intervention in policies that promote financial access for migrant groups, enhancing expansive and inclusive urban citizenship.
| Keywords | Financial inclusion; Migration governance; Right to the city; Urban rights |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
