Multiculturalism & Smart Cities: We don’t use the full potential, yet

Anyone who has ever been to Frankfurt, Berlin or other big cities in Germany will state: It’s a multicultural country.

But what exactly does it mean? Can we measure the extent of multiculturalism? And do we use it for good? Can we tie it in with technology to help German cities prosper?

If the first questions are easy to answer (thanks to publicly available data), the latter requires more thorough contemplation.

Let’s take a look at the stats.

10% of Germany’s residents hold foreign passports (status as of Dec 31, 2015) — an army of more than 8 million people.

For the top 5 largest cities — Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt — the quota of foreigners lies well above 10%, though. As Berliners joke, you will survive in Berlin without German but speaking English is a must. Living in Hamburg, I heard a variety of languages in the streets: from Vietnamese to Swahili, from Russian to Afrikaans. But which city is the Babylon of Germany?

Don’t jump to quick conclusions: It’s not Berlin.

Frankfurt — known by so many travellers only as an airport hub — heads the ranking.

Almost every third resident here holds a foreign passport. Munich often deemed as the most traditional and “German” city follows closely with only 1.45 p. p. less. A vibrant startup scene in Berlin attracts thousands of young expatriates and lands the capital forth place right after Cologne. Hamburg boasts only 13.9% foreigners among its population.

It’s quite easy to guesstimate the biggest diaspora groups in Frankfurt simply looking at eateries. I know it’s far from a scientific approach but works perfectly in this case! Döner places seem to dominate the fast food market, omnipresent pizzerias and gelaterias won’t let you go without some extra calories. No wonder: more than 27.000 Turkish nationals and 14.5 thousand Italian citizens call Frankfurt home.

Interestingly enough, the presence of Croatians and Poles are not as visible although their numbers are very close to Italian population: 13.9 and 13.8 per cent. I rarely hear Polish in the streets and have seen only a couple of Polish groceries and Balkan cafés (if you know any, drop a line in the comments).

Much more exciting the numbers get if we add German citizens with immigration background to the equation.

In 2012, the German authorities broadened the term “immigration background” to include naturalised Germans, Germans born abroad, resettlers, as well as children under 18 years old with at least one parent with immigration background. The rationale of this change was simple: Many other countries employ similar definitions. Standardisation makes cross-country comparison easier.

Again, Frankfurt beats them all. Half of city’s inhabitants (49,81%) have immigration background being either foreign nationals (like me) or Germans with immigration background (like half of my colleagues). Half!

None of the other cities is a match. Munich? Comes second with 41%. Cologne who is attracting media professionals? Number three with “only” 36%. Historically, port cities are magnets for nomads, travellers and those seeking a new life or a new adventure. Nonetheless, Hamburg ranks 4th with 32% whilst Berlin — who would believe it? — rounds out the top 5 with 29%.

Naturally, within the city the distribution of immigrant population differs from district to district. Frankfurt is no exception. Below is a map of neighbourhoods with colour-coded percentage of residents with foreign passports.

The map is dynamic: hover over a district to see exact values.

For quite a while gentrification in the Central Station District (Bahnhofsviertel) has been a hot topic. Frankly speaking, I could see little progress walking every day to my office on Mainzer Landstrasse. Skyscrapers sprout into the sky next to brothels. Managers in suits hurry past the junkies arranging their next shot. Living here is cheap, loud and not as safe as in posh Westend or bohemian Bornheim. No wonder Banhhofsviertel attracts immigrants. More than 58% of its residents hold foreign passports and in total 70% have immigration background.

Gallus is somewhat different — it’s a striped pattern. Picturesque streets run along ghetto-like sidewalks. Ugly blocks covered with graffiti overlook peaceful parks. Europe Quarter (Europaviertel) steps ups and dramatically changes the landscape. Civic activists run special projects in order to help people from polar worlds meet and find common language, share the space in a more connected way.

A friend of mine lives in a cozy apartment in Gallus and complains that he does not get much sleep. From time to time he hears someone screaming in the middle of the night in the street — even earplugs do not help. “Sexual assaults, robberies,” — he shrugs but does not plan to move out. He contributes to those 43% of foreigners living in Gallus. Foreigners and Germans with immigration background constitute 65% of the local population.

Another example is Hausen. This district is light-green on the first map with its 34% of foreigners among population but turns dark-blue on the second map. More than 60% of the locals have immigration background which can be easily seen in the parks (hello, my beloved Niddapark!) and playgrounds. Kids chat in a perfect abracadabra.

I know what you’re thinking: nice and fancy stats. It’s clear that Germany’s largest cities are highly multicultural.

So what?

In my opinion, it’s time to tap into this multiculturalism in a new way — using civic engagement technology. Think about the numbers from a practical point of view. Almost 50% of Frankfurt’s residents have first-hand or family experience of immigrating to Germany. Calling this country a new home. Learning the language. Understanding and accepting the social rules. Why don’t we spread the knowledge among the newcomers?

Germany has been struggling with an influx of refugees lately. One of the biggest challenges is crystal clear: How do we integrate all these immigrants? Apart from war trauma and absence of private space, they suffer from isolation, language barrier, loneliness and boredom. The State is incapable of increasing manpower of social agencies to support and integrate hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers.

What could we do in cities like Frankfurt?

We should employ civic engagement apps such as comuni chiamo or CitySourced. These apps allow residents to play an active role in city’s life: suggest improvements, file complains and requests. Municipalities in turn report on the progress and communicate important announcements, e. g., construction works or changing routes of public transport. See the circled number on the screenshot? The Italian authorities have already sent almost 2 million messages to the citizens!

In June, Frankfurt opened a new asylum camp 500 meters away from my place. There was not a single poster in the neighbourhood. I learned about it accidentally and got curious if the event was covered in the media. In fact, it was. Frankfurter Rundschau published two short articles. Provided that my area is full of expatriates working for international companies, I doubt many of us read Frankfurter Rundschau. I am sure though that most of my neighbours would have liked to be if not involved but at least informed.

With an app, the city could have sent an announcement to Bockenheim residents and invite us to help: bring clothes, teach German or simply show around (after an induction for volunteers).

It would have been even better to send notifications to specific target groups. Does it sound a bit like targeting on Facebook to you?

Well, in Germany, municipalities collect a lot of personal data — almost like Facebook. Frankfurt knows precisely where I live, which passport I hold, where I studied, etc. If you live in Germany, you’ll be no exception. Should Frankfurt employ an app and engage its citizens into a real conversation, the authorities could address certain residents with high precision.

Using the database, the authorities could push notifications, say, only to the locals of Arabic origin living in a particular neighbourhood. App users would get a message like: “Hello! We are opening a new asylum camp in your area and need support. Could you come to interpret (Arabic-German) for the refugees on Saturday for 1–2 hours?” Boy, more than 5.000 Moroccan citizens in town (apart from naturalised ones) — someone might find some time for volunteering!

You may wonder: “But would people react? Would they even install the app? Do they have smartphones?”

I am confident that yes. Perhaps, not today. But if we start this process early enough, in one, two, three years we may reap spectacular rewards. And not only for the refugees. Thousands of incomers treat Frankfurt as a stop-over. They come for a year or two to work, establish few ties with the locals and leave. Such “transit passengers” never develop a feeling of belonging. A civic engagement app could help all the parties benefit from living together — and finally make our multiculturalism a well-utilised asset.

What are your ideas? How can we use multiculturalism in a smart way? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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Photo credit: Knut Wiarda, Fotolia.