Cosmopolitanism is commonly understood as a phenomenon exclusive to the city, while the suburbs are primarily identified with provincialism. In this paper, based on research in Almere, this dichotomy is problematized and the existence of cosmopolitanism in suburbia is discussed.
This paper looks beyond the bias of strictly city perspectives when discussing cosmopolitanism, and Tzaninis investigates the repertoires of internationally mobile persons who find themselves in a suburban environment. The case is Almere, a Dutch new town 30km east of Amsterdam, a place that is rapidly diversifying but also demographically stagnating. The paper analyzes interviews with international migrants who moved to Almere within the past few years, and focuses on their mobility, experiences and aspirations, alluding ultimately to anti-urban cosmopolitan repertoires.
This paper is now published in Urban Geography (open access).