Or how to change the world by embracing it’s problems.

People don’t like being poor. They want their kids to live better lives then they’re living. Just those self evident motivations are enough to throw the word into turmoil for centuries now, ever since the best bet for a better life could be found in cities, flocks of people have looked at the city for their futures.

In Arrival City, Doug Saunders explains some large historical events through the lens of village to urban migration, explains what went wrong, why things exploded, and zooms in on many places where exactly the same thing is happening now. City after city, case after case, he deepens his argument. After a few hundred pages you’re left with a very nuanced multilayered vision on migration, how it shapes the world, why it goes wrong sometimes, why sometimes it works.

The conclusion resonates with my feelings about it, that migration can’t be stopped and thus shouldn’t be stopped, it just needs to be handled the right way so it can be turned into a good thing for society. But before I read this book, I only had vague ideas what “handling it the right way” entailed. Now, I’ve discovered problems I didn’t know existed an how they can be treated. I’ve had my mind changed a few times.That’s always nice.

The discourse is not left-wing or right-wing, instead very explicitly insists on a combination of free market dynamics and government support, personal stories spice up the book, but the conclusions are always based on sound statistical data.

I’d be very interested in reading a book equally well founded and well written that disagrees with Saunders, but until then, I think this book will have a big influence on how I look at the world.

It definitely deepened my contempt for anti-immigrant voices in society and their simplistic and plainly wrong lecture of problems and possible “solutions”.

Every politician, mayor and urban planner should read this book.