2 ms·

I'd add Amsterdam and Singapore.

AmericanChopper 5y ago
There are many, many cities around the world that succeed in bringing lots of people together. All of the major hubs in Canada, Europe and the US have huge immigrant populations. South America and Africa aren’t quite as good at attracting immigrants, and most Asian countries have incredibly isolationist and xenophobic immigration policies (by western standards at least). But melting pot cities certainly aren’t rare at all. Cities that do this and manage to have everybody getting along somewhat harmoniously are quite uncommon, but I don’t think NYC is one of them.
IkmoIkmo 5y ago
I personally find Amsterdam to be a bit lacking on that front. It often touts itself as being extremely multicultural, being >50% non-native (white) Dutch and having the most nationalities in one city. And it's to an extent true, but most nationalities will have only 1-10 people. There's a few major ethnic groups like Moroccans and Turks comprising of much of the 'diversity', and I feel most groups live very segregated from each other. New-west is very Moroccan/Turkish, Bijlmer is very black, Zuid/Centrum is very white. Social groups don't really mix that much, honestly it's pretty embarrassing for a country with such a progressive an open-minded reputation, and for a city with an international reputation. There's a few mixed areas but by and large I don't feel a very multicultural vibe, it's much more segregated in my experience, particularly among the local population. In high-income expat circles you'll definitely find people from all over the world though. Besides that I feel Dutch think in labels quite often and Amsterdam is a bit of a village, it's hard to be truly anonymous here. I run into people I know all the time. I miss the anonymity of being in a truly big city like New York or Shanghai, and generally I miss living abroad and being able to make-up a new identity for yourself.

There are many, many cities around the world that succeed in bringing lots of people together. All of the major hubs in Canada, Europe and the US have huge immigrant populations. South America and Africa aren’t quite as good at attracting immigrants, and most Asian countries have incredibly isolationist and xenophobic immigration policies (by western standards at least). But melting pot cities certainly aren’t rare at all. Cities that do this and manage to have everybody getting along somewhat harmoniously are quite uncommon, but I don’t think NYC is one of them.

IkmoIkmo 5y ago

I personally find Amsterdam to be a bit lacking on that front. It often touts itself as being extremely multicultural, being >50% non-native (white) Dutch and having the most nationalities in one city. And it's to an extent true, but most nationalities will have only 1-10 people. There's a few major ethnic groups like Moroccans and Turks comprising of much of the 'diversity', and I feel most groups live very segregated from each other. New-west is very Moroccan/Turkish, Bijlmer is very black, Zuid/Centrum is very white. Social groups don't really mix that much, honestly it's pretty embarrassing for a country with such a progressive an open-minded reputation, and for a city with an international reputation. There's a few mixed areas but by and large I don't feel a very multicultural vibe, it's much more segregated in my experience, particularly among the local population. In high-income expat circles you'll definitely find people from all over the world though. Besides that I feel Dutch think in labels quite often and Amsterdam is a bit of a village, it's hard to be truly anonymous here. I run into people I know all the time. I miss the anonymity of being in a truly big city like New York or Shanghai, and generally I miss living abroad and being able to make-up a new identity for yourself.