Urban Research Round-Up for December, 2017
Periodically, I like to provide a list of recent articles and research for those interested in missions in the urban context. Each of these articles went public in the last couple of weeks, and all have bearing on the fulfilling the Great Commission in our cities.
Immigration
Of course, immigration is an important topic for urban missions. Over the last week or so, the Brookings Institute has released several pieces of research concerning immigration. I’ll point to two that I think are worth reading. The first cuts against the narrative that immigration is an economic drain on the United States. Instead, Brookings notes the overwhelming number of successful companies founded by immigrants. Of course, Fortune 500 companies are the opposite of an economic drain. The second article is a long read, but a helpful summary of the current state of the international migrant crisis.
-
216 companies on the Fortune 500 were founded by immigrants or their children
-
Problems and solutions to the international migrant crisis
Peak Millennial?
“Peak millennial” may be a new term for you, but it sounds like research is indicating a number of US cities may have already hit it. In other words, the recent trends of millennial growth in major US urban centers may have hit their high water mark. This is a really big deal for those trying to minister in cities. For a number of years lately, much of the urban church planting conversation has been about millennials. What happens when that number starts to decline in cities? For those of you serving in cities, I’d give these articles a look.
