International migration is an integral feature of the globalizing economy. The conventional approach to migration privileges the role of national policy in regulating, facilitating or restricting population movements. It is the city, however, that is destination of choice and it is the city that hosts migrant populations. Urban policy provides the opportunity for more welfare-oriented approaches to issues in international migration. Professor Marcello Balbo of the IUAV University of Venice initiated a ten-country study with the help of UN-Habitat and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Case studies were commissioned on Bangkok, Berlin, Dakar, Johannesburg, Karachi, Naples, Sao Paolo, Tijuana, Vancouver and Vladivostok. Haris Gazdar was invited to prepare the Karachi case study. The studies were presented at the World Urban Forum in September 2004 in Barcelona.