New to Australia? Good luck! Migrants can no longer afford 'gateway' suburbs

The concentration of disadvantaged people in certain parts of cities is almost always seen as undesirable by urban researchers and policymakers. But is this always the case? Our research demonstrates that it isn't. Concentrations of people who are often classified as "disadvantaged" - namely newly arrived humanitarian refugees and their families - can have significant positive outcomes. This is because such "gateway suburbs", while housing large numbers of disadvantaged people, are not disadvantaged places. As part of a broader research project, we chose two suburbs that were identified as disadvantaged and characterised by high numbers of immigrants. We spoke with residents and local service providers about their experiences, place changes over time and current settlement opportunities for newly arriving migrants. The suburbs we chose were Auburn in Sydney and Springvale in Melbourne.