Page - 136 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 2/2016

136 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 2 2o16 Christine Egger | Mobile World Passau Author’s affiliation Dr. Christine Egger, Universität Passau, Innstraße 41, 94032 Passau christine.egger @ vuni-passau.de Extended Abstract of: Christine Egger, ‘Mobile World Passau. Stadt und Migration in Niederbayern‘, Mobile Cul- ture Studies. The Journal 2, 2016, 115-133. <http://unipub.uni-graz.at/mcsj> developments of summer and autumn 2015, the hinterland of the city was enlarged once again. The new mobilities triggered by the conflicts in the Middle East made Passau a space in which the city, because of social, economic and political interdependences, was linked to regions affec- ted by war, and their people and societies. “Just as the past looms into our present, the presence of the far´ there´ looms into our near ‘here’ (Massey 2006, 31), writes sociologist Doreen Massey, thus exactly describing the situation of Passau. “If Arabs end up stranded in a Bavarian front yard, the world must be in disarray” (Coen and Sußebach 2015). The new mobilities caused by the violent conflicts in the Middle East have in recent years made the German town of Passau a base for many people from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. This study analyzes the effects of refugee movements and migration in the Lower Bavarian town in terms of the concept of the “arrival city” (Saunders 2011, 7-11). The study is based on findings from participatory observation, conversations with volunteer helpers, students and other residents of Passau, intensive exchange with refugees and a discursive media evaluation. Has urban society experienced any transformations? What kind of changes have occurred both for long-term and new residents, whether to their life worlds, their networks and opinions or to the institutions and structures of the city?