ABSTRACT
More than half of the world's population lives in cities. As such, cities are culmination points of linguistic and cultural diversity with increasing mobility and international migration the driving forces of such diversification. We begin our contribution with a historical snapshot of linguistic diversity in cities, based on the example of Berlin, Germany. This historical example shows that linguistic diversity is a common feature of cities and urban areas, however research-based knowledge of the consequences of this reality and of the effects of related policies is scarce. We present a selection of related research and methodologies, focussing on descriptions and illustrations of the linguistic texture of cities via linguistic land- and soundscaping. We further present examples of policies and provisions made in response to increasing linguistic diversity in various cities. We conclude that this burgeoning area of research would benefit from both more varied and focussed approaches to establishing systematic knowledge about the consequences of linguistic diversity in cities, which may feed policies in response to it.
