Integration planning and policies can originate through a "top-down" process, wherein the government puts a national integration policy in place, or through a "bottom-up" process, wherein the population, civil society and local authorities come together to forge a plan together.
Sweden and Holland are examples of "top-down" and have been widely praised for their forward thinking. Policies which gave local voting rights to immigrants and provided relatively easy access to naturalisation were envisaged as conducive to creating a more equal environment for all. In these cases national policies stimulated Local Authorities to develop integration policies.
There are many countries however that have not developed national integration policy, and in some of these cases integration has been led by cities at the local level. Examples of this can be found in Zurich, Bern and Basel of Switzerland, Germany and Austria respectively, wherein city policies were developed in order to enhance their viability as community entities and increase living standards for all.
Two large-scale research projects on local integration planning developed a number of reasons local authorities have tactical and strategic advantages in the planning of integration over and above that of national authorities. These projects were The UNESCO-MOST project "Multicultural Policies and Modes of Citizenship in European Cities" (MPMC) which ran from 1996-2004, and The CLIP project, Cities for Local Integration Policies which began in 2006. They found that planning at local authority level had the following advantages:
- National policy addresses individual immigrants, and much of the policy implementation relies on mobilising forces within immigrant groups to be successful. These groups are easier to mobilise at the local level.
- Civil society organisations play a crucial role in helping to frame integration policies in ways that are acceptable to the broader public. These are also easier to mobilise at the local level and tend to be tailored to local interests in ways that are more acceptable.
- Local authorities are in a better position to define the right priorities for action in a number of domains of integration. Local authorities have effective and generally accepted instruments to promote integration in labour market and social policy domains.
- Integration policy should help people create their own place within society, including through the creation of open civic spaces through which people have opportunities to interact. Training should occur with labour market and education in mind and therefore at the local level.