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Starting from the literature on ethnic neighbourhoods as places of leisure and consumption in old immigration countries, the chapter analyzes the case of “Lazzaretto”, a multiethnic neighbourhood of Milan. Despite the presence of some pre-conditions highlighted by both theoretical and empirical studies, the transformation of Lazzaretto into an attractive ethnic neighbourhood is hindered by some political and cultural factors. Thanks to some in-depth interviews to local politicians and entrepreneurs we show the crucial role played by a general anti-immigrant climate, by local government’ lack of commitment towards multiculturalism and by some institutional constraints on the blossoming of immigrant businesses.

Our paper focuses on the socio-economic and the legal/institutional characteristics of international migrants’ incorporation into the Italian labour market. Our interpretation of the statistical evidence available with respect to immigrant’s labour insertion combines the role played by the local characteristics of labour force demand, the normative constraints generated by immigration policies —and more broadly by the institutional framework which organises economic relationships— and the role performed by migrants network. The second part of the paper will focus on Indian immigration in the province of Cremona with a twofold objective. On the one hand, it will show how the “productive vocation” of the Cremona Province, together with the role played by social and economic actors and the institutional/regulatory framework, has had a crucial influence on the methods through which Indian citizens residing in that area have entered the workforce and to generate the local socio-economic arrangements which accompany immigrants settlement. On the other hand, it will reveal how Sikhs represent a deviant case compared to the salient characteristics of migrants’ descriptive labour insertion models discussed in the first part.