Camps and camp-like settings in urban environments: bridging humanitarian and development activities

Project Logo
DOI of the original publication
URI
https://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/47412
Project type
angewandte Forschung
Project start
01.01.2025
Project end
31.12.2026
Project status
laufend
Project contact
Project manager
Contributors
Patterson, Ciara
Sprinceau Serghei
Grigoriu, Inga
Guigov, Alexandru
Eyadat, Zaid
Alshoubaki, Waed
Saleh, Reem
Description
Abstract
This project is a response to the urgent and interconnected issues of refugee aid and urban development. It aims to tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing global society: providing refugees with life chances from the moment of displacement. It recognizes the gap between traditional refugee aid structures (camps and camp-like settings) and the current global shift towards proactive, human-centered urban development. This project explores the connections between emergency and reception structures to bridge humanitarian and development efforts. The project fills this gap by prioritizing the role of planning. As a scientific discipline theorizing the social divide and a professional field involved in camp planning and urban development, planning can guide policy areas such as migration and asylum. This approach has the potential to facilitate a more sustainable socio-spatial and economic integration, thereby reducing the risk of exclusion and decline. Our research targets NGOs, IOs, state and non-state actors, refugees, politicians, and urban planners. To delve into the camp's socio-spatial dynamics, we use qualitative hermeneutic methods and quantitative spatial analysis. Our research team, comprising 9 scholars (NGO workers/professionals, research fellows, and professors), is spread across our case studies in Moldova, Jordan, and Switzerland. For the scientific community, we support a reflection about camps as neighborhoods. For the professional community, we endeavour to illustrate the potential influence of planning on the social cohesiveness and urban integration of refugees.
Link
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
School
Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit
Institute
Institut Sozialplanung, Organisationaler Wandel und Stadtentwicklung
Financed by
The Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS)
Project partner
The State University of Moldova
The University of Jordan
Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI)
Contracting authority
The Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS)
SAP reference
S256-0149-2
Keywords
Arrival cities
Arrival Infrastructure
Participatory Urbanism
Socio-spatial Integration
Humanitarian & development activities
Subject (DDC)
360 - Soziale Probleme, Sozialdienste, Versicherungen
Publications
Thumbnail Image
Publication
A Human-Centered Shelter Design for People on the Move in the Al-Sahel Region
(MDPI, 21.10.2024) Al-Shoubaki, Hind; Psychogyios, Dimitris; Drilling, Matthias; Chatziefthymiou, Yioryos; Fragkou, Tatiani; Marinho Costa, André; Tsangrassoulis, Aris [in: Sustainability]
This article addresses the development of a human-centered shelter design tailored to meet the specific needs of refugees in the Al-Sahel Region. It focuses on five essential aspects of humanitarian-centered design. The goal is to create a livable unit that accommodates the three distinct phases of an emergency, transitional, and durable situation. We have adopted a non-linear design approach to develop the refugee shelter unit. We engage in discussions with team experts following each data collection phase. The conceptual design of the shelter unit is intended to align with the refugee settlement’s natural growth while maintaining a degree of control over its evolution. We have outlined a spatial configuration for a residential unit designed for three to six individuals and various patio options. Additionally, we have devised plans for an education and healthcare facility, all designed with the same structure to bring a more organized approach to the organic growth of the camp. The design proposal adopts a process-oriented approach, incorporating refugees indirectly in the design and construction of their shelters. While we do not assert that the framework of a ‘refugee camp’ can be sustainable, our goal is to show that its planning, in the absence of alternatives, should adhere to sustainability criteria.
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift