About the project

The project explores the correlation between the layout and architecture of places used for both displaced persons and their hosts, and suggests inclusionary programmatic and spatial solutions in future responses to urban displacement. The research concerns the role and design of public spaces in urban life. It explores the application of urban design and architectural practices in crises contexts and contingency planning and asks what architects and urbanists can learn from studying displacement situations.

Awareness of the particularities of urban displacement is gaining traction within international humanitarian and development communities. Urban is now on the agenda, and place‐based approaches is a term that is starting to appear in the policy documents of intergovernmental actors involved in urban crises response, such as the World Bank and the United Nations. Global policy frameworks address urban displacement challenges as overarching goals, but few include specific spatial and urban planning means to achieve agreed goals.

 

^{Image: ‘favela 6’ by Erin Williamson (Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)}