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The planning of Zaatari camp and its suggested spatial hierarchy. Source: Dalal based on UNHCR (2014).
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With the increase of refugee movements since 2014 in Europe and the Near East, the debate of how to plan appropriate shelters and emergency accommodation has gained a new momentum. Established techno-managerial approaches have been criticised as inappropriate and the professional community of planners and architects was increasingly drawn into deba...
Context in source publication
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... were made up of standardised blocks composed of a matrix of shelters (caravans), arranged in a grid, and surrounded by com- munal latrines, kitchens, and multi-use spaces. The or- derly vision of how districts, services, blocks, accesses, and infrastructures linked together in a master plan (see Figure 1) and stand in stark contrast to the initial camp. ...
Citations
... overlooking the socio-cultural specificities of displaced populations [2,15,[50][51][52][53]. However, the social structure of displaced communities plays a critical role in shaping spatial patterns, as refugees adapt their environments to reflect their cultural identities and communal practices [2,16]. ...
... Socio-spatial reflections further reveal similarities: in Al-Hussein Camp, undefined and vacant spaces emerged from ad-hoc adjustments to housing units, often becoming neglected areas prone to undesirable behaviors due to limited surveillance. Zaatari exhibits a parallel phenomenon, where refugees have carved out emerging spaces of interest-often controlled by specific clans-to serve as hubs for social activities that reinforce family identity [9,[44][45][46]50,62]. These spaces, though socially vital, highlight tensions between informal placemaking and institutional oversight, underscoring the need for adaptive planning frameworks that balance cultural agency with logistical feasibility. ...
... However, their spatial trajectories diverge significantly. While Circassians integrated into urban host communities, adopting existing city frameworks to preserve cultural cohesion [9,50,51,62], Zaatari refugees transformed a planned humanitarian grid into an organic settlement that consolidated clan-based neighborhoods, reflecting their collective agency in redefining camp morphology [9,50,51,62]. ...
The Zaatari Camp in Jordan exemplifies how Syrian refugees transform a planned grid settlement into an organic urban environment through socio-spatial adaptation, reflecting their cultural identity and territorial practices. This study investigates the camp’s morphological evolution, analyzing how refugees reconfigure public and private spaces to prioritize privacy, security, and community cohesion. Using qualitative methods—including archival maps, photographs, and field observations—the research reveals how formal public areas are repurposed into private shelter extensions, creating zones of influence that mirror traditional Arab-Islamic urban patterns. Key elements such as mosques, markets, and hierarchical street networks emerge as cultural anchors, shaped by refugees’ prior urban experiences. However, this organic growth introduces challenges, such as blocked streets and undefined spaces, which hinder safety and service delivery, underscoring tensions between informal urbanization and structured planning. The findings advocate urban resilience and participatory planning frameworks that integrate socio-cultural values, emphasizing defensible boundaries, interdependence, and adaptable design. Refugees’ territorial behaviors—such as creating diagonal streets and expanding shelters—highlight their agency in reshaping urban systems, challenging conventional top-down approaches. This research focuses on land-use dynamics, sustainable cities, and adaptive urban systems in crisis contexts. By bridging gaps between displacement studies and urban theory, the study offers insights into fostering social inclusion and equitable infrastructure in transient settlements. Future research directions, including comparative analyses of refugee camps and cognitive mapping, aim to deepen understanding of socio-spatial resilience. Ultimately, this work contributes to global dialogues on informal urbanization and culturally responsive design, advocating for policies that align with the Sustainable Development Goals to rebuild cohesive, resilient urban environments in displacement settings.
... Other residents have broken rules around customising caravan interiors and exteriors by adding courtyards and gardens to their shelters. It is common for unoccupied caravans to be vandalised for materials needed for these customisations (Dalal et al. 2018;Gatter 2023c). Residents monitor how long a caravan has been empty before taking materials over time, working only at night after aid workers have gone home. ...
This article pushes beyond critiques of resilience as a neoliberal object and descriptor, approaching the term as an analytical diagnostic of power to open new anthropological query around resilience and resistance in refugee camps. The rise of resiliency humanitarianism in the past decade has responsibilised refugees, and this article analyses resilience narratives surrounding two residents of a securitised Syrian refugee camp who are featured in humanitarian ‘success stories’. Peering behind the scenes of these stories, it argues that camp residents quietly resist the logic of resiliency humanitarianism by reclaiming temporal, spatial, and imaginative autonomy within a context of limited choice. Acting on opportune moments, refugees disrupt humanitarian notions of resilience in their refusal to subscribe to the singular vision of displacement dictated for them.This article proposes a new avenue for critical engagement with resilience that interrogates who resilience is for and who gets to decide.
... At the close of the first quarter of the 21st century, we are witnessing increasingly frequent cataclysms and tensions resulting in warfare, leading to the mass and immediate loss of the most fundamental human resourcehome. The issue of migration is an inherent element of the modern world (Dalal et al., 2018;Beeckmans et al., 2022), and refugee camps have become so frequent that they are almost a phenomenon (Alshoubaki, 2017). We live in a world where the juxtaposition of two concepts such as home and displacement deserves attention as elements that currently coexist. ...
This paper aims to investigate the capacity of the refugee admission system in Lesser Poland Voivodeship (NUTS level 2 administrative division), with a focus on analyzing a potential abrupt refugee influx to a dense urban tissue on the case of Cracow, Poland. Refugee admittance requires action in many spheres of management: legislative support, medical help, provision of essential products, accommodation, and further assimilation support. This study focuses on the so-called primary and secondary accommodation, its management and assigning process, and the actors involved. It investigates if the System Capacities of Cracow refugee admission response were enough to house all incoming persons and whether there were any new spatial structure elements introduced in order to house the incoming refugees. The paper briefly touches on the multiple facets of post-disaster built environment planning, describing not only the case of a refugee host country, but also the topic of temporary-to-permanent shelter housing in the perspective of holistic disaster recovery planning in the country at war. The study presents the concept of creating humanitarian architecture as an element of a systemic approach to the issue of emergency support for disaster victims, as well as a component of collective student action within the framework of a Polish-Japanese workshop.
... However, the assumption of the camps as temporary structures has been criticized by critical camp studies for their constitutive absence and subversive presence [3]. The camps have been figured as the exceptional [4], the non-place, the extra-national [5], the abnormal, the extra-legal [6,7], un-urban [8], the ghetto, and the gated community [9], and the absolute, pure, impassable biopolitical space [10]. Furthermore, 3D concrete printing technologies, like contour crafting, have been acknowledged as effective for constructing long-lasting shelters that meet cultural and environmental requirements [20]. ...
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.
... Improvements that include decoration and rearranging of the settlements may be undertaken by the residents themselves. A critical analysis [15] presents urban layouts of container estates in Berlin as a potential starting point for creating a set of good practices. Co-designing the sites with their users would present more adequate and dignified projects. ...
... According to the state-of-the-art, CS have been widely used in Europe due to the advantages of rapid deployment and relatively good living standards. Nevertheless, many authors emphasize the risk of negative spatial and aesthetical effects induced by building CS on an ad hoc basis and extending the exploitation beyond the technical life of the structures [14,15]. In our view these threats -the lack of spatial order and low potential for place-making -combined with insufficient long-term living conditions can lead to deepening the feeling of unrooting and generate substantial social problems. ...
Container settlements (CS) have been widely used as emergency and temporary dwellings in Europe due to the advantages of rapid deployment, cost-efficiency and relatively good living standards. Nevertheless, many authors emphasize the risks of disturbing the spatial order and stigmatization of residents that can lead to deepening the feeling of unrooting and generate substantial social problems. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the main architectural characteristics of CS built in Ukraine to address internal migration caused by war. Multiple comparative case study includes 18 settlements built for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in three distinctive phases. The research focuses on the features critical to human comfort and life quality: settlement size, program, building typology, spatial arrangement, circulation, unit layout, degree of privacy. Results show that developments from 2015 and 2022 have similarities including basic program, size of dwelling units and density, but there are important differences related to the time allocated to designing and construction as well as expected period of operation. Basic recommendations for improving existing and planned developments are increasing the privacy by creating collective-private space outside and inside, developing a rich program, use existing greenery and new landscaping, providing good transit to the urban centres, using all-year weatherproof typologies and technical solutions suitable for long-term use. This fact must be considered in the process of designing new CS for IDPs and refugees, that are being planned and constructed in Ukraine and Europe.
... Hlerz (2007), for instance, suggested that naïve modernist principles were used in the planning of camps and that these failed to respond to the cultural specificities of displaced migrants, thus reinforcing colonialism. An in-depth analysis of the Syrian refugee camp of Za'atari in Jordan exposed the incremental transformation of the camp through refugeeinitiated adaptation practices (Dalal and Misselwitz, 2018) making shelters into de-facto homes. Brun and Fábos (2015) described dwelling and homemaking as emancipatory processes through which forced migrants sought to establish stability and self-control despite ongoing uncertainty. ...
Global displacement has triggered ambivalent regimes of control, care, and assistance, embodied in emergency shelters and disciplining institutions. This chapter seeks to problematise the inherent paternalism of the technocratic architectural and planning language that shapes them. Yet, on a closer look, refugees and migrants are not the helpless victims they may seem at first. By focusing on refugee-initiated spatial appropriations in both humanitarian shelters and urban neighbourhoods in Lagos and Berlin, we explore the active role of displaced migrants in humanitarian responses through their agency-initiated spatial appropriations. While humanitarian agencies or planners generally view such appropriations as ad hoc situative responses or survival strategies threatening smooth technocratic orders and effective aid delivery, we argue that, instead, they should be understood as place-making strategies through which refugees seek stability in the midst of uncertainty, mobilising subjective spatial knowledge grounded in memories and reflecting aspirations of what “home” should look like and how it should function. A better understanding of such socio-spatial practices can help to rethink and disrupt current planning and policy building, instead of suppressing displaced migrant agencies, resulting in more collaborative and dignified approaches suited to urbanities increasingly shaped by conflicts around diversity, mobilities, and migration.
... Per questo motivo una totale segregazione non è auspicabile nel contesto del campo ma, specialmente nella parte informale, un certo livello di segregazione è inevitabile. Tuttavia, il principio dell'auto-organizzazione permette un certo livello di autodeterminazione e allontana il campo da quella visione pianificata e paternalistica del campo istituzionale (Dalal & Darweesh, 2018). ...
This thesis analyses the architecture of first reception spaces (Hotspots) and refugee camps implemented in the European Union after the 2015 Migrant Crisis. To date, humanitarian intervention adopts forms for reception spaces that aim to provide easy access to services and simplify the distribution of food and water in a centralised manner. These spaces thus focus on responding to the physiological needs of their guests in a serialised manner without considering the diverse social and cultural needs, and failing to express the plurality of migrant populations. In response to the absence of social management of the design of the first reception spaces, dynamics of space appropriation emerge with which refugees attempt to respond to their social and community needs, as opposed to the institutional management of the refugee camp. The refugee camp seen as border infrastructure is distinguished into two architectural typologies: the informal camp and the institutional camp. By equating the temporary and organised complexity (Jacobs, 1961) of the refugee camp with the city, the aim of this thesis is to conduct an analysis of the dynamics of the development of the informal camp space read as a response to the rigid spaces of institutional structures (hotspots and refugee camps). Using the concept of infrastructural violence (Rodgers and O'Neill, 2012), the dynamics of care and control in institutional camps in Europe are explored. In the first part, the path that asylum seekers experience in first reception facilities is described by analysing data on migration dynamics in the Mediterrane-an, current legislation regarding the asylum process and the requirements on the standards of first reception spaces. In the second part, the basic concepts related to border demarcation and management within the European Union and the different experiences of living space related to the political and civil statuses of those who cross them are described. Subsequently, theoretical references are described that link the forms of design and inhabited space with the manifestation of political positions. This reading is deepened in the third part where the waiting spaces of the Hotspot system and refugee camps are analysed, seen in the European context as border infrastructures. In the fourth part, the two camps on the island of Lesvos in Greece Moria and Kara Tepe are explored. The Moria camp helps to highlight how the informal camp typology, although presenting major problems in terms of access to services, leads to the creation of spaces that better reflect the plurality of its inhabitants. The revival of traditional building techniques is a tangible form of the re-appropriation of inhabited space: the only form of political agency. The Kara Tepe camp, built after the fire that destroyed Moria, presents uniform and serialised spaces typical of the institutional camp. Through its analysis, it is shown how the rigid and repetitive layout that is proposed in the institutional camp fails to develop and create public or private places where a meaningful relationship between the subject and the lived space can be structured (Katz, 2017). The chapter closes with a look into the future, at the new camp that will replace Kara Tepe based on the model of the hyper-technological one in Samos and the applications of the Centaur computer surveillance system. The thesis highlights how the reception ideals promoted by the policies adopted so far in the European Union have never been translated into usable guidelines for the design and planning of humanitarian structures. This deficiency does not facilitate the reception and integration of displaced communities, instead bringing out the desire for care and control in the practical management of the camp space. Through the analysis of emergency infrastructures, later transformed into actual refugee camps, it is highlighted how a geopolitics of safe space has contributed to decreasing the security of displaced communities (Mitchell, Sparke, 2018). The temporariness of refugee camps conceived as transitional environments and the 'limbo' in which displaced communities find themselves, create infrastructural violence that negatively affects physical security, generates permanent places of exception (Nettelbladt, Boano, 2019) and limits the spatial freedom of refugees (Rodgers, O'Neill, 2012).
... Thus, not covering other socio-economic aspects that suit their individuality, identity and culture becomes an apparent issue. As the crisis prolongs, refugees themselves try to address this by often transform and expand their controlled built environment, using spatial violations as means of reclaiming the space, and challenging the imposed top-down camp planning (Alshoubaki and Zazzara 2020;Dalal et al. 2018;Flinders, Wood, and Cunningham 2016). Therefore, challenging the binary concept of permanent versus temporary (Stevenson and Sutton 2012). ...
... The gradual unplanned expansions enrich the identities of the residents but often lack adequate community facilities, public spaces, and buildings. These spaces are essential for socio-economic development, especially for women and children who need access to outdoor areas for social interaction and physical activities (Dalal et al. 2018). The 2007 UNRWA camp improvement program highlighted this need by creating a public square for women in Fawwar Refugee Camp, Palestine (Hilal, n.d.). ...
... The need for such research stems from the evidence that small-scale improvements in public spaces have been highlighted by several researchers to be positively associated with socio-economic improvements within informal and degraded urban areas in general (Enia and Martella 2020;Girard, Nocca, and Gravagnuolo 2019;Jano, Teqja, and Hasa 2020; Sakay, Sanoni, and DEng 2011). Meanwhile, other researchers have discussed the need for public space provision within the limited and challenging urban conditions of refugee camps specifically, which can contribute to contribute to enhancing the overall living conditions and empowerment of the camp residents (Hilal n.d.;Dalal et al. 2018). ...
... formellen Unterkünften löst sich in der Verknüpfung offizieller humanitärer mit selbsterrichteten, provisorischen Camps entlang der Transitrouten des Balkans oder der französischen Region Calais auf (Katz 2017;Martin et al. 2020). Deutlich wird, wie Bewohner*innen als (Ko-)Produzent*innen von Räumen agieren (Dalal et al. 2018). Ihre (politischen) Aktivitäten verwandeln Lager von "totalen Institutionen" (Goffman 2020) in Räume der politischen Aushandlung, der Solidarität und der Einforderung von Rechten (Bock 2018 Geprägt wird er von relevanten Institutionen sowie Geflüchteten mittels einer doppelten Struktur der Verräumlichung. ...
Viele Geflüchtete in Deutschland leben nicht in regulären Wohnungen, sondern in öffentlich-rechtlichen Unterkünften. Diese bieten Schlafplätze, Verpflegung sowie soziale Betreuung und erfüllen so eine Versorgungsfunktion. Andererseits funktioniert das Unterbringungssystem als Steuerungsinstrument, um Zuwanderung zu verwalten und zu kontrollieren. In diesem Spannungsfeld versuchen Geflüchtete eigene (Wohn-)Bedürfnisse durch Aneignungspraxen zu realisieren. Dies führt zur Strukturierung der öffentlich-rechtlichen Unterbringung als Raum des (Nicht-)Wohnens. Der Beitrag gibt einen Einblick in bestehende Zugänge der Unterbringungsforschung und argumentiert, dass sich der Begriff des (Nicht-)Wohnen als gemeinsamer begrifflicher Horizont für wissenschaftliche Analyse und interdisziplinären Dialog eignet. Am Beispiel konkreter Auseinandersetzungen in Unterbringungen im Kontext von Abschiebung und Zimmerkontrollen wird anschließend aufgezeigt wie (Nicht-)Wohnen in der öffentlich-rechtlichen Unterbringung ausgehandelt wird. Eine abschließende Betrachtung des (Nicht-)Wohnens aus der Perspektive raumsensibler FluchtMigrationsforschung rundet den Beitrag ab.
... The interdependence of built infrastructure, community dynamics, and ecological systems can be considered by stakeholders in refugee camp design and administration through the integration of the aforementioned viewpoints. For displaced communities, designers, planners, and politicians may create more contextually relevant, responsive, and resilient solutions by looking at the interactions between physical spaces, social relationships, and environmental resources [44]. ...
This chapter critically examines the dynamic nature of refugee camps within Jordan's unique socio-political context. Focusing on architectural, social, and environmental dimensions, the chapter unveils transitional typologies that challenge conventional ideas of permanence. Architecturally, it explores adaptive design solutions, emphasizing flexibility and sustainability. Socially, it delves into community-led initiatives and participatory planning, highlighting the agency and resilience of displaced populations. Environmentally, the chapter investigates the ecological impact of refugee settlements and advocates for sustainable practices. Through case studies and interdisciplinary analysis, this chapter offers insights into the transitional processes of refugee camps from temporary shelters to long-term dwellings, aiming to inform policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on enhancing the dignity, agency, and sustainability of displaced communities in Jordan and globally.
