Displacement, placemaking and wellbeing in the city

This project will contribute to our growing understanding of the structures, dynamics and processes through which people who are enduringly displaced succeed or fail to become part of European and Indian cities.

Globally, forced displacement levels are hitting a record modern-day high. UNHCR reports 65.3 million people were displaced from their homes by conflict and persecution in 2015. Every minute, on average 24 people were forced to flee somewhere in the world, and these levels were four times higher than a decade prior. 2015 also marked a watershed moment in Europe, with hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees arriving on its shores, after often perilous journeys. In India, cities grow rapidly, and continue to receive many people that are internally displaced due to agrarian crisis, conflict, development induced displacement and abject poverty.

Protracted displacement is now chiefly an urban affair. Cities offer economic and social opportunities, however, they can also be places of rising inequalities, deprivation, isolation and exploitation. The flow of displaced groups quickens urbanisation, and may create (actual or perceived) competition for jobs, quality housing and limited essential services such as health and education. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 sets out the global ambition for inclusive, sustainable and secure cities, and the New Urban Agenda (2016) explicitly calls for inclusion of urban refugees within existing city structures. Yet, India and European cities' efforts to manage inflows often face populist backlashes. Greater understanding is hence needed of the ways in which people succeed or fail to make urban spaces into places of belonging, participation and wellbeing in conditions of scarcity and growing urban inequality. This will require attention to the placemaking processes and practices that structure refugees' and forced migrants' political, social and economic citizenship, access to livelihood opportunities, connections with existing communities and, ultimately, to define and achieve a 'right to the city'.

This project offers new ways of cross-disciplinary thinking, methodological innovation and action. To this end, the project will adopt a mixed methods approach. Combining quantitative and qualitative social science techniques will provide a better understanding of research problems than either used alone. We will compare multiple case studies in each of the four countries - India, Finland, Norway and the UK - located in diverse urban settings, spanning from town to megacity. We will undertake key informant interviews, structured wellbeing surveys, and mapping of physical structures, features, form, functions and use of urban spaces. In addition, we will conduct policy analyses and stakeholder mappings to understand in what ways displaced groups' use of space for economic activity and leisure is enabled or restricted. We will also set up innovative Design Studios for architecture and design students to support the project through analysis, design of solutions and learning from their active engagement in fieldwork with senior researchers, and by pairing them up with social science students. As such, the project seeks to break down disciplinary boundaries between the social sciences and humanities; humanitarianism and development; urban planning, architecture and design; and the integration of creative and engaged research methods that better interrogate and allow for the expression of a wide range of knowledge and experiences.

The study will provide important knowledge for policy-makers at all levels of urban governance, as well as in development agencies and NGO/CSOs, about what roles they can play to support (and not to impede) greater equity, reduced inequalities and wellbeing in cities. Finally, the project will actively seek to engage and inform the general public in India and Europe through targeted media activities and public exhibitions.

This study seeks to generate better evidence, new theorisation and practical solutions to support the economic and social integration of enduringly displaced groups in European and Indian cities, on more equitable terms. The study has carefully integrated a Pathways to Impact strategy in its research design towards this end. We will devise a communications strategy in the project inception phase that identifies specific audiences (through country stakeholder mappings), communications products and targeted channels that will optimise research uptake and impact.

Consortium partners in India, Finland, Norway and the UK will be immediate academic beneficiaries of this research, as it will enable them to develop new ways of working, thinking and learning with colleagues across the countries. The consortium comprises a well-balanced group of academic experts in architecture, design and social science, and the ways in which research activities are organised will also drive substantial cross-disciplinary learning. Other beneficiaries include a group of (approximately 70) students and recent post-graduates who will be engaged in Design Studios and fieldwork. The pairing of arts and humanities specialists and social scientists at different levels of seniority (from students to professors) throughout the study, and engagement with displaced groups and practitioner organisations, will spark-off new collaborations, cultural connections, insights, ideas and solutions across European and Indian cities. Beyond the consortium, key academic beneficiaries will be located in a wide range of Indian, European and international research institutes and universities, as the research will address and appeal to specialists in the disciplines of architecture and design, migration/refugee studies, development studies and urban studies. In order to ensure the highest level of academic impact, the PI and co-investigators will lead the publication of at least six major academic journal articles on research findings and present interim results at national and international meetings and conferences, for instance through the Brighton-IDS-Sussex cross-disciplinary academic network on Refugees, Design and Cities.

The study also seeks to significantly benefit non-academic audiences. We will closely work with communities of displaced people in the various phases of the project, and look for opportunities for them to engage and practically benefit, e.g. by receiving accredited University of Brighton training. The study will also engage throughout with key representatives of government in the selected cities. By working with associate partners we will benefit from practitioner feedback on the research design and findings, and accelerate knowledge mobilisation. Our associate partner organisations the Global Alliance for Urban Crises and the Norwegian Refugee Council both have a strong international orientation, with members from the United Nations, major INGOs and professional bodies like the Royal Institute of British Architects. Another associate partner, the Kent Refugee Action Network has a more local orientation, and works directly with and for displaced groups. In India, Finland and Norway we have also commenced discussions about similar collaborations with local civil society organisations, e.g. Mobile Crèche and Khoj in Delhi.

The study will benefit policymakers and the general public through a range of publications, including booklets showcasing student projects, five research briefs and the organisation of public exhibitions showcasing research findings and student design projects in each of the case cities. Finally, we will seek to build a small civic building or public space in the UK, open to the public, which builds on student projects, through an innovative crowdsourcing campaign.