Designing refugees’ camps: temporary emergency solutions, or contemporary paradigms of incomplete urban citizenship? Insights from Al Za’atari

Abstract

Millions of people have been forcibly displaced around the world at an alarming rate. In 2018, approximately 70.8 million people (UNHCR 2018) were living in refugee camps. These camps are the most immediate response to the emergency. However, they have become more than a simple temporary solution, with refugees spending significantly longer than they should. Motivated largely by an economic rationale, the camps are often produced rapidly, cheaply and effectively to accommodate the largest possible number of shelters in the shortest time. The aim of this paper is to explore whether the concept of permanence should be embedded in the spatial configuration of a refugees’ camp, or whether the concept of transient and temporary community would better reflect the aspirations of the users. The Al Za’atari camp has been selected as a case study to explore the nexus between spatial configuration and social aspirations of the refugees’ community. Indeed, the findings revealed that the spatial configuration of the Al Za’atari camp reflects social fabric, habits and organization of the refugees’ community. This has occurred to the point that the camp has taken on the appearance of a sort of informal city. This study therefore suggests recommendations to support the design of spatial and architectural solutions that better meet the actual needs of the final users largely disregarded in the current emergency approach.

Refugee-led socio-spatial organization in Al Baqa’a camp, Jordan

“…Efforts have been made as time has moved on, to build more permanent housing for refugees. However, in most cases this move has seen resistance from Humanitarian organizations due to issues of cost and resources as well as the perceived nature of permanence within a refugee camp (Aburamadan et al 2020 ). Transitional shelters (Fig.…”

“…This can also be perceived as a limitation of this study as the Al Baqa’a has unique characteristics that cannot be considered an average, critical or exceptional case study (Flyvbjerg 2006 ). The motivation beyond the construction of Al Baqa’a influences the transferability of findings and conclusions (Aburamadan et al 2020 ). The selection of the Al Baqa’a camp in Jordan has been based on the rationale that this is the largest Palestinian camp in Jordan and one of the largest in the world.…”

“…Various intermediate conditions such as the prolonging of crisis leads to socio-spatial evolutions and requirements. Consequently, there is no universal agreement of the actual conceptualisation of the refugee camp space (Aburamadan et al 2020 ). It has been described as temporary, transient, city-camps, semi-permanent, spaces occurring between the two concepts of “permanent” VS “temporary” solutions created “between war and city” (Agier 2002 ).…”

“…This perhaps contradicts the one-size-fits-all approach currently underpinned in international guidelines and documents leading towards the favouring of temporary structures. As a result, refugees can end up living in refugee camps for many years in temporary shelters made from lightweight materials that are ineffective against harsh climatic conditions (Aburamadan et al 2020 ).…”

“…The camp started as a defined plot of land with relief tents and has developed through UNRWA intervention and refugee-led interventions into a thriving camp with existing streets, roads, enterprise and built infrastructure. Today, what exists can be perceived as a hybrid of temporariness and permanence, a type of informal city (Aburamadan et al 2020 ). The harshness of the climate in Jordan has contributed to the settling of refugees in the Al Baqa’a camp.…”