Displacement, placemaking and wellbeing in the city

This research investigates how forcibly displaced people become part of cities, in ways that sustainably contribute to economic development, cultural advancement and wellbeing. Globally, forced displacement levels are hitting a record modern-day high. In 2015, hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees arriving on Europe’s shores, after often perilous journeys. In 2022, millions of Europeans became refugees because of war. 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. Globally, 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. 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 requires attention to the placemaking processes and practices that structure political, social and economic citizenship, access to livelihood opportunities, connections with existing communities and, ultimately, to define and achieve a Right to the City for refugees and forced migrants. The project has compared local communities in four countries: India, Finland, Norway and the United Kingdom. These are four different urban situations ranging from medium-sized cities to a megacity. We have conducted interviews, surveys and surveys of the physical structures and use of urban space. In addition, we have mapped the political and regulatory framework for how displaced groups and migrant populations have access to urban space is supports or limits their ability to form and become part of local communities. Working with social scientists, architecture students at the In Transit studio at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design have analyzed and prepared proposals for urban space development Stovner in Oslo - a district characterized by immigration. Similar studios have also been performed in Delhi (India) and Folkstone (UK). The studios explored the contrast between top-down placemaking expressed as urban planning and design and bottom-up placemaking which occurs spontaneously in the everyday life of migrant groups and in the intersection with the urban community at-large. In Delhi and England, student work has taken place in collaboration with NGOs working to improve conditions for migrants and in slum areas. Student works from all the studios have been presented and exhibited at various international events and conferences. Researchers from the Migration Institute of Finland have completed qualitative ethnographic interviews on placemaking with residents and key informants in Myyrmäki. In the UK and Delhi, studies on the wellbeing of migrants taken place. UK researchers have explored digital placemaking, Norwegian researchers have looked at how preparing for reception and protection in case of urban emergencies affect urban planning, and Indian researchers have explored children's use of urban space and placemaking. Interaction with displaced communities and between project partners has been limited and delayed due to Covid-19 and the project has been extended with six months. Beyond academic publications and dissemination through exhibitions and public events, output from the project includes policy briefs for each of the four countries.

Gjennom sammenligninger mellom de fire land, har prosjektet bidratt med kunnskap om formelle og uformelle rammevilkår for flyktninge- og migrantgruppers bruk av byrommet samt deres velferd og mulighet for å bli en del av de lokalsamfunn de ankommer til. Prosjektets formidling av kunnskap om koblingen mellom byen som politikkfelt, migrasjon og velferd har også været rettet mod globale og lokale eksperter og politikere som arbeider med urbanisering, fattigdom, migrasjon og utvikling. Prosjektet har bidratt til kunnskapsgrunnlaget for beslutningstakere på alle nivåer (inklusiv frivillig sektor) når det handler om byen som arena for migrasjon og integrasjon. Særlig har prosjektet bidratt til å rette fokus mot byer og byrommet som en viktig arena for livsutfoldelse og livskvalitet for både migranter og fast bosatte. Prosjektet har bidratt til økt internasjonalt tverrfaglig samarbeid mellom fagfolk og forskere innen arkitektur og planlegging, samt migrasjonsforskere med et samfunnsvitenskapelig ståsted. Prosjektets forskere og studenter knyttet til prosjektet har fått større forståelse for sammenkoblingen mellom designfagene og samfunnsvitenskapen i arbeidet med utvikling og utforming av byrommet og arbeidet med levevilkår til migrantgrupper og flyktninger. Dette har bidratt til økt fokus på migrasjon som tema innen arkitekturundervisningen og -forskningen, men også til økt forståelse og interesse for arkitektur og design på migrasjonsforskningsmiljøene som var knyttet til prosjektet. Prosjektet har særlig bidratt til økt kompetanse for yngre akademikere tilknyttet prosjektet. Prosjektdata fra intervjuer og andre undersøkelser vil bli tilgjengelig for framtidig forskning. Prosjektet har identifisert kunnskapshull og pekt på nye forskningsagendaer knyttet til koblingene mellom migrasjon, velferd og by, og pekt på et nytt tverrfaglig vitenskapelig felt som omfatter antropologi, samfunnsgeografi, migrasjonsstudier, arkitektur, byplanlegging, utviklingsstudier osv. Gjennom utstillinger, presentasjoner og mediebidrag har prosjektet bidratt til å øke almen interesse i, og kunnskap om, byenes og byrommets rolle i hverdagen for ulike mennesker og migrantgrupper. I India har forskningen pekt på behovet for lekeplasser for barn, og toaletter/dusjer for kvinner og forskere arbeider nå med en NGO, WaterAid, om å bygge en prototype for mobile sanitære stasjoner. I Norge har studentarbeidene bidratt til kunnskap til en utviklings- og verneplan for en bebyggelse på Stovner og i England har forskere og studenter samarbeidet med Southwark Borough Council samt en frivillig organisasjon som har som formål å hjelpe mindreårige flyktninger.

The project investigates through what processes forcibly displaced people become part of cities, in ways that sustainably contribute to economic development, cultural advancement and wellbeing. We will build a detailed understanding of the relations between placemaking processes, modalities of reception and wellbeing outcomes for displaced groups in Indian and European cities. We do this in a context of rapidly growing human displacement, forced migration and refugee flows to cities globally, and in European and Indian cities that are witnessing rising inequalities. This project offers new ways of cross-disciplinary thinking, methodological innovation and action. 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. 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.