Project

Housing for Refugee Inclusion: exploring inclusive housing design and housing governance models

Code
3G002620
Duration
01 January 2020 → 08 February 2023
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Social sciences
    • Citizenship, immigration and political inequality not elsewhere classified
Keywords
Housing governance Refugee belonging and inclusion Housing design
 
Project description

Scholarship on urban diversity has emphasized housing’ critical role for the social inclusion and mobility of refugees However the most common concept and related policy instrument at the nexus of housing and diversity, ‘ocial mix’ is said to perform poorly in strengthening social inclusion Moreover, inter-disciplinary frameworks reflecting a multi-dimensional understanding of housing are still lacking This research project aims to develop innovative housing models for refugees that fill this gap by simultaneously fostering a sense of belonging and becoming pathways for social inclusion It therefore views the housing of refugees not as a separate question but embeds it in the broader housing question of cities This objective will be achieved by adopting a double perspective rooted in architectural design and in housing governance, corresponding with two interrelated PhD tracks, and in the context of a double innovation Firstly, the models in question will be developed in two superdiverse arrival neighbourhoods in Brussels and Ghent Secondly, they will transcend the current discontinuities in refugees’accommodation trajectories Additionally, the project will critically review current housing practices for refugee inclusion in Europe Supported by a steering committee of well-established scholars from relevant disciplines, it will also work towards the construction of an inter-disciplinary framework to reconceptualize housing as an emancipatory domain for refugees