Abstract
Since 2015, Europe has experienced an unprecedented influx of people fleeing countries facing political turmoil. Upon receiving asylum status, refugees in the Netherlands are currently regionally dispersed and individually housed in public housing. The municipality of Amsterdam has recently adopted an alternative approach, whereby young adult refugees and Dutch young adults are brought together in collaborative housing (Czischke, 2018). This article presents findings from a case study of the pilot project, launched in 2016, which houses over 500 young adults, half refugees and half Dutch together in temporary dwellings. The goal is to provide refugees with social and cultural tools to integrate in the host society by interacting with their peers through collective self-organisation. Compared with more traditional forms of housing refugees, integration through collaborative housing is expected to deliver results. Our study aims to examine this assumption by looking at the daily reality of collaboration and self-organisation amongst tenants in this pilot project, and interrogates how this approach may help the integration process. The analytical framework draws on Ager and Strang’s (2008) core domains of integration, which emphasises the role of social connections in the integration process. An ethnographic research design was adopted, including interviews and participant observation as data collection techniques. Preliminary findings indicate the gradual formation of social connections such as social bonds, social bridges and social links. Ultimately, we expect findings to inform better policies and practices in the field of housing and urban planning that help the integration of young refugees in European societies.
Highlights
The number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide has increased from approximately 45 million in 2012 to 65 million by the end of 2016 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2017)
In this article we have presented initial findings from an ongoing study of an innovative approach to refugee integration through collaborative housing
The underlying assumption is that, through structured self-organisation, the daily interactions between people from each group will progressively lead to the formation of social bonds and social bridges, social connections that are key to the integration process
Summary
The number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide has increased from approximately 45 million in 2012 to 65 million by the end of 2016 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2017). As one of the European Union member states receiving a comparatively large number of asylum seekers (Eurostat, 2018), Urban Planning, 2018, Volume 3, Issue 4, Pages 156–165 the Netherlands struggles to find adequate affordable housing for those refugees who successfully acquire a residence permit. The recent rise in the influx of refugees further increases the pressure on affordable housing in popular parts of the country. Refugees in the Netherlands are regionally dispersed (as in other European countries) and individually accommodated in social rental housing. The integration of refugees into Dutch society in terms of education, employment and psychological wellbeing is often considered suboptimal (Bakker, Dagevos, & Engbersen, 2017; Korac, 2003; SER, 2018)
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