Social and physical integration of refugees: comparing models of urban integration in Barcelona and Athens

Abstract

The current humanitarian crisis in the Middle-East has enhanced the long process of forced migration over the last decades. The effect of this massive emigration has affected the physical nature of the European Union urban contexts, specifically regarding the models of social and spatial integration of refugees, and generated a significant concern and challenge for policy-makers, aid agencies, scholars and civic society organizations. Therefore, the knowledge gap for urban planners, policy-makers and development agencies is still related to how to address the relationship between displacement and urban integration models. Consequently, urban contexts have become important sites to interrogate the spaces of and for refugees in European cities. With this in perspective, this paper intends to shed new light on what are the key components of integration in resettlement settings by examining and questioning the social and physical integration strategies and policies in place. With this objective, this paper examines two models of refugee integration strategies led by different stakeholders with singular approaches. The first case is focused on a case in Barcelona with a model of government-led integration through temporary housing, and the second case, in Athens, is a grassroots refugee/migrant-led process of integration. Through a social and physical assessment of both cases the objective is to analyse how urban integration is or isn’t enforced as well as question their effectiveness. The analysis encompasses the physical aspects of the urban integration model, as well as the refugee and local community perspective. As a result, findings will support the hypothesis that counter-hegemonic movements and refugee-led initiatives should be considered as a tool to facilitate refugees’ social and physical integration in urban contexts in Europe.