Plan for a Dynamic Future: Incorporate migration considerations into the design of key services and infrastructure
City-wide strategies are an essential foundation for long-term integration. However, cities have to address immediate needs, often with limited resources and little national support. To effectively meet both goals, city interventions must address multiple challenges and foster flexibility to changing conditions. City services and infrastructure projects present a clear opportunity for designing these types of interventions. As cities plan key services and infrastructure, from affordable housing to transportation to energy systems, they have the chance to address the needs of migrants while optimizing services for other urban residents, especially the most vulnerable.
Examples from the 100RC Network
Athens — Vacant Apartments for Refugees
In collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Municipality of Athens is implementing a housing program that provides rental subsidies for vacant apartments to refugees in need. Beneficiaries also receive pre-paid cards for food, public transport, and hygiene items, as well as support from interpreters, social scientists, and psychologists.
Through affordable housing in central neighborhoods of the city, refugees can better access key services, amenities, and opportunities, and also connect more quickly to neighbors who are permanent residents or long-term immigrants. Typical shelter options for refugees make it difficult for new arrivals to learn the local language and make local friends. Through this innovative housing program, the city is helping refugees better adjust to their new lives, and also creating a new blueprint for the settlement of other vulnerable groups, such as the unemployed, the homeless, and future waves of arrivals. By utilizing existing vacant built assets, the city is using its resources more efficiently. By catalyzing community networks, it is also fostering integration and building social cohesion.
Amman — Refugee Influx Catalyzes Better Waste Infrastructure for All
As the influx of refugees from Syria continues to strain many of Jordan’s resources, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and other development agencies, will loan the Greater Amman Municipality €102 million to finance solid waste infrastructure that the capital urgently needs.
The sharp rise in the population in and around Amman has led to a 25% increase in the levels of waste generation, making this an essential investment. The city is making it part of a comprehensive program to reform the solid waste sector that will lead to the generation of renewable energy, reduction of CO2 emissions, and creation of new jobs. By leveraging international investments for the modernization of the waste sector, the city is reducing the environmental and social impact of the sharp rise in the number of people living within its boundaries, while improving services for all residents.
Practitioner Resources
The Fiscal Policy Institute and Welcoming Economies Global Network
The Landbank Interactive ToolThe Fiscal Policy Institute and WE Global have developed an interactive tool to help city officials measure how many potential immigrant households currently living in a city could qualify for ownership of vacant and distressed housing. The tool shows that immigrants have high rates of potential home ownership in 23 cities, suggesting that efforts to encourage homeownership and/or vacant property purchase could yield significant returns by targeting immigrant groups.
Access the interactive tool: www.weglobalnetwork.org/landbank
Netherlands’ Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers
A Home Away from Home: Refugee Housing Solutions DatabaseThe Netherlands’ Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) and Chief Government Architect Floris Alkemade jointly launched an interactive database with 366 housing designs that address the refugee crisis and also offer additional resilience dividends. Users can sort solutions by co-benefit (integration, employment, smart materials, etc.), and by whether they want to create a new building or simply improve an existing one. This website is a particularly useful resource for practitioners involved in the development of flexible accommodation and tasked with improving housing for a broad range of residents, including students, the homeless, and the elderly
Access the full database: www.ahomeawayfromhome.nl/en/solutions
100RC Platform Partner in Action
Cisco Systems — Delivering Connectivity and Cybersecurity to Refugees
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a critical role in improving the lives of refugees and other people in transit — from mapping their journeys to accessing services at their destinations. Especially in cases of prolonged displacement, access to technology offers opportunities for remote education that can benefit children and online professional trainings for adults. As the Syrian refugee crisis escalated in 2015, Cisco Systems, the IT giant and 100RC Platform Partner, started deploying its resources to improve service access for refugees in a scalable and sustainable way. Working with nonprofit partners, the multinational company set up Wi-Fi hotspots in refugee camps across Greece, Slovenia, and Serbia, and helped develop first response centers in Germany with real-time translation services. Cisco is also utilizing cloud security software to protect refugees from cyber threats to their identities and safety. Cities could adapt these tools and services to meet the needs of other vulnerable populations that lack access to connectivity and the multiple benefits it provides.
