Table Of ContentSustainable Development Goals Series
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Ali Asgary Editor
Resettlement
Challenges
for Displaced
Populations and
Refugees
Sustainable Development Goals Series
Series editors
R. B. Singh, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economy,
University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
Suraj Mal, Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College,
University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
Michael E. Meadows, EGS, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
World leaders adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Providing in-depth knowledge,
this series fosters comprehensive research on the global targets to end poverty,
fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change.
Sustainability of Future Earth is currently a major concern for the global
community ans has been a central theme for a number of major global
initiatives viz. Health and Well-being in Changing Urban Environment,
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, COP21, Habitat
III and Future Earth Initiative. Perceiving the dire need for Sustainable
Development, the United Nations and world leaders formulated the SDG
targets as a comprehensive framework based on the success of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The goals call for action by all countries, poor,
rich and middle-income, to promote prosperity while protecting the planet
earth and its life support system. For sustainability to be achieved, it is
important to have inputs from all sectors, societies and stakeholders.
Therefore, this series on the Sustainable Development Goals aims to provide
a comprehensive platform to the scientific, teaching and research communities
working on various global issues in the field of geography, earth sciences,
environmental science, social sciences and human geosciences, in order to
contribute knowledge towards the current 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Volumes in the Series are organized by the relevant goal, and guided by an
expert international panel of advisors. Contributions are welcome from scientists,
policy makers and researchers working in the field of any of the following goals:
No poverty
Zero Hunger
Good Health and Well-Being
Quality Education
Gender Equality
Clean Water and Sanitation
Affordable and Clean Energy
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Reduced Inequalities
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Responsible Consumption and Production
Climate Action
Life Below Water
Life on Land
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Partnerships for the Goals
The theory, techniques and methods applied in the contributions will be
benchmarks and guide researchers on the knowledge and understanding
needed for future generations. The series welcomes case studies and good
practices from diverse regions, and enhances the understanding at local and
regional levels in order to contribute towards global sustainability.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15486
Ali Asgary
Editor
Resettlement
Challenges for
Displaced Populations
and Refugees
Editor
Ali Asgary
Disaster & Emergency Management
School of Administrative Studies
Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
York University
Toronto, ON, Canada
ISSN 2523-3084 ISSN 2523-3092 (electronic)
Sustainable Development Goals Series
ISBN 978-3-319-92497-7 ISBN 978-3-319-92498-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92498-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018949606
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–This book is dedicated to late Graham Saunders. Through
decades, Graham provided a significant contribution to
knowledge about resettlement challenges particularly around
housing and sheltering for refugees and disaster displaced
populations. He helped us better understand the complex links
between recovery, resettlement, temporary sheltering and
permanent housing reconstruction. As a frequent collaborator
of the i-Rec (Information and Research for Reconstruction)
community, Graham provided valuable support to i-Rec
conferences, student competition, and the international online
debates.
In one of the i-Rec international online debates about the
benefits and drawbacks of temporary housing, Graham rightly
concluded that “the question that should be asked is not
whether temporary housing hinders the recovery process, it is
why support for recovery and reconstruction is not the default
response, instead of the provision of temporary housing, and
what are the institutional impediments within affected
governments, donors and humanitarian agencies to make this
the norm” (see his complete contribution here: https://
oddebates.com/first-debate/).
Graham’s ideas transformed the way we see the role of
humanitarian and development agencies in post-disaster and
conflict contexts, demonstrating that the resettlement
challenges are not technical but social and political ones. He
had clever and original ideas to challenge young professionals
and students interested in post-disaster and post-conflict
recovery and reconstruction. To a group of architecture
students he once said “I challenge you to provide a 50$
solution to sheltering, because….this is the budget we
sometimes have.” He considered his duty to test new ideas
and to challenge solutions based on misconceptions about
humanitarian aid. He was always looking for empirical
evidence and wanted policy to be based on knowledge
obtained through rigorous research and thinking.
A senior and respected leader at IFRC, Graham was
generous—sharing time and resources with scholars and
students (students and young professionals from developing
countries benefitted from scholarships he gave through i-Rec
events). We will miss his clever ideas, his sense of duty, and his
engagement in reducing vulnerabilities and finding appropriate
housing solutions to reduce people’s suffering after disasters
and crisis.
Preface
Annually a large number of people are displaced and uprooted from their
homes, communities, and countries. These people are resettled in various
places in diverse conditions and under different roles and regulations.
Depending on the cause (e.g., disaster, conflict, or war) and context (e.g.,
developing or developed countries), displacement could be short, medium, or
long term. According to the UNHCR, more than 65.6 million people were
forcibly displaced in 2016. About 34.30% (22.5 million) of them are refu-
gees. The rest are displaced due to natural and technological disaster events
or as the results of climate change impacts.
Resettlement of displaced populations is a challenging task for local,
national, and international community. Provision of adequate and standard sup-
port for these people requires significant resources, planning, and operations at
various levels. Many of the refugees and displaced populations may never be
able to go back and rebuild and live in their original houses, communities, and
businesses. Therefore, it is important that the recovery and reconstruction pro-
fessionals, researchers, and policy makers examine how refugees and displaced
populations can rebuild their life in new locations and recover from conflicts
and disasters that have impacted their lives, livelihoods, and communities. As
the title of this book Resettlement Challenges of Refugees and Displaced
Populations suggests, there is an urgent need to better understand the multidi-
mensionality and complexity of population displacement and the role that
reconstruction and recovery knowledge and practice can play in this regard.
There is a great connection between forced population displacement and
sustainable development. On the one hand, it can be argued that population
displacement is rooted in unsustainable social, political, and economic pro-
cesses, and on the other hand population displacement, if not managed prop-
erly, could exacerbate unsustainability. While, vulnerability, poverty, hunger,
insecurity, inequality, lack of access to health, education, sanitation, and infra-
structure push people to displace, displacement, though it may provide short-
term security, it may not guarantee a better life for refugees and displaced
populations. In other words, it can be argued that an important measurable
outcome of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be seen in the total
number of displaced populations and refugees. It is expected that as interna-
tional community attempts to achieve the SDGs, we should see less displaced
population and refugees. Similarly, it is expected that by adhering to SDGs,
refugees and displaced populations live in settlements that have better quali-
ties of life compared to previous years.
vii
viii Preface
This book is a selection of papers that were presented in the 8th i-Rec
Conference that was held at York University on June 1–2, 2017. i-Rec is an
international network focused on the study of reconstruction and recovery
after conflicts and disasters1. i-Rec deals with information exchange between
its members in order to contribute with knowledge related to building activi-
ties in situations of crisis, particularly disasters in developing countries. It
creates links between researchers, specialists, and policy makers in the field
of post-disaster reconstruction, particularly in the areas of architecture, engi-
neering and construction, urban planning, humanitarian aid, international
development, and social sciences. i-Rec organizes an international confer-
ence every 2 years: Montreal (Canada), 2002; Coventry (UK), 2004; Florence
(Italy), 2006; Christchurch (New Zealand), 2008; Ahmedabad (India), 2010;
Ascona (Switzerland) 2013; and London (UK), 2015. One of the key goals of
the 2017 i-Rec conference was to understand how disaster recovery and
reconstruction knowledge and practice can contribute to the recovery and
reconstruction of refugee and displaced populations. In particular, the confer-
ence aimed to push the boundaries of knowledge on recovery and reconstruc-
tion and develop new areas of inquiry that help to solve the complex problems
and challenges of resettlement of forced displacement.
This book contains a total of 16 papers divided into two main parts with
and introductory paper. The first paper which serves as an introduction to the
book is titled Sustainability, Design Futuring, and the Process of Shelter and
Settlements. This paper, written by Liz Brogden, provides an insightful review
of shelter literature as it relates to the sustainability and the “sustainable
development” paradigm. The first part contains the papers that focus on vari-
ous aspects and challenges of resettlement of refugees. Three papers are deal-
ing with the resettlement challenges of Syria refugees which make up a
significant portion of the global refugees in recent years in different contexts
and from different perspectives. These papers look at resettlement of refugees
in Canada and neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. These are
followed by four more papers examining resettlement issues and challenges
of refugees in Italy, Uganda, Myanmar, and Kenya.
The second part consists of eight papers that are related to resettlement
challenges of people affected and displaced by major disasters in the recent
years. Two papers are dedicated to the 2003 Bam earthquake and two other
cover different aspects of temporary and transitional shelters and settlements
after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters in Japan. Another
paper examines the recovery and reconstruction process after the 2015
Earthquakes in Nepal using a build back better framework. This part also
includes some special topics, particularly related to the effects of disasters on
displaced workers and decision-making methods for selecting sustainable
temporary shelters.
Toronto, ON, Canada Ali Asgary
1 i-Rec facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/iReconstruction/
i-Rec website: www.grif.umontreal.ca/i-Rec.htm
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the supports provided by York University’s
Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation (ADERSIM
funded by Ontario Research Fund and NSERC), Disaster and Emergency
Management Programs, and Centre for Refugee Studies. We also would like
to thank i-Rec board members for giving the York University team to organize
the 8th i-Rec Conference and publish its outcomes in this book.
Special thanks to the scientific committee members including Professor
David Alexander (UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, University
College London, London, United Kingdom), Dr. Hakan Arslan (Düzce
University, Düzce, Turkey), Dr. Camillo Boano (The Bartlett Development
Planning Unit, University College London, London, United Kingdom),
Professor Roberto Bologna (College of Architecture, University of Florence,
Florence, Italy), Dr. Lee Bosher (School of Civil and Building Engineering
Loughborough University, United Kingdom), Dr. Jennifer Duyne Barenstein
(Centre for Research on Architecture, Society and the Built Environment
(CASE), ETH Zurich, Faculty of Architecture, Switzerland), Dr. Estella
Carpi, Postdoctoral Fellow (The Bartlett Development Planning Unit,
University College London, London, United Kingdom), Professor. Colin
Davidson (School of Architecture, University of Montreal, Montreal,
Canada), Professor David Etkin (Disaster & Emergency Management, York
University, Toronto, Canada), Professor Alireza Fallahi (Faculty of
Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran-Iran),
Dr. Mahmood Fayazi (School of Architecture, University of Montreal,
Montreal, Canada), Dr. Rohit Jigyasu (Research Centre for Disaster
Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto,
Japan), Dr. Cassidy Johnson (Senior Lecturer, The Bartlett Development
Planning Unit, University College London, London, United Kingdom),
Dr. Sneha Krishnan, (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine,
London, U.K.), Prof. Gonzalo Lizarralde (School of Architecture, University
of Montreal, Montreal, Canada), Professor. Susan McGrath (School of Social
Work & Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada),
Dr. Niru Nirupama (Disaster & Emergency Management, York University,
Toronto, Canada), Dr. Mojtaba Rafieian (Department of Urban & Regional
Planning, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran), Dr. Adriano O Solis
(School of Administrative Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada),
Dr. Jason von Meding (School of Architecture and Built Environment,
ix
