Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab, African Urbanisms Conference, Session 11, African displacement urbanism: Beyond violence, towards repair
Convenors: Ayham Dalal (German University in Cairo), Huda Tayob (Royal College of Art)
Track: Transformative Practices
Keywords: Forced Migration, Refugee Agency, Informal Economy, Violence and Repair, Transformations of Space
Thursday October 24, 13:45-15:15 & 15:30-17:00, New Seminar Room, John Moffat Building
SESSION 11
AFRICAN DISPLACEMENT URBANISM: BEYOND VIOLENCE, TOWARDS REPAIR
African urbanism is affected by multiple forms of violence (ecological, political, economic), leading to displacements on various scales (home, neighborhood, city, region). In this panel we ask: How do African urban inhabitants respond and adapt when faced with these ongoing violence(s)? What forms of urban practices emerge as a result of these mutations and transformations in urban practices beyond ‘quiet encroachment’ (Bayat 1997)? And how do displaced persons generate creative ways of navigating African cities which extend ‘peripheral infrastructures’ (Simone 2004), and engender practices of urban repair? Also, how are these repair practices affected by hybrid modes of governance, informal/formal planning frameworks, identities and cultures, transnational networks, local/global orders, neoliberal economy and humanitarian policies? And, consequently, how do new entrants contribute to co-producing the emerging African urban realities?
In this panel, we invite innovative and interdisciplinary research that looks at the impact of displacement on African cities, foregrounding displaced populations as city-makers. Taking into consideration the intricate complexities of displacement on the ground, we are interested in contribution that advance new methods of research with a particular interest in drawing methods, critical and narrative cartography, along with critical theory approaches which may offer new insights into documenting and narrating cities through the eyes of the newcomers. Some of the themes might be responding to the following:
- Refugee housing and co-habitation
- Refugee entrepreneurship and informal economies
- Refugee settlements and trajectories
- Humanitarian and IDP camps
- Refugee agency and urban resilience
- Theorization/practices of violence and repair
- Drawing and critical cartography as method
Presentations 13:45-15:15
Transnational and Local Geographies of Forced Migration Politics of Space: Insights from a Comparative Study on Lagos and Ceuta
This paper examines the daily spatial practices of forced migrants in Lagos and Ceuta, used to forge shelter and cultivate translocal and transnational identities. Through comparative analysis, it reveals how paternalistic humanitarianism and ineffective policies marginalize these vulnerable groups.
Towards urban coalitions: The politics of grassroots social movements and housing struggles
While grassroots social movements are increasingly considered an essential component of urban governance and urban development processes, little is known about the extent to which their collective actions influence urban development space and the politics they encounter. This paper contributes draws insights from the grassroot mobilisation of the Nigeria Federation of Slum/Informal Settlement Dwellers in response to incidence of forced eviction and spatial displacement. Our findings reveal that the politics of grassroots social movements coalitions for housing justice is a space of encounters. This space of encounters fosters opportunities for dialogue, negotiation, collaboration, conflicts, contestation, resistance, empowerment, power struggles and polarisation among different actors.
Temporary Relocation Areas in South Africa as Displacement Urbanism: Practices in Vezinyawo Transit Camp, Johannesburg
The paper explores the dynamics of Temporary Relocation Areas in Johannesburg and delves into their multifaceted nature, how they intersect with displacement and how their subsequent trajectories lead to adaptation and transformation that foreground their inhabitants as city-makers.
Humanitarian urbanism in IDP camps. An assessment of management and spatial dynamism in the case of SC4, Mekelle (Ethiopia)
Conflict and violence forcefully displaced people and left millions living in precarious situations in IDP camps. Humanitarian urbanism is becoming a structural component of spatial planning, braces its theory and experiences new integration practices of camp in urban and peri-urban environments.
Presentations 15:30-17:00
Migration Trajectories and Urban Home/lessness: Measuring the Intersections
This presentation explores contradictions between notions of the self-reliant refugee in Uganda and the lived reality of urban survival. It argues that, through the movement of refugees and of refugee-associated resources, South Sudanese people are deeply implicated in the production of Arua city.
Protracted Displacement, from 'burdens' to urban development
This paper argues that enhancing the economic and subjective well-being of refugees can result in their potential to make valuable contributions to the city. Subsequently leading to urban communities that are more inclusive thereby highlighting refugees' capacity to actively shape urban development.
The borderscapes of Bellville: city-making in the face of increasingly hostile refugee policy
This paper analyses the urban space of Bellville, a pole of migrant life in Cape Town, by comparing the experiences of settled refugee residents with recent arrivals, analysing the transformation of urban space by mapping the adjustments of everyday practices in the face of increasingly restrictive legal environment.
Surviving self-reliance: City-making and displacement urbanism in Arua, north-western Uganda.
This presentation explores contradictions between notions of the self-reliant refugee in Uganda and the lived reality of urban survival. It argues that, through the movement of refugees and of refugee-associated resources, South Sudanese people are deeply implicated in the production of Arua city.
