Humanitarian Urbanism in IDP Camps. An Assessment of Management and Spatial Dynamism in the Case of SC4, Mekelle (Ethiopia)

Abstract

Conflict and disaster have forcibly displaced millions of people around the world at an alarming rate. In 2022, globally, approximately 71.1 million people displaced internally as IDP. Conflict and violence alone resulted in 6.6 million people experiencing internal displacement in DRC, Ethiopia, and Somalia, which are among the five countries reporting the highest number of IDP across the globe. A significant number of them are living in IDP camps. Humanitarian agencies provide services, including shelter, settlement facilities, and camp management capacities. The aim of this study is to explore to what extent humanitarian agency services provision contributes to the spatial dynamism of the SC4 IDP camp located at the outskirts of Mekelle city. The finding reveals that 25 humanitarian agencies are providing services across 9 sectors for IDP and host communities with minimum sphere standards and principles achieved. The IDP camp, strengthening its functional structure, is fostering land use changes within peri-urban areas of Mekelle city involving local communities and asking for a proactive planning approach. This approach drives to new forms of humanitarian urbanism planning that seeks to combine the life of IDP and host communities, by recognizing the interaction between emergency and sustainable urban development.