The Camp, Housing, and the City: Berlin's Migrant Camp Accommodation after the »Long Summer of Migration«

Christian Sowa

Published by transcript Verlag 2024

The Camp, Housing, and the City

Berlin's Migrant Camp Accommodation after the »Long Summer of Migration«

Christian Sowa

In the series Urban Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839470374

Overview
Contents

About this book

In 2015 many camps were opened to accommodate newly arriving migrants in Berlin. Christian Sowa studies this form of accommodation. Moving beyond an exclusive focus on borders and migration, he argues that camp accommodation must be thought of and studied as part of the urban context and as a specific form of housing. The study provides an in-depth case study, discusses policy alternatives, argues for »housing for all instead of camps«, and contributes to bringing urban and migration studies into public discussion. In times of new waves of migration, the topic of migrant accommodation within urban environments remains highly relevant today.

Author / Editor information

Christian Sowa holds a PhD in development studies from SOAS University of London. He currently works at the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM). Prior to his PhD, he studied political and social sciences in Berlin (Freie Universität), Beirut (AUB) and New York (Columbia). He has also worked as a tour guide, as a lecturer and has been involved in migrant support and Right to the City groups. His work has been published in the Radical Housing Journal, Engagée, sub\urban and The Architects Newspaper among others.

Reviews

"Christian Sowa offers rich insights into how Berlin has housed people seeking asylum, capturing both managerial challenges and people's experiences of living in improvised ›camp‹ accommodation - and of trying to move on. The book offers a fresh perspective by situating the asylum issue within the broader urban housing landscape, dissecting precarity and suggesting alternatives. With accommodation increasingly central in political debates about cities and migration, this is an engaging and timely intervention, which should be of interest to researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and activists for change." (Dr Anna Lindley,Reader in Migration, Mobility and Development, SOAS, University of London) "The Camp, Housing, and the City is a thorough study of migrant camp accommodation in Berlin. Relevant to urban contexts worldwide coping with the need to accommodate flows of forced migrants, the book thoughtfully unpacks the complex links between migrant camps, affordable housing, and the real estate market in such cities. Innovatively looking at camp accommodation as urban housing, the book deals with the policies and practices of providing shelter for urban forced migrant as a question of housing, allowing us to assess not only the influence of urban camps on their temporary inhabitants but also on the changing availability of housing in the transforming cities accommodating them." (Dr Irit Katz, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies, University of Cambridge. Author of The Common Camp: Architecture of Power and Resistance in Israel-Palestine, University of Minnesota Press, 2022)

Supplementary Materials

Leseprobe

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	1
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	5
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
List of Figures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
2. Conceptualising camp accommodation
2.1 Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
2.2 The camp as a (total) technology of power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
2.3 Camp accommodation as “logistical nodes” of the border regime Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
2.4 Camp accommodation as neoliberal migration management Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
2.5 Camp accommodation as shaped by the city Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
2.6 Camp accommodation as (urban) housing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
2.7 Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
3. Investigating camp accommodation
3.1 Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
3.2 Clearing the ground: a case study on LAF camp accommodation in Berlin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
3.3 Carrying out the field research Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
3.4 Research tools and sources of data Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
3.5 Interviews Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
3.6 Positionality and ethics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
4. The arrival of migrants and the setting up of camps
4.1 Introduction: a “massive immigration” causing new camps Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
4.2 The arrival of migrants to Berlin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
4.3 The “need” for camp accommodation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
4.4 To Dresden or Berlin? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
4.5 Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
5. The actors and types of camp accommodation in Berlin
5.1 Introduction: new actors and camp types in the city Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
5.2 The key actors of camp management Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
5.3 Types of camp accommodation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
5.4 Neoliberal camp management Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
5.5 Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
6. Camp locations and the outflow into own apartments
6.1 Introduction: new locations and a lacking outflow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
6.2 Location Patterns Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
6.3 Finding new camp sites Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
6.4 The camp-housing transition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
6.5 Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
7. Living in Berlin’s camp accommodation
7.1 Introduction: understanding the camps’ living conditions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
7.2 Precarious housing conditions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
7.3 A long time in temporary accommodation: the impact of the housing market Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
7.4 Separation patterns: the urban surrounding, neighbourhoods and the larger city Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
7.5 Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	200
8. Conclusion
8.1 Developing the argument Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
8.2 Policy: accommodation beyond the camp – affordable housing for all Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
8.3 Politics: combined struggles, a Right to the City, and migrants as tenants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	220
8.4 An “academic” conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	224
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
Appendix: List of interviews Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: transcript Verlag
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 258
Keywords: Migration; Refugees; Housing; Berlin; City; Urban Studies; Sociology

eBook

Published: January 23, 2024
ISBN: 9783839470374