Impromptu cities. The planning and design of refugee camps : between crisis response and long term development. The case of two Syrian refugee camps in Jordan

In June 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated that the number of refugees worldwide in 2013 topped 50 million, the most since World War II, a figure significantly increased by the Syrian conflict. These worldwide vast forced migrations have stepped up discussions about the urging need to start treating camps as more than transitional population centers. Numerous forward-thinking aid workers and other professionals of the built environment are viewing refugee camps as potential "urban incubators", and thus there is urgency for urban planning professionals to re-imagine how, and where, refugee camps around the world should, or shouldn’t, be planned and built. This thesis takes the two main Syrian refugee camps in northern Jordan, Zaatari and Azraq as a subject of research. As they present two poles apart models for the development of camps. The case of these two camps in Jordan, presents a rare opportunity for a comparison, under the same administrational and contextual conditions to investigate the characteristics, expansion, development trends and the outcomes of each model. To better understand the complex realities of these two camps the thesis goes through the many elements involved; the Syrian conflict and its components, Jordan's history as a hosting state and the lack of local legal frameworks to provide refugee protection. The thesis covers the issue of camp planning and design starting with a historical outlook then proceeding to inspect the realities of camp planning today. It presents a critical outlook of the current day international refugee regime from the problem with the 1951 convention on the status of refugees to the problems with universal camp design guidelines in effect. The thesis analyzes the two refugee camps and the social and economical manifestations under each model, and then defines them to present a "Wicked problem". One that is difficult to solve with complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems. The thesis asserts the need to think beyond the beautified facade of 'better' urban forms. As a solution, a regeneration response plan is proposed that is based on taking on the current positive practices of agriculture in the camp and implementing them as a tool for the spatial planning or re-planning of the camp. This work is valuable to researches and students in humanitarian studies and studies of the built environment; it is also relevant to professionals and policy makers in international aid agencies, nongovernmental development organizations and government bodies and ministries.