THE PROPOSAL

In Northern Syria, every year, for 12 years now, an average of $100,000,000 is spent on disposable shelter material. Rather than spending aid money year after year on renewing tarps and canvas for tents, a more sustainable approach would be to invest in campground infrastructure to enable future development, which could leverage informal, bottom-up urbanization that emerges in the absence of formal authority. This would lay the groundwork for community-led, small-scale urban development that can democratize cities and transform their neighborhoods.

Residents of camps have been marginalized as a result of a dependency on external aid and the unchanging status quo, and they are trapped in space while time passes them by. Although they could be a great asset and part of the solution, the Syrian people have been relegated to a stationary status, a problem that must be dealt with. In order to change this reality, displaced people’s must take a stand for themselves and reclaim the right to determine their own future, instead of waiting to be rescued. This requires a change in perspective on the part of humanitarian agencies, a shift from viewing camp residents as helpless victims to recognizing them as resilient survivors who demonstrate remarkable strength and dignity in the face of extreme circumstances.

When given the tools, these people are capable of rebuilding their lives both physically and metaphorically, to create a future that is no longer imaginary, nor temporary.

Design Principles

This transformation is intended to happen in phases:

Phase I: Redesigning camp layouts to promote a sense of community and comfort.

Phase II: Establishing basic shared structural elements that camp residents can employ to frame their urban growth in an organized pattern, and transition their temporary accommodations into more permanent structures.

Phase III: Transforming the lives of camp residents who are now able to rebuild their homes and their dreams for a better future.