Ghanem, Hala ORCID: 0000-0001-8343-7539 (2021) Public Outdoor Space and Refugees’ Socio-Cultural Integration: Understanding Refugees’ Agency within a Network of Actors in Amman, Jordan. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Abstract
This thesis is an in-depth exploration of the relational processes involved in the production of public spaces for socio-cultural integration in Amman, Jordan, engaging with the multiplicity of actors who produce, authorise, educate, activate, advocate, fund, and use these. Amman has a long history of hosting refugees, but more recent influxes have led to higher tensions between hosts and refugees, sometimes playing out in public space social dynamics. However, there is also an emergence of some actors who identify the opportunity of public spaces to support social cohesiveness. This research identified and employed a framework of four components - understand, enhance, amplify, and reflect - to document and analyse the experiences and intersections of different actors. This analysis represents layers of knowledge relating to the roles of different actors: government, third sector, urban designers, activists, researchers and refugees with a particular focus on a relational and socio-spatial understanding of refugees’ everyday outdoor experiences. The research process adopted a tailored qualitative approach for each category of actors, focused on stakeholder interviews and three ethno-cases: researcher residency in architectural practice, volunteering at a community skate park, and ethnographic excursions with refugees living in one neighborhood. The findings provided an in-depth understanding of the multidisciplinary processes around public space and refugee integration, highlighting the links, gaps, and interrelations between the actors. Notably, the refugees’ agency was identified through their mundane outdoor experiences and represented a range of tactics concerning survival, indifference, and sociability. This form of agency is explored as expressions of ‘gentle insurgency’. The researcher is situated as a contributing actor within the research process and the city contexts, and reflection on these relational dynamics is integral to this thesis. The research aims to understand and amplify marginalised voices of refugees to inform better practice in both the public space and refugee support sector.
Metadata
Supervisors: | Rishbeth, Clare |
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Keywords: | Public Open Space, Amman, Refugees, Socio-Cultural Integration, Socio-Spatial Production, Refugees’ Everyday Experiences, Agency, Actor, Ethno-cases. |
Awarding institution: | University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Landscape (Sheffield) |
Identification Number/EthosID: | uk.bl.ethos.858787 |
Depositing User: | Ms. Hala Ghanem |
Date Deposited: | 13 Jul 2022 11:07 |
Last Modified: | 01 Sep 2022 09:54 |
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