Refugee Camps: Considerations for Temporary Shelter Design and Organization

In recent years, a lot of wars and conflicts have occurred around the world for different reasons such as political, economic, ethnic, etc. These wars and conflicts have resulted in a significant increase in the number of refugees around the world. According to UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) today, there are approximately 62 million people in the world who had to leave their homes and countries due to wars and move to places that they believe would be safer. Out of this number 21.3 million are refugees. Most of these refugees live in refugee camps set in various countries all around the world. Some of these camps are like small cities with up to 250000 population. However, many of these camps and provided shelters have a range of serious problems, and provide refugees with very poor living conditions. Considering the fact that most of these refugees live in these camps for over five years, and some for over a generation, it becomes essential to think about the design of these camps in a different way than other disaster ones that the duration of stay is generally shorter. Besides, what should be considered is the fact that these people have had the traumatic experience of a war, and are far from their motherlands, trying to start a new life in a foreign place. That’s why providing refugees with proper shelters can increase the sense of belonging and meet the need for a “home” to some extent. Another critical but less discussed issue in this condition is the overall organization of refugee camps, and possible social and psychological effects of these organizations on refugees. In this respect, the aim of this study will be to argue about the quality of life in refugee camps with an emphasis on the organization of shelters in camps to provide a safe iii environment which increases the quality of human interactions, hence the well-being of the refugees. As the case study of this research some refugee camps in Turkey are chosen, to study the quality of shelters, exterior spaces and overall organization of the camps. As the result of this study some suggestions are developed for enhancing the quality of public spaces in these kinds of camps. Keyword: Shelter, Refugee Camps, Spatial Organization, Quality of Social Spaces.