Site Planning and Shelter, Camp Restructure Project Report: Zaatari Refugee Camp

Zaatari Camp was established in July 2012. To-date, over 400,000 refugees have passed through the camp. The majority of refugees relocated within the host communities across Jordan, while some voluntarily returned to Syria. Currently, the camp is home to around 80,000 refugees (13,500 HH), residing in 12 districts.

The mobile nature of the refugee population in/out of the camp, coupled with continued new arrivals upto April 2014 when Azraq Camp was established, disrupted infrastructural planning and assistance delivery as refugees tended to change their locations within the camp very frequently. In order to improve the camp infrastructure and upgrade refugee shelters, UNHCR has maintained the grid system of Zaatari on the masterplan, creating blocks and streets to clarify the skeleton and land use within the camp, and facilitate communication with the community, creating a community structure. Site planning unit has implemented a settlement restructuring plan, which includes relocation of households to ensure accessibility and preparation for the ongoing infrastructure projects such as waste water, water supply, road and electricity networks. The result of the project includes the implementation of an address system for every household, and mapping their boundaries on the masterplan.