Literature Review: Urban Refugees

Urban refugee experiences are complex and varied. Their study has expanded in recent years, as scholars recognize the unique challenges that refugees face in an urban environment, and that the international community must overcome in order to provide services to this population. Attention to the experiences of urban refugee populations has also grown within the non-governmental and international organizational communities.
This review examines a broad swathe of the available literature on urban refugees, in order to inform the development of policy work and further research in this area. The focus is on academic works written in English that concentrate analysis on urban refugees inhabiting cities in the Global South and including the Middle East. The review is divided into four broad categories of literature for examination based on the themes most widely present in the examined pieces:
1) motivations for urban settlement
2) concerns of host countries
3) durable solutions
4) protection gaps
The general conclusion stemming from this review is that the current body of research is lacking in a number of respects. While it is strongest in advocating for increased protection measures to accommodate the millions of refugees choosing to live in urban environments (rather than in camp-based settlements) and the development of more extensive services to provide for this population, the literature is decidedly lacking when it comes to frank examination of the considerations of host states and communities. Somewhere in between lay attention to refugees’ motivations for urban settlement and the economic livelihoods possibilities for urban refugees, and the true availability of durable solutions. More research will be required to support national and international policy development in this area.