Planning 'the otherwise.' Scaling up the role of spatial policies for migrants, temporary and mobile populations

Descrizione del progetto

Ripensare gli spazi urbani e le politiche per la mobilità dei migranti

Con l’aumentare della circolarità e della precarietà delle migrazioni globali, le città moderne, tradizionalmente costruite sui principi della permanenza, faticano ad adattarsi. Con il sostegno del programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto PLANwise indaga il nesso tra migrazione e città, ridefinendo il modo in cui le politiche territoriali affrontano il problema delle abitazioni temporanee e mobili. Sebbene i migranti creino spesso una “città alternativa” attraverso infrastrutture informali, le politiche urbane sono spesso in ritardo o addirittura aggravano le disuguaglianze. Mappando le agenzie per la migrazione a Los Angeles, in dialogo con Beirut e Milano, PLANwise svilupperà un quadro di conoscenze innovativo e rivoluzionario, nonché strumenti pratici per i responsabili delle politiche. La ricerca introduce una prospettiva spaziale nei processi di arrivo, contribuendo a progettare città più inclusive e adattabili che riflettano le realtà della mobilità internazionale contemporanea.

Obiettivo

As migration processes evolve and spark global debate, it is urgent to qualify the link between public debate, policy agendas, and research – especially in destination areas. PLANwise addresses the migration-city nexus, reframing the role of spatial policies towards migrants’ temporary and mobile city dwelling. Global crises and regulatory frameworks are making international migration increasingly fragmented, circular, and precarious. Migrants' temporal and spatial agencies, along with infrastructuring initiatives, produce a ‘city otherwise’ that challenges the principles of permanence and stability on which cities are built. In this context, the role of spatial policies remains unclear: urban policy often counteracts infrastructuring efforts, supports them only at a micro scale, or is altogether absent – exacerbating inequalities. PLANwise will develop a knowledge framework that reviews the role of spatial policies in relation to mobile and temporary dwelling, outlining approaches, arrangements, and tools for planners and policymakers at the city level.

From one of the world’s major arrival cities, Los Angeles, the project will map migration and infrastructuring agencies, showing their extension and territorial relevance, assess conditions for spatial policies engagement, and develop policy recommendations through critical mapping - informed by the secondment at the Beirut Urban Lab. Lessons learned will be framed back in the European policy and immigration context, in the return phase in Milan. This will enable the PI to bring a fresh perspective to the European debate, develop a policy-oriented approach, boosting her career as an independent researcher and international reference. The project will open a new research line introducing a spatial policy perspective to migration and urban studies on arrival processes. Its societal impact lies in the construction of a strong link between the public debate, policy agendas, and research - key for policy effectiveness.