“Proposition (Re) Settlement”

As a “nation of immigrants,” the United States’ founding and settlement is one of freedom on the one hand and colonialism on the other. What does it mean to (re)settle in the United States? How can the housing and social needs of arriving refugees be conceived within the spectrum of affordable and dignified housing for all Americans? How can we understand (re)settlement as a mechanism for developing new housing forms, critical social, cultural, and economic infrastructure, and urban design without causing displacement of indigenous residents already experiencing their own precarities.

The state of Michigan has committed to housing refugees from Afghanistan in the immediate future. Organizations with specialization in resettling refugees are looking for opportunities to house these new arrivals in transitional housing and link them to services, while cities that are currently experiencing disinvestment and population decline are looking for opportunities to revitalize existing communities through the building of long-term housing and enhancements of infrastructure and service provision.

We will work with Samaritas, the city of Inkster, and Wayne County, as well as other academic units across University of Michigan. Our goal is to address the immediate need for temporary housing that can develop over time into stable, workforce and intergenerational homes for these new immigrants and others, as well as to propose urban and programmatic strategies for integrating this complex housing scenario.