Interstitial urban spaces: housing strategies and the use of the city by homeless asylum seekers and refugees in Trento, Italy

Abstract

contribution presents the results of an ethnographic research, conducted in the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy), which investigated the living conditions of refugees and asylum seekers outside the reception system and explored the heterogeneous and fragmented world of pathways they undertake in search of work and accommodation. From the point of view of housing, the investigation has shown how individuals put in place different kind of tactics and strategies. Generally, among these, informal settlements seemed to be the most common solution. However, what we focus on relates to both the effects produced on migrants’ everyday life by the environments and the material conditions of these settlements and the forms of re‐ appropriation of the spaces exercised by the individuals. For instance, this is the case of ‘Le Albere’: a residential and commercial area designed by a famous architect which has become the ‘home’ of many refugees excluded by the reception system. How does this place affect migrants’ everyday lives? Why do they prefer to live in this area? How does their presence re‐ shape such space? These are the main questions that this contribution aims to answer.