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The refugees’ right to the centre of the city: City branding versus city commoning in Athens

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  • Charalampos Tsavdaroglou

    (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Maria Kaika

    (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Over the years, cities have figured as exemplary places for neoliberal urban policies which tend to appropriate the right to the city through city-branding policies. However, as this article demonstrates, there are important claims of the right to the city raised by newly arrived refugees in the city of Athens. Although most refugees reside in overcrowded state-run camps on the outskirts of the city, there are many cases in which refugees enact the production of collective common spaces, occupying abandoned buildings in the urban core and claiming the right to the centre of the city. In this context and following the Lefebvrian notion of the right to the city and the spatial analysis on commons and enclosures, we explore the actions of refugees, and the way they engage in commoning practices that not only strive against the official state policies, but also often contest city-branding policies. In particular, we focus on the area of Exarcheia in Athens, which is an emblematic case of the conflicted nexus between investors’ and refugees’ right to the city.

Suggested Citation

  • Charalampos Tsavdaroglou & Maria Kaika, 2022. "The refugees’ right to the centre of the city: City branding versus city commoning in Athens," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(6), pages 1130-1147, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:59:y:2022:i:6:p:1130-1147
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098021997009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ayham Dalal & Amer Darweesh & Philipp Misselwitz & Anna Steigemann, 2018. "Planning the Ideal Refugee Camp? A Critical Interrogation of Recent Planning Innovations in Jordan and Germany," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(4), pages 64-78.
    2. Jake Watson, 2019. "Welcoming Refugees and the Cultural Wealth of Cities: Intersections of Urban Development and Refugee Humanitarianism," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 983-999, September.
    3. Warda Belabas & Jasper Eshuis & Peter Scholten, 2020. "Re-imagining the city: branding migration-related diversity," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(7), pages 1315-1332, July.
    4. Marianne Maeckelbergh, 2012. "Mobilizing to Stay Put: Housing Struggles in New York City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 655-673, July.
    5. Charalampos Tsavdaroglou, 2020. "The Refugees’ Right to the Center of the City and Spatial Justice: Gentrification vs Commoning Practices in Tarlabaşı-Istanbul," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 230-240.
    6. Andy Merrifield, 2011. "The right to the city and beyond," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3-4), pages 473-481, August.
    7. Panos Hatziprokopiou & Yannis Frangopoulos & Nicola Montagna, 2016. "Migration and the city," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 52-60, February.
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    1. Arthur Acolin, 2024. "Book review: The Sanctuary City: Immigrant, Refugee, and Receiving Communities in Postindustrial Philadelphia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(8), pages 1617-1620, June.

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