The Second Displacement of Refugees: Urban Regeneration Against Commoning Practices in Belgrade's Waterfront

Abstract

We develop the concept of “second displacement” to symbolise the renewed forms of uprooting that refugees undergo in arrival cities in the name of urban regeneration. Focusing on the eviction of 2,000 refugees from a self-organised settlement in Belgrade's old train station in order to redevelop the site as a luxurious “Waterfront” project, we show how the refugees’ commoning practices and claims for living space in city centres often come into direct conflict with public and private interests over urban regeneration and with imaginaries over who has the right to the city. Whilst most displacement literature focuses on state policies, we call attention to how the uprooting of refugees is often entangled with urban renewal plans and private investors’ interests. In Belgrade, the depiction of the refugees’ living spaces as “badlands” by the state, catalysed the formation of the rent gap that facilitated re-allocation of rights to the city.