Refugee crisis is an urban crisis, says World Bank

Forced displacement is increasingly an urban crisis that needs an integrated humanitarian and development approach in cities, according to a new World Bank report released at the World Urban Forum.

“The reported numbers of refugees usually refer to those registered by UNHCR,” Axel Baeumler, Senior Infrastructure Economist at the World Bank and co-author of the report told Cities Today. “However in reality, there are many unregistered refugees and the location of refugees, as well as internally displaced people, can change rapidly especially in urban settings. As a result, gaining an accurate and up to date understanding of the changing dynamics between the urban poor and the forcibly displa...