Abstract

In 2016, there were over 65 million people around the world forcibly displaced. Such a massive displacement of population creates challenges for host communities trying to provide them infrastructure services. For example, no front-end planning or construction may be possible given the unexpected nature of disaster events. This study assesses host communities' public perceptions, at both city and national scales, of displaced persons' impacts on water, wastewater, and transportation systems. This study draws on data gathered through a survey deployed in August 2016 to the public in Germany, where approximately 722,000 people sought refuge the same year. Statistical analyses show that heterogeneous drivers of public perceptions include both geographic and demographic parameters. Nonparametric tests reveal that the public perceived the impact on infrastructure systems similarly within city and national scales, but differently across. It is hypothesized here that the difference is due to residents perceiving this group of infrastructure systems as a system-of-systems that is part of their built environment. If we understand how hosting communities perceive the impacts of displaced persons, we may gain insights into perceived infrastructure disruptions. With such insights, we may assist policy-makers and engineers in planning locally acceptable infrastructure alternatives to integrate displaced population.