About This Project
"Making Space for Arrival" is an ongoing PhD research project exploring the relationship between migrant newcomers and urban space.
At the center of this work is the idea of arrival infrastructure: the places, services, and networks that shape newcomers' first months and years in a new city. Some of these are highly visible resources—such as free English learning programs, food support, public libraries, and organizations that help people navigate benefits and social services. Others are ordinary, everyday spaces that become meaningful through repeated use.
This website is an attempt to document, visualize, and share parts of that arrival infrastructure in a way that can be practically useful. While newly arrived immigrants are a key audience, the map is not only for one group. People who have been here for years may still need to find resources, and community members and service providers may also use it to understand what exists and what's missing.
- Expanding the map by adding more places and improving coverage over time, especially through deeper local knowledge and careful curation.
- Improving usability and design so people can find what they need faster and with less friction.
- Adding natural-language support, such as a chatbot that can answer questions and offer more tailored recommendations.
- Exploring multilingual access so people can search and navigate in languages beyond English.
Ultimately, the goal is not just to list services, but to make arrival infrastructure more visible and usable—and to support a broader conversation about how cities can better make space for arrival.