ABSTRACT
The refugee situation in Europe may seem like an unusual case, the result of civil war in just two countries—Iraq and Syria—with a long-term drought in Syria leading to economic and political instability. Faced with some of the downsides Jared Diamond talks about— economic, political, and climate-related disruptions— refugees represent a nomadic alternative, moving across a vast terrain in search of a better life. The on-demand economy brings a temporal aspect to the sharing: it involves peer-to-peer services able to respond quickly to a call. The car-sharing service Uber embodies that idea. The architecture and design community, as well as those in the housing community, tends to think that providing accommodations for people requires either renovating existing structures or building a new, while on-demand services have shown how much space already exists. The design community has developed a wide range of mobile, owner-occupied living units as well.
