Already home to an established Afghan American community, the Washington D.C. metropolitan region has seen a further increase in the number of Afghan refugees since the Fall of Kabul in 2021. This study explores the perceptions of mobility among Afghan refugee women as they resettle in their new communities. Through semi-structured interviews and a cognitive mapping exercise with nine women, this study reveals that barriers to daily mobility stem from lacking literacy and English language proficiency and from not possessing a driver's license—leading to restrictions in their desired mobility. The following themes surfaced through thematic analysis: reliance on social networks, a desire for third places and sense of independence and freedom. This study hopes to shed light on the lived experiences of Afghan women, an underrepresented population in mobility studies. The findings from this preliminary study also seek to inform cities with larger refugee populations to consider refugees in planning and design decisions. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning / Already home to an established Afghan American community, the Washington D.C. metropolitan region has seen a further increase in the number of Afghan refugees since the Fall of Kabul in 2021. Because refugees don't have a car upon arrival, daily travel is a challenge. This study explores the perceptions of transportation mobility among nine recently resettled Afghan women in their new community of Northern Virginia through maps and interviews. Mobility is movement between an origin and destination and also the meaning behind the movement. This study reveals that barriers to mobility stem from lacking literacy and English language proficiency and from not possessing a driver's license. The following themes surface through analyzing and identifying patterns from the maps and interviews: reliance on social networks, a desire for communal places (referred to as third places) and sense of independence and freedom. This study hopes to shed light on the lived experiences of Afghan women, an underrepresented population in mobility research studies. The findings from this preliminary study also seek to inform cities with larger refugee populations to consider refugees in planning and design decisions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/119385 |
| Date | 10 June 2024 |
| Creators | Malik, Zuhra Hafsa |
| Contributors | Urban Affairs and Planning, Misra, Shalini, Buehler, Ralph, Powell, Katrina M. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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