The Rhythm Analysis of Liminal Urbanisation: Migrants' Decision-making through Multiple Temporalities

Abstract

Liminal urbanisation represents a bottom-up communal organisation of self-built dwellings, established through the social interdependence of neighbours. A study of forced migrants from Kosovo and North Macedonia inhabiting the periphery of Montenegrin coastal cities reveals spatial, temporal and social splintering of conventional decision-making processes. This fragmentation manifests through linear recurrence, cyclical repetitiveness and periodisation, which together form the spatiotemporal framework of these neighbourhoods. Linear recurrence encompasses activities during dwelling construction, whilst cyclical temporalities are shaped by communal activities in public spaces. Periodisation represents a set of social peaks that generate horizontal decision-making. The author employs qualitative methods, including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focused observation and informal conversations with participants from four informal neighbourhoods: Bijela Gora, Palestine, 7th July and Meljine. The study demonstrates how political empowerment of migrants emerges through their demands for affordable housing and social inclusion, ultimately challenging authorities' top-down perspectives on informal neighbourhoods.