Graduation Semester and Year

Summer 2025

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Planning and Public Policy

Department

Urban and Public Affairs

First Advisor

Ariadna Reyes-Sanchez

Second Advisor

Austin Allen

Third Advisor

Deden Rukmana

Abstract

Past research in the Global North has overlooked the housing issues faced by low-income refugees while primarily examining disadvantaged communities and people of color, such as low-income African American and Hispanic populations. Refugees coming to the United States face compound challenges and barriers in securing adequate housing, besides contending with other social and economic difficulties such as language barriers and lack of knowledge in the housing market, which expose them to exploitation and eventually impact their access to opportunities such as employment. Although the literature on housing accessibility for refugees is scarce in the United States, we argue that the Arab population in the United States is especially overlooked, with limited studies of the Arab refugees’ resettlement experiences.

This study examines the accessibility and equitable opportunities for low-income Arab refugees to obtain adequate housing assistance and access affordable and public housing, investigating the implications of existing restrictions on these policies in Dallas County and their contributions to inclusion and social integration. The research employs a mixed-methods approach to examine the accessibility of public housing to Arab refugees in Dallas County. The rationale for selecting Dallas County as the study area lies in its significance and relevance to the research objective. Targeting Arab refugees in this research is considered timely, particularly given the arrival of Syrian refugees in the United States over the last decade and their resettlement in one of the most popular metropolitan areas in Texas, such as Dallas-Fort Worth, especially since Texas ranked as the fourth state in the Arab American population. Notably, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area was among the 18 metropolitan areas that grew to over five million in population by 2000. Dallas County is a large, urbanized county that attracts a significant number of refugees. Additionally, this region attracted the migrant population for its social and economic attributes, as DFW is now also considered a tech hub. This research combines a descriptive spatial analysis of the Arab population’s distribution with a mixed-methods content analysis of official documents to examine the influence of federal policies regarding refugees, integration, and housing during the latest administrations. Moreover, a semi-structured interview with Arab refugees to explore their lived experiences and identify barriers to public housing assistance. My study reveals that Arab refugees face challenges in accessing public and affordable housing, particularly with the social and economic barriers that exacerbate the reality. Along with the imbalanced distribution of public housing in Dallas County, potential inequality was present for the low-income population, including the Arab population, in accessing high-opportunity neighborhoods. This study provides actionable recommendations for enhancing housing accessibility policy, promoting better integration outcomes for Arab refugees in urban areas, and informing more equitable housing policies for refugees, thereby providing planners with insights to support these approaches in Dallas County. This large and urbanized county serves as a reference for other counties nationwide.

Keywords

Refugees, Resettlement, Public housing, Affordable housing, Integration

Disciplines

Urban, Community and Regional Planning

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