Reflections on a digital mapping and exhibition of arrival infrastructures during a covid pandemic

In this paper we will reflect on a student research seminar we have supervised together in 2020 in which MA students in architecture and urban planning at Ghent University explored the mapping and visualisation of arrival infrastructures in Ghent. The development of a mapping toolbox is part of the HORIZON 2020 project ‘ReRoot- arrival infrastructures as sites of integration for recent newcomers’ we are both involved in (start April 2021, see Meeus, Beeckmans, et al 2020). Originally the students would do ‘offline’ ethnographic fieldwork, which they would then translate into 'deep mappings', thus experimenting with a relatively new research method of 'architectural ethnography' (Kalpakci, Kaijima and Stalder 2020; Iseki 2018) - a method which is related to the 'spatial ethnography' as proposed by Setha Low (2016) but goes into more detail about the physical components and uses of infrastructures. The final outcome would be presented in a small-scale exhibition. Yet, due to the covid-measures, in particular the lockdown, the research seminar turned into a 'digital ethnography' exercise. A mosque, a socio-cultural initiative for refugees or an Afro-Christian church, all of these were ‘mapped’ via online research, tapping into the virtual 'mobile commons' (Papadopoulos & Tsianos 2013) or ‘migrant digitalities’ (Trimikliniotis et al 2014) that newcomers also use during the process of arrival, such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube, Zoom, etc. Hence, they tried to establish a detailed mapping of some of the spaces of arrival without having the chance to physically enter these spaces (a project that is similar to 'mental mapping', but in a digital way), yet with the advantage of possessing high technical (mapping) skills. In their mappings, which could be understood as multi-media depictions in which source material of different kinds is juxtaposed and that make an argument in a visual way, they mapped how specific places in the city of Ghent, often hidden in the urban fabric, acted as arrival infrastructures and how the covid-pandemic had affected the capacity for enabling arrival of the infrastructures. They were encouraged to not only make effective mappings, but also affective ones: map the struggles, emotions, challenges their respondents were confronted with due to the pandemic, but also their own difficulties in accessing the arrival infrastructures in the 'closed city'. At the end of the semester, the students were also invited to present their mappings in a digital exhibition, using interactive website design or newly available digital white boards (as miro or adobe.xd). Surprised by the remarkable high quality of their mappings of spaces they were never able to visit, bringing in more detail about the spaces as well as the perceptions and use of it than expected, we would like to further reflect on the possibilities and (ethical) challenges this digital mapping and exhibition of arrival infrastructure has taught us. By commenting on the ample visual material we gathered during this exercise, we would like to shed light on the new perspectives this collective endeavour could potentially open on a methodological level both in the field of urban and migration studies in which we situate ourselves.In this paper we will reflect on a student research seminar we have supervised together in 2020 in which MA students in architecture and urban planning at Ghent University explored the mapping and visualisation of arrival infrastructures in Ghent. The development of a mapping toolbox is part of the HORIZON 2020 project ‘ReRoot- arrival infrastructures as sites of integration for recent newcomers’ we are both involved in (start April 2021, see Meeus, Beeckmans, et al 2020). Originally the students would do ‘offline’ ethnographic fieldwork, which they would then translate into 'deep mappings', thus experimenting with a relatively new research method of 'architectural ethnography' (Kalpakci, Kaijima and Stalder 2020; Iseki 2018) - a method which is related to the 'spatial ethnography' as proposed by Setha Low (2016) but goes into more detail about the physical components and uses of infrastructures. The final outcome would be presented in a small-scale exhibition. Yet, due to the covid-measures, in particular the lockdown, the research seminar turned into a 'digital ethnography' exercise. A mosque, a socio-cultural initiative for refugees or an Afro-Christian church, all of these were ‘mapped’ via online research, tapping into the virtual 'mobile commons' (Papadopoulos & Tsianos 2013) or ‘migrant digitalities’ (Trimikliniotis et al 2014) that newcomers also use during the process of arrival, such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube, Zoom, etc. Hence, they tried to establish a detailed mapping of some of the spaces of arrival without having the chance to physically enter these spaces (a project that is similar to 'mental mapping', but in a digital way), yet with the advantage of possessing high technical (mapping) skills. In their mappings, which could be understood as multi-media depictions in which source material of different kinds is juxtaposed and that make an argument in a visual way, they mapped how specific places in the city of Ghent, often hidden in the urban fabric, acted as arrival infrastructures and how the covid-pandemic had affected the capacity for enabling arrival of the infrastructures. They were encouraged to not only make effective mappings, but also affective ones: map the struggles, emotions, challenges their respondents were confronted with due to the pandemic, but also their own difficulties in accessing the arrival infrastructures in the 'closed city'. At the end of the semester, the students were also invited to present their mappings in a digital exhibition, using interactive website design or newly available digital white boards (as miro or adobe.xd). Surprised by the remarkable high quality of their mappings of spaces they were never able to visit, bringing in more detail about the spaces as well as the perceptions and use of it than expected, we would like to further reflect on the possibilities and (ethical) challenges this digital mapping and exhibition of arrival infrastructure has taught us. By commenting on the ample visual material we gathered during this exercise, we would like to shed light on the new perspectives this collective endeavour could potentially open on a methodological level both in the field of urban and migration studies in which we situate ourselves.C