For refugees who undergo permanent resettlement, characteristics of the resettlement context influence their ability to heal from pre-migration persecution and achieve a sense of wellbeing. This ethnographic study examines the impact of place-related determinants on the sense of wellbeing experienced by refugees resettled in a small urban center. The paper reports on the results of in-depth interviews that were conducted with ten former refugees in St. John's, Canada. We found that challenges and coping resources both emerged from the same aspects of the city, including its built environment, natural environment, history, culture, and low ethnic diversity. Future research should attend to how aspects of the resettlement context can simultaneously challenge and support refugees' sense of wellbeing. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Diversity resettlement Urban wellbeing Environment Refugee

urban population urban area immigrant South and Central America refugee ambivalence Europe Newfoundland and Labrador human social isolation Refugees middle aged medical research social determinants of health coping behavior priority journal Adaptation, Psychological Environment social support relocation Newfoundland human relation interview quality of life psychological well being Young Adult Humans ethnic difference family life psychology male Canada environmental factor female ethnography Africa cultural factor Article history adult migration Saint John's distress syndrome normal human health care facility