The architect's role in urban vulnerability and disaster response

Is the profession trained to play a role?p p y

David SandersonOslo May 2013Oslo, May 2013

Two parts ….

1. What’s urban vulnerability and what1. What s urban vulnerability and what are the most pressing urban challenges?challenges?

2. Is the architect trained to play a role ‐ ?

1. What’s urban 

vulnerability and what yare the most pressing p g

challenges?challenges? 

Urban growth – rapid changeUrban growth – rapid change 

More city growth = more risk More city growth more risk of disaster …

Disaster = hazard xDisaster  hazard x vulnerability

We can do a lot to reduce vulnerabilityvulnerability …

Five issues Five issues concerning

vulnerabilit y

1. Abilit y to recoverTropical storm Thane, Pondicherry, Dec 30 2011Biggest storm of 2011 46 dead

y

Biggest storm of 2011, 46 dead

Damage to property and marketsDamage to property and markets

T w o w e e k s l a t e r…

2. Scale of disasterT s u n a m i

S e n d a i , M a r c h 2 0 1 1

a i r p o r t

C o m m u n i t y r a d i o e v a c u a t i o n s h e l t e r

3. Over whelmedE a r t h q u a k e

P o r t - a u - P r i n c e , J a n u a r y 2 0 1 0

Why so bad?‘It's poverty that is at the core of these disasters’p y

• Poorest country in the western world• Poorest country in the western world

• More than 78% of Haitians live on l th US$2 dless than US$2 per day

• Years of conflicts, political instability , p yand recurrent disasters

• ‘With poverty comes vulnerabilityWith poverty comes vulnerability. And nothing exposes the vulnerabilities of people living in poverty more than naturalpoverty more than natural disasters’.

4 No preparednessShimla, India 4. No preparedness

5 Governance and corruption5. Governance and corruption

Dhaka, Bangladesh 

Garment factory collapse, Dhaka, April 2013

Sechuan earthquake, 2008, China

IN SUM Cities are complex!IN SUM … Cities are complex!

22.Is the architect trained toIs the architect trained to 

l l ?play a role ‐ ?

Architect’s role ?Architect s role ‐ ?

d ?• Product or process?• Deliverer or facilitator?• Listener or defender?• Provider or enabler?Provider or enabler?• Lone genius or team player?

…. do you focus on people or the d ?product ‐ ?

When the focus is on the product‐ shelter after disaster …

Shelter after disaster – can be dominated by the seductive product

• We can get fixated on designing ‘the (short term) solution’solution

• Better still … ‘to  help the helpless victims’helpless victims’ 

• We get to be saviours ….

eph Ashmore

Source: Joseph Ashmore

Haiti Single storey detached housing for dense urban areasdense urban areas….

Designing for theDesigning for the earthquake or for living?Gujarat ten years onGujarat, ten years on

Whose reality counts?

Good humanitarian response isGood humanitarian response is ….

• Bottom up, not top down• Process, not productp• Supporting, not providing

• … It’s the language of human rights, assets, governance, politics, social protection …governance, politics, social protection …

• Architects need to adapt to meet theArchitects need to adapt to meet the challenge …

The need to engage in messy realityThe need to engage in messy reality …

Physical – what you see

But, what’s under the surface?

• Social • Economic• Political• Political ….

Architect 2.0 ‐ ?

Thanks dsanderson@brookes.ac.uk