THE ARCHITECT’S ROLE IN ADDRESSING URBAN VULNERABILITY AND DISASTER RESPONSE Is the profession trained to play a role in addressing the most pressing contemporary urban challenges? Lecture with Professor David Sanderson, director of the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice in the department of architecture, Oxford Brookes University. David Sanderson trained and worked in architecture before taking a Masters degree in Development Practice at Oxford Brookes University in 1991. Since then he has undertaken project management, training, research and consultancies in development and emergencies in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Caribbean. In 2006 Sanderson became CENDEP’s Director. He completed his PhD by published works in 2009, which brought together research and practice undertaken between 1995-2008 in urban risk reduction and livelihoods, and was conferred Professor in 2010. Sanderson’s professional experience lies in urban poverty, disaster risk reduction and livelihoods. He has undertaken work for the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), European Commission (DiPECHO, EC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank (EDI Section), United Nations (UNDP/UNDESA), Action by Churches Together (ACT), British Council, Christian Aid, Tear Fund and the Mott Foundation. He also sits on several NGO committees and is an external examiner at Coventry University.

1. The architect's role in urban vulnerability
and disaster response
Is the profession trained to play a role?p p y
David Sanderson
Oslo May 2013Oslo, May 2013

2. 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 ‐ ?

3. 1.
What’s urban
vulnerability and what y
are the most pressing p g
challenges?challenges?

4. Urban growth – rapid changeUrban growth – rapid change

5. More city growth = more riskMore city growth more risk
of disaster …
Disaster = hazard xDisaster hazard x
vulnerability
We can do a lot to reduce
vulnerabilityvulnerability …

6. Five issuesFive issues
concerning
vulnerability

7. 1. Ability to recover
Tropical storm Thane, Pondicherry, Dec 30 2011
Biggest storm of 2011 46 dead
y
Biggest storm of 2011, 46 dead

8. Damage to property and marketsDamage to property and markets

9. Two weeks later…

10. 2. Scale of disaster
Tsunami
Sendai, March 2011

12. 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

13. 3. Overwhelmed
Earthquake
Port-au-Prince, January 2010

14. 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 y
and 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’.

15. 4 No preparedness
Shimla, India
4. No preparedness

16. 5 Governance and corruption5. Governance and corruption
Dhaka, Bangladesh

17. Garment factory collapse, Dhaka, April 2013

18. Sechuan earthquake, 2008, China

19. IN SUM Cities are complex!IN SUM … Cities are complex!

20. 22.
Is the architect trained toIs the architect trained to
l l ?play a role ‐ ?

21. 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 ‐ ?

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

23. 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 ….

24. eph Ashmore

25. Source: Joseph Ashmore

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

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

30. Whose reality
counts?

32. 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 …

33. 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 ….

34. Architect 2.0 ‐ ?

35. Thanks
dsanderson@brookes.ac.uk