Building Back Better: Delivering People-Centred Housing Reconstruction at Scale - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853397016 ISBN 13: 9781853397011

Verlag: Practical Action Publishing, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

The devastating impact of disasters on the world's population is on the increase, influenced by climate change, urbanization, and persistent high levels of poverty, among other factors. There is a growing demand for reconstruction at scale. This book asks whether large-scale reconstruction can be participatory and developmental; can rebuilding be truly people-centred, contributing to breaking the cycle of poverty and dependence? Can reconstruction reduce people's vulnerability to disasters and other shocks? Building Back Better examines the context for reconstruction, and shows how developments in the fields of housing, participation and livelihoods have changed and enriched approaches to reconstruction. It explores the practice of implementing large-scale reconstruction of programmes in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia and India. The book informs policy, programme design, practice and evaluation. It will be of interest to agencies involved in reconstruction and authorities in countries regularly faced with disasters, as well as to students, academics and researchers.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Michal Lyons is an architect planner and urban geographer with research informed by a decade of work in the housing field in several countries. Until recently, Lyons managed World Jewish Aid, in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe, and consults widely for NGOs, INGOs, multilaterals, and the editorial boards of several academic journals.

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Building Back Better

Delivering People-Centred Housing Reconstruction at Scale

By Michal Lyons, Theo Schilderman, Camillo Boano

Practical Action Publishing Ltd

Copyright © 2010 Practical Action, London South Bank University, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-85339-701-1

Contents

Boxes, vii, 
Figures, vii, 
Tables, viii, 
Foreword Nabeel Hamdi, ix, 
Introduction Michal Lyons, Theo Schilderman and Graham Saunders, 1, 
Part I: Setting the Scene, 
1. Putting people at the centre of reconstruction Theo Schilderman, 7, 
2. Can large-scale participation be people-centred? Evaluating reconstruction as development Michal Lyons, 39, 
3. The people's process: The viability of an international approach Lalith Lankatilleke, 63, 
Part II: Making Programmes Work for People, 
4. Scaling-up people-centred reconstruction: Lessons from Sri Lanka's post-tsunami owner-driven programme Vishaka Hidellage and Aziza Usoof, 77, 
5. Pakistan: Implementing people-centred reconstruction in urban and rural areas Usman Qazi, 113, 
6. Indonesia: Understanding agency policy in a national context Jo da Silva and Victoria Batchelor, 135, 
7. India: From a culture of housing to a philosophy of reconstruction Jennifer Duyne Barenstein and Sushma Iyengar, 163, 
Part III: Lessons from the Project Level, 
8. Decentralizing (re)construction: Agriculture cooperatives as a vehicle for reconstruction in Colombia Gonzalo Lizarralde, 191, 
9. Kenya: Can temporary shelter contribute to participatory reconstruction? Dyfed Aubrey, 215, 
10. Bangladesh: Can large actors overcome the absence of state will? Khurshid Alam, 241, 
11. Turkey: Can small actors overcome the absence of state will? Hakan Arslan and Cassidy Johnson, 263, 
12. Progressive housing: Reconstruction after the 2001 earthquake in El Salvador Carmen Ferrer Calvo with Concepcion Herreros and Ing. Tomas Mata, 285, 
13. Peru: The long-term impact of short-term reconstruction work Eliseo Guzman Negron, 307, 
Conclusions Michal Lyons, Theo Schilderman, Camillo Boano and Sandra D'Urzo, 345, 
Index, 361, 

CHAPTER 1

Putting people at the centre of reconstruction

Theo Schilderman

This introductory chapter makes a case for people-centred reconstruction. It rejects previous dominant approaches to reconstruction, such as donor-driven reconstruction, as being inappropriate, and owner-driven reconstruction as being too exclusive. It argues that, in order to create greater resilience and sustainability, reconstruction must be more participatory and learn from development theory and practice, particularly in the housing sector. Above all, reconstruction needs to adopt a more holistic approach, combining the rebuilding of houses with that of livelihoods and local markets. Practical experience and guidance on this is still scarce, but being developed.

People-centred reconstruction in context

Approximately forty years ago, major earthquakes struck Peru and Turkey, causing much damage and many casualties. In both cases, the government initiated large reconstruction programmes, often involving relocation, and received assistance from external humanitarian agencies on an unprecedented scale. In 1970, there was little previous reconstruction experience of similar magnitude to learn from. The approaches followed by governments and agencies alike were to build houses for people rather than with them. Evaluations of those programmes by, for example, Blaikie et al., (1994) and Aysan and Oliver (1987) have since highlighted that they often got it wrong, and many of the houses built remained unoccupied, whilst the affected people reverted to their old ways of building and remained vulnerable to future risks.

Tragically, forty years on, governments and agencies sometimes still get their reconstruction approaches wrong. It perhaps happens less frequently and not to the same extent, but it still does happen and houses sometimes remain unoccupied even now. Disasters do put a lot of pressure on decision makers; they lead to thousands of households living in makeshift accommodation or with host families, and nobody likes this to last for too long. Besides, if nothing happens quickly, the media will put on additional pressure. So now, as in 1970, decisions are frequently made in a hurry, without much investigation or analysis, and without involving all those that matter. It appears to remain difficult for some decision makers to shift from a supply-driven 'relief mode' to a 'reconstruction mode' that ought to be more support-driven and people centred.

A recent step in the right direction has been the emergence of transitional housing which allows affected households to move out of their tents and other emergency shelters relatively quickly, whilst buying some time to get the permanent housing right – however, it comes at a cost. It was applied quite widely after the tsunami that affected many Asian countries in late 2004. A recent evaluation of a transitional housing programme in Aceh by van Dijk (2009) shows that transitional housing did also have a positive socio-economic impact on the people affected, provided they did not stay in the housing for too long.

For most households, a house is the biggest asset they will possess in their lifetime. They often struggle to construct it according to their individual needs and capacities, and the process may involve years of incremental development. Once a disaster has destroyed that asset, they may need outside assistance to reconstruct it non-incrementally, but the house still will have to meet their needs, which is one of the key reasons for putting people at the centre of reconstruction.

Reconstruction does not take place in a vacuum, but in a context of pre-disaster developments which have influenced the policies, strategies, rules and customs that are in place. These may differ from country to country or even within countries, but they are what have shaped society, livelihoods, housing, services and much more, as well as given rise to poverty, vulnerability and exclusion. It is important to analyse and understand these to achieve the most appropriate reconstruction, but in post-disaster pressure, there is often a tendency to only do so superficially, if at all. If people-centred reconstruction is to succeed, it needs to consider at least four sets of questions wherever it is applied:

1. What can we learn from the housing sector? How is housing provided in non-disaster circumstances, and who are the key actors? How in particular do low-income and marginalized people build or acquire housing? What are the prevailing government policies, strategies and rules applying to housing, and do these hinder or enable housing by or for the low-income? Which elements of this could be particularly useful in reconstruction? And what are the inherent weaknesses or risks?

2. Are people normally put at the centre of development? Is there a tradition of popular participation in the planning, implementation and evaluation of development? Is this supported by law or official policies or does it happen on an ad hoc basis? How inclusive is it? And how widely has it been applied to housing and its related services?

3. Is people's vulnerability considered in development thinking? What are its underlying causes? What are people's strengths (e.g. indigenous knowledge or social capital) and how can these be used to reduce their vulnerability? And what are their...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Practical Action Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1853397016
• ISBN 13: 9781853397011
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 388
• Herausgeber: Lyons Michal, Schilderman Theo
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland