Humanitarian village, a design innovation for small and medium-scale disasters

Transcription

1 Humanitarian village, a design innovation for small and medium-scale disasters ABSTRACT: Asia and the Pacific region have the highest number of total occurrences, fatalities and effects of natural disaster events caused by small-medium disasters particularly flood and cyclone. Data from United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) 2015 shows that in the past 4 decades there has been a growing number of small and medium-scale disasters which have resulted a total loss of over US$1.15 trillion. However this scale of disaster has received less attention from humanitarian agencies. At the same time the increasing number of natural disasters has increased the demand for humanitarian products and facilities such as shelters, communication devices, health and safety equipment, water and sanitation. There are many types of designs for emergency shelters but most are too technical and neglect the social needs of the occupants, which makes post-disaster life more distressing for survivors. This paper explores the concept of Humanitarian Village as an innovative design for responding to small and medium-scale disasters, focusing on community-led design for better temporary pop-up shelter and village facilities for people impacted by highly distressing scenarios. A technical solution for the design of emergency shelters is proposed and ways to manage small and medium-scale disasters, particularly in the Asia Pacific region are investigated. Keywords: Humanitarian Village, Small-medium Disaster, Design Innovation, Emergency Shelter, Natural Disaster, Asia Pacific 1. Introduction Asia and the Pacific region have the highest number of total occurrences, fatalities and effects of natural disaster events caused by the small-medium disasters. While the number of massive geological disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis has remained relatively constant at around 20 a year for the last two decades, the total number of small to medium natural disasters related to climate change especially flood and cyclones, has quadrupled in this time (Oxfam 2007). Over the same period, the number of people affected has increased from around 174 million to an average of over 250 million a year. Furthermore, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) data 2015 shows a growing number of small and medium scale disasters in the past 4 decades which have resulted a total loss of over US$1.15 trillion. However this scale of disaster has received less attention from humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies, which has resulted in limited responses and actions taken. At the same time the increasing number of natural disasters has increased the demand for humanitarian products especially shelter and facilities such as communication devices, health and safety equipment, water and sanitation. 176

2 This paper explores the concept of Humanitarian Village as an innovative design for responding to small and medium-scale disasters, focusing on community-led design for better temporary pop-up shelters and village. The Humanitarian Village is a manufactured system of products, spaces, symbols and services that are designed to be complementary in disaster response. This includes the provision of facilities in and around shelters such as water and sanitation, signage, communication and health facilities. This paper aims to examine a better solution for the design of emergency shelters and also investigate ways to manage small and medium-scale disasters, particularly in Asia and the Pacific region which has the highest number of total occurrences, fatalities and impacts. Climate change is now a global concern therefore the management of small and medium-scale climate-related disasters also have to be managed globally and include major humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies. Results from this study guide the humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies to pay attention to this scale of disaster. It also offers insight on the partnership between governments, big international humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies in terms of responding to small and medium-scale disasters in the climate change era. To explore the concept of Humanitarian Village as an innovative design for responding to small and medium-scale disasters, this paper uses statistical data including disaster trends, scale, scope and impacts. The discussion focuses on the review of a number of designs of emergency shelters with different technologies and materials. Statistical data are also used to understand how countries prone to small and medium-scale disasters, manage the disasters, particularly in Asia and the Pacific region. The overall analysis of the emergency shelters is also based upon the Author's own experience and reflection on post-disaster response of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh between 2005 and Statistical data According to McFarlane and Norris (2006:4) a disaster is a potentially traumatic event that is collectively experienced, has an acute onset, and is time delimited; disasters may be attributed to natural, technological, or human causes. A report by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters or CRED (2015) clearly distinguishes the difference between hazards versus disaster. According to this report, the term hazard refers to a severe or extreme event such as a flood, storm, earthquake, volcanic eruption, which occur naturally in any part 177

3 of the world. Natural hazards only become natural disasters when human lives are lost and livelihoods damaged or destroyed i.e. impact on human populations. In order to be recorded as a natural disaster, an event must meet at least one of the following criteria: ten or more people reported killed; 100 or more people reported affected; declaration of a state of emergency; or call for international assistance (CRED 2015). There are two types of disasters, a natural disaster caused by natural events and a manmade disaster caused by humans such as war, conflict or industrial accidents. In terms of scale, disasters can be categorised into small, medium and large or in between (small to medium or medium to large). Small to medium disasters such as flood, cyclone and bush fires may occur in regular cycles and can be predicted, while medium to large disasters erupt occasionally and cannot be predicted precisely. Based on the response to disaster, three stages are identified: the rescue, the relief and the rehabilitation. The rescue stage may takes place over 1-2 weeks while the relief stage that follows takes up to 2 months or longer depending on the type of disaster and its impact on the community. The last stage, the rehabilitation, is the time for survivors or displaced people to go back into their homes and mostly occurs up to 12 months or more later. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific recorded over 2 million lives lost due to natural disasters between 1970 and 2014 in Asia and the Pacific region, which equals to 56.6 percent of the fatalities globally (UNESCAP 2015). Earthquakes and tsunamis were the main causes of death, despite their relatively infrequent occurrences. Furthermore, UNESCAP also recorded that 6 billion people from the Asia and the Pacific region were affected by disasters over the same period equalling to 87.6 per cent of the affected globally. Floods and drought although not the deadliest disasters, affected the highest number of people at 5 billion, while reports on natural disasters are generally on the rise, floods, cyclones and storms showed a steep increase in number and were the most frequent events (OXFAM 2007). Asia and the Pacific regions are vulnerable to many types of disasters, including floods, cyclones, earthquakes, drought, storm surges and tsunamis. Small and medium-scale disasters are more frequent than the large-scale disasters that hit the headlines. Disasters come in different sizes. The public and policy makers are more informed about the outcome of mass disasters that receive the attention of international media. In fact, most disasters occur in more limited geographical space and this depends on the hazard that triggers them. For example, landslides are geographically local but are very widespread 178

4 across the globe. The cumulative losses of landslides may be very high even if they seldom make it to the news. High intensity earthquakes are much less frequent even if the cumulative impact of smaller earthquake events may be equally large (EUR 2013). During the past decade, on average, over 200 million people were affected and 70,000 people were killed by natural disasters annually. Those figures represent 90% and 65% of the world totals, respectively (CRED 2015) The statistical data on disasters implicate several issues. First, the number of disasters especially the small and medium-scale natural disasters has increased in the past decades. Second, although the number of people killed small and medium-scale disasters is less than large disasters, the number of people affected is higher. Third, statistical data on small and medium-scale natural disasters is difficult to find or incomplete. Small and medium-scale disasters do not attract the established humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies. Therefore, small and medium disasters necessitate the same attention with bigger to massive disasters. The Humanitarian village concept proposed in this paper offers an alternative post-disaster action in response to small and medium scale disasters. The concept can be adopted by the humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies as well as the government of the affected countries. 3. Review of current emergency shelters There are several types of post-disaster emergency sheltering options. These include shelter inside the damaged house, shelter close to the damaged house, shelter nearby relatives or friends, shelter inside the buildings (vacant or public buildings) and shelter in emergency compound set up by the military, government, national or international agencies. Babister & Kelman (2002) identified four types of shelters: repair and reconstruction, host families, mass shelter and temporary settlements. The International Federation of Red Cross or IFRC (2011) sets three types of shelters, emergency shelter, transitional shelter and durable housing (Figure 1). 179

5 Fig. 1. Type of shelter Source: IFRC 2011 The increasing number of natural disasters demands better humanitarian products, including shelter. Many designs of emergency shelters focus on technologies and the cost involved whereas the social aspects are often overlooked. Oliver-Smith (2007) argued that construction technique receives more attention than the social aspects of emergency shelter. Other essential aspect such as layouts and space design also receive less attention (Zetter and Boano 2009). Shelter also often overlook flexible partitioning alternative to accommodate certain cultural or religious concerns in some communities. In terms of the size, most emergency shelters only accommodate up to 5 people which does not fit larger families. The lack of facilities in and around the shelter is often problematic for residents, creating distressing situations and diminishing satisfaction. Proving shelter for survivors is not only about providing a roof over their head but also about helping them to rebuild their lives (Rahmayati 2016). The tent at the top right corner in Figure 2 is a standard tents currently used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). It is made to fit a family of five in order to fulfil minimum standards of a family. Few of the designs have been tested; many solutions do not reach the camp field for evaluation in real life situation (Axelsson 2012). 180

6 Fig. 2. Emergency shelter designs Source: Axelsson 2012 Reviewing emergency shelters Five samples of emergency shelter with different technologies and materials are reviewed in this paper. The first design is the Cardboard Tubes Shelter (Figure 3), designed by architect Shigeru Ban and his humanitarian organization, Volunteer Architects Network (VAN). Fig. 3. Cardboard tubes shelter Source: inhabitat.com 181

7 This shelter is made from recycled cardboard tubes and has been used in many disaster cases in the past decades such as in Rwanda, Japan, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, China, Haiti, and New Zealand. It is designed for easy assembly by a team of volunteers and the structure is crucial for helping communities rebuild their lives. The construction is low cost, simple and effective for shelters, schools, community facilities and places of worship, with locally sourced materials, such as cardboard, wood, metal and plastic (inhabitat.com). Fig. 4. IKEA solar-powered shelter Source: inhabitat.com The second design is the IKEA Solar-Powered Flat-Packed Shelter (Figure 4). These shed-like shelters are made from polymer panels that are laminated with a thermal insulation. The flat-pack design allows for rapid transportation and the efficient clip-on design takes less than four hours to assemble, by connecting the panels to the steel frame. Moreover, the solar panel roofing allows inhabitants to generate electricity for basic living needs and communication. The roof deflects solar radiation by 70 percent, cooling the shelter during the day and insulating warmth within the interior at night. These 188-square-foot shelters can house up to five people. This shelter has been used mostly in manmade disasters e.g. for Somali refugees. Recently, in collaboration with the UNHCR, these shelters were proposed for the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. However, the Lebanese government has been hesitant to approve the use of the IKEA shelters for the fear that they might prove too permanent (inhabitat.com). The third design is the Sandbag Shelter, using simple sandbag and barbed wire technology (Figure 5) designed by architect Nader Khalili and the Cal-Earth Institute. 182

8 Fig. 5. Sandbag Shelter Source: calearth.org The technique is designed to fit a variation of situation and geographical conditions for instance by using the remainder materials from war (sandbags and barbed wire). To create a safe shelter in most regions of the globe, the concept minimises the use of artificial material resources and maximises the use of natural resources. They assembly involves the family and community members to build sustainable shelters with maximum protection against natural and man-made disasters (calearth.org). The forth design is ShelterBox Tent (Figure 6) made by Vango, one of the world s leading tent manufacturers. It is designed to withstand extreme temperatures, high winds and heavy rainfalls. Internally, each tent has partitions that allow residents to divide the space as they see fit. This disaster relief tent can accommodate a family of up to 10 people. Since 2000, this shelter has been used in response to earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, landslides, typhoons and conflicts, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Syria crisis, and the largest storm to ever make landfall Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013 (shelterbox.org). 183

9 Fig. 6. ShelterBox Tent Source: shelterbox.org The last design is the Hexayurt Shelter (Figure 7), a disaster relief shelter design based on a geodesic geometry adapted to construction from standard 4 8 foot sheets of factory made construction material. Fig. 7. Hexayurt Shelter Source: hexayurt.com This building's design is in the Buckminster Fuller lineage of using contiguous triangles to maximize the load-bearing capability of simple structures. The basic construction principle is to use full sheets for the walls. Sheets cut from one corner to the opposite corner creating right triangles. Each pair of right triangles is then assembled into an isosceles triangle of 8 feet wide and 8 feet in height, thus forming a roof panel. The Hexayurt project has been running since 2003 and has been positively reviewed by the American RedCross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (hexayurt.com). 184

10 Emergency shelters design issues and consequential problems Among the five shelters that have been reviewed above, none is intended for small and medium scale disasters. All shelters were designed for large-scale disasters including manmade disasters such as war or conflict. Furthermore, the designs have mostly focused on the technical aspects like thermal, material, construction, cost, assembly and giving little consideration to user needs and the local context such as locations and culture requirements of the occupants. All shelters were designed as single unit and little regard for emergency village set up system such as complimentary infrastructures, services and facilities in and around the compound. Davidson et.al. (2007) emphasise the importance of organising such infrastructures and facilities. Moreover, some of the design is over-complicated or oversophisticated thereby demanding certain skills for constructing the shelter that the occupants may not possess. However, there often a shortage of construction professionals in emergency situation (Kennedy, Ashmore, et. al 2008). In term of sustainability, the materials of the shelters cannot be re-used or stored for future disasters. Poor storage system also contributes to the sustainability problems. Distribution or logistic issues are also crucial for design of emergency shelters particularly when the shelters are too heavy or need additional construction, managing in emergency situations becomes more difficult. For example, some shelters need flat or massive bases or require special storage systems before distribution. These problems may lead to unsatisfactory shelters. 4. Humanitarian Village design concept for small-medium disasters In response to the above review, this paper proposes the Humanitarian Village concept as an innovative design for responding to small and medium-scale disasters, using a community led-design approach to ensure that the user needs are fulfilled (survivors or displaced people). The significance of this concept is that it does not merely focus on the design of the shelter but also the manufacturing system of products, spaces, symbols and services that are designed to be complementary in small and medium-scale disasters. This includes the provision of facilities in and around shelters. A number of facilities proposed by the Humanitarian Village such as communication, medical, education, safety, basic needs, logistic and comfort products are shown in Figure 8 to

11 Fig. 8. Konnect (Communication) Source: Luke Fazio, Nathanael Hunt, Joanna Wilson, 2015 Fig. 9. MediTrike (Medical) Source: Yianni Doumas, Thao Nguyen, Stephanie Vella, 2015 Fig. 10. CLASS (Education) Source: Dan Cabral, Alana Dang, Deep Kansara, 2015 Fig. 11. Halo (Safety) Source: Joel Benton, Ken Reidy, Therese Hallberg, 2015 Fig. 12. Ultraloo (Sanitation) Source: Loius Mills, Sam Abdelmalek, Andrew Jenkins, 2015 Fig. 13. Distribution Hub (Logistic) Source: Eamon Butler, Sahun Hanlon, Rachel Hook,

12 Fig. 14. Cool Aid (Comfort) Source: Amber Everitt, Jarahad Valeri, Liu Xiootian, 2015 Given the high number of small and medium-scale disaster occurrences, the extent of people affected and the long term impacts, large international humanitarian organisation and aid agencies need to become involved in the management and response of this type of disasters and form effective collaborations with the governments of affected countries. This paper proposes a strategy to develop a management framework for small and medium-scale of disasters as shown in the diagram below (Figure 15). Fig. 15. Strategy for collaboration in managing small and medium-scale disasters 187

13 The first step is defining and classifying the small and medium-scale disasters based on the impacts and duration. Second step is analysing how the disasters were managed especially by the countries that are prone to small and medium-scale disasters. Approaches and strategies used by the respective governments should also be examined. The third step is mapping out the results from the analysis by the region such as East Asia, South-East Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. The fourth step is the analysing of the findings and the last step involves developing model of strategy for partnership between governments, large international humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies. 5. Conclusion Small and medium-scale disasters related to climate change are growing in number. Floods and storms in particular are becoming more frequent than geological disasters such as earthquakes. Most of these disasters are managed by the governments of the affected countries and major international humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies are often not involved. At the same time, the increasing number of disasters has increased the demand for shelters and humanitarian facilities such as communication devices, health and safety equipment, water and sanitation. Many of the available shelters and facilities are not specifically designed for small and medium-scale disasters, but rather focused on technical aspects such as thermal, material, construction, cost and assembly. Less consideration is given to contextual factors such as location, culture and lifestyle of the occupants. Other problems identified include over-complicated or over-sophisticated design, non-durable material and logistic issues in transporting the shelters to the affected location. Finally, many emergency camps are not supported by facilities in and around the shelters. These problems affect both survivors and humanitarian aid organisations. The Humanitarian Village concept proposed in this paper offers a solution for these problems. A human-centred design approach is adopted in order to accommodate the needs of the user and the contextual elements. The design and materials of the shelters and humanitarian facilities have to be simple, light, respond to the local contexts, and environmentally friendly (recycle and reusable). It should be made available in time, in sufficient quantities, on the right spot and facilitated by the right facilities. And all of that at affordable or agreed upon costs. This idea needs to be materialised into real actions through 188

14 collaboration between governments, large international humanitarian relief organisations and aid agencies. This, as proposed in this paper will be the alternative options for better management of small and medium-scale of disaster in Asia and the Pacific region. References Axelsson, Fredrik (2012), The Emergency Housing Project, Product development of shelters for displaced people, based on field studies in Haiti and Kenya, Chalmers University of Technology. Babistier, Elizabeth and Kelman, Ilan (2002), The Emergency Shelter Process with Application to Case Studies in Macedonia and Afganistan, The Martin Centre, Cambrige University. Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (2015), The Human Cost of Natural Disasters, CRED. Davidson, Colin H., Johnson, Cassidy, et al. (2007), Truths and myths about community participation in post-disaster housing projects, Habitat International, Vol. 31, pp DPD40004 Global Design (2015), Product Design Engineering Course, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne Australia. European Commission (2013), Recording Disaster Losses, EUR. hexayurt.com inhabitat.com International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2011), Transitional shelters, Eight designs, IFRC. Kennedy, Jim, Ashmore, Joseph, et al. (2008), The Meaning of Build Back Better : Evidence From Post-Tsunami Aceh and Sri Lanka, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, Vol. 16. No. 1, pp: McFarlane, A. C., & Norris, F. (2006) Definitions and concepts in disaster research in F. Norris, S. Galea, M. Friedman, & P. Watson (Eds.) Methods for disaster mental health research, pp. 3 19, New York: Guilford Press Oliver-Smith, Anthony (2007), Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction and Social Inequality: A Challenge to Policy and Practise, Disaster, Vol. 14(1), pp: Oxfam Briefing Paper (2007), Climate Alarm, Disaster increase as climate change bites, Oxfam International. Rahmayati, Yenny (2016), Post-disaster housing: translating socio-cultural findings into usable design technical inputs, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Vol. 17, pp: UNESCAP (2011), Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Publication. 189

15 UNESCAP (2015), Overview of Natural Disasters and their Impacts in Asia and the Pacific , Disaster Risk Reduction Section, ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division, ESCAP. Zetter, Roger and Boano, Camillo (2010), Space and place after natural disaster and forced displacement in Lizarralde, Gonzalo, Johnson, Cassidy, Davidson, Colin (Eds.) Rebuilding after Disaster, From emergency to sustainability, pp , Spon Press, New York,. 190