“Residents interviewed through the city said that the cries that they heard emanating from many collapsed buildings in the initial hours after the quake had begun to soften, if not quiet completely.” New York Times (Jan 15, 2010)

Earthquake response teams in Port-au-Prince explain that there is a 72-hour period in which people trapped under collapsed buildings can be rescued alive. We’re now at 67 hours. While there are still people under the rubble and homeless children searching for their families in the streets, it may be too soon to reflect upon the horrible aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. However, after donating as much as we can and still feeling helpless at the sight of the images in the news, this may be the best time. (more…)

[Originally posted to polis] This video brings to mind Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi Trilogy. Tilda Swinton moves through city environments in shy bewilderment. There is an urban golf scene (though not quite the adventurous kind featured recently on Pruned). There is also a sadness, or a view of cities as fast-paced, damaging, and unnatural. Here is a more playful perspective:

RMB City is a Second Life animation directed by Cao Fei (aka China Tracy), with music by ME:MO. It is described as “a series of new Chinese fantasy realms that are highly self-contradictory, inter-permeative, laden with irony and suspicion, extremely entertaining and pan-political.” This video strikes me as a refreshing view of urbanization, aware of the problems as well as the magic.

Credits: Video of The Box, by Orbital, from lindol90. Video of RMB City by China Tracy.

Originally posted to polis] Recent developments in Kibera and Dharavi, two of the most high-profile slums in the world, underscore the importance of including informal workers in planning decisions. In Kibera, a UN-backed slum clearance is underway amidst protest from residents whose livelihoods are at risk (and landlords who control informal real estate). The redevelopment plan for Dharavi has been stalled due to upcoming elections, as politicians appear reluctant to alienate the millions of voters involved in the economy it would displace. Slum redevelopment often exacerbates poverty when informal workers are not involved in decision-making processes.

Living conditions in slums can be improved without uprooting local economies. An international research network called WIEGO has been addressing occupational health and safety (OHS) in the informal sector. Through this initiative, researchers find out which government agencies are in charge of OHS and help informal workers open channels for dialog in policy development. WIEGO makes sure they have the resources for effective advocacy. OHS researchers also compile best-practices among government programs that have established successful workplace standards in informal settlements.

WIEGO is part of the Inclusive Cities Project, which promotes the representation of informal workers in planning decisions. They work with membership-based organizations in slums to influence municipal policy. Informal businesses are considered essential to poverty reduction, especially when accompanied with adequate infrastructure, regulation, and stimulus. If these businesses were included under effective legal structures, worker exploitation could be monitored and tax revenues used to finance improved living conditions.

Elinor Ostrom, Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis, and Ravi Kanbur have recently published a book titled Linking the Formal and Informal Economy: Concepts and Policies. It includes theoretical and empirical studies that identify close relationships between the two sectors. Understanding informal business as an integral part of a city’s economy could encourage legal representation, protection, and accountability. In addition, Ostrom’s research on commons, institutions, social capital, and human-environment interaction is very relevant to planning and development from within informal settlements.

Communities like Kibera and Dharavi have complex and active economies that can be included in legal governance. It’s essential for informal workers to have a way of protecting their rights and livelihoods.

Credits: Photo of a boy in Dharavi by Jonas Bendiksen. Photo of Kibera residents from The Gardian.

On the 1st of May a fire broke out in the Dars Salm slum in Sanaa, Yemen. It started from an electrical malfunction and spread quickly through densely packed dwellings made of fabric, cardboard, tin, and tires. The fire destroyed 25 homes, displacing 175 people. Informal settlements are often especially vulnerable to fire.

It would be valuable for architects and developers from around the world to design and provide durable fire-resistant housing for these areas based on the input of residents. Alternatively, fire-resistant materials could be made mandatory and available by the government so that people can upgrade the safety of their own homes in the way that works best for them. Government health and safety standards, coupled with the provision of necessary materials, could significantly improve living conditions in slums.

Quoted from the article “Recent Fire Highlights Plight of Sanaa Slum-Dwellers” on the IRIN website: The slum is known as Dar Salm, and is home to 400 families. They are known as ‘Akhdam’, which means “servants” in Arabic. Most came from the Tehama region, western Yemen, which is one of the poorest and hottest places in the country. Al-Badwi said they had been in the slum for around 22 years.

Hmmm … this could be LEED Gold and nice for bad weather, but it also seems a bit exclusive. I wonder what kind of effect it will have on street life. With the Olympic Stadium and CCTV building, Beijing has become the place to look for daring international architecture. Local architects are also making their mark, as seen in the “New Architects of China” article in Architecture Week.

Photo by Iwan Baan

Quoted from the article “Beijing’s Skywalk-Linked Megacomplex a City Within a City” in Wired Magazine: Steven Holl and Li Hu designed Linked Hybrid, a city within the city that will minimize forays outside by providing for nearly all of its residents’ needs. Upon completion this summer, Linked will offer 650 luxury apartments to the same go-go Chinese capitalists dropping crisp yuan on Mercedes and Fendi … And, since this is a 21st-century Eden, elaborate water-recycling and geothermal-power systems may rack up enough eco-points for a Gold LEED certification.

In 2005, the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) commissioned Arup engineers to design a demonstration eco-city to be built on Chongming Island across the Yangtze Delta from Shanghai. The island is currently the site of a migratory bird sanctuary. The plan calls for linking the city to the mainland with an 18-mile bridge-tunnel.

According to Arup’s description of the Dongtan Eco-City, it would “produce its own energy from wind, solar, bio-fuel and recycled city waste.” SIIC and Arup hope the city will become a model for similar cities in China and around the world. However, the plan has been criticized based on fears that the housing would be too expensive for local residents, turning the island into a suburb for wealthy citizens of Shanghai. It would also be interesting to determine the environmental impact of the bridge-tunnel and other new construction.

BBC feature: China’s eco-city faces growth challenge

Quoted from “Dongtan: Eco-City” on BBC News: The Chinese are well aware that cities have a massive impact on the environment so they’ve commissioned the British engineering company, Arup to create a model eco-city where half a million people will live and work without damaging the environment. Their electricity will come from wind and wave, their sewage will fertilise the surrounding farmland and their water will be harvested from the skies and recycled.

Travelodge is building a recyclable hotel out of pre-built crates from China, based on a design by Verbus Systems. It can be built in about 12 weeks and easily moved to a different location. This could eventually become a way of providing shelter for refugees, as well as other forms of temporary housing. It would be interesting to explore the environmental impact of these buildings.

Quoted from a Reuters article, titled “UK builds recyclable hotel”: the steel modules could be dismantled if necessary at the end of the 120-room hotel’s life and moved elsewhere…the modular system could also be used for student accommodation and urban housing.

IRIN Africa reports that residents of slums have been experiencing rampant crime and destitution as a result of ethnic conflict sparked by the recent elections in Kenya. An article entitled “Arson, riots leave slum dwellers destitute” relates the experience of several slum residents in Nairobi. City neighborhoods with high rates of poverty are particularly vulnerable during political unrest and other crises, a problem that must be addressed in establishing sound urban development initiatives.

Photo of Red Cross workers in Nairobi’s Mathare slums appears on the IRIN website

Quoted from an article in IRIN, titled “Slum-dwellers hit hard by post-election crisis”: The majority of the city’s inhabitants live in its sprawling slums and it is this impoverished population, together with tens of thousands of displaced people in western Kenya, that has borne the brunt of the violence and disruption unleashed in the wake of the 27 December presidential and parliamentary elections.

A recent article in the International Herald Tribune titled ‘As Cuba’s economy withers, its ecology thrives’ highlights conflicts between economic and ecological interests in Cuba. It would be useful to find synergies between the two. Partha Dasgupta, an economist at Cambridge, has written influential articles on this subject, including ‘Economic Pathways to Ecological Sustainability: Challenges for the New Millennium’.

Quoted from the International Herald Tribune: In a report last year, the World Wildlife Fund said that “in dramatic contrast” to its island neighbors, Cuba’s beaches, mangroves, reefs, seagrass beds and other habitats were relatively well preserved. Their biggest threat, the report said, was “the prospect of sudden and massive growth in mass tourism when the U.S. embargo lifts.”

Urban Planet is a collection of features on urbanization from the BBC News. It includes an interactive map that tracks the growth of the world’s largest cities, as well as comparisons of the environmental effects of urban and rural life.

Photo from the BBC Photojournal: Chad urban migrant’s story