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“Urban Resiliency & the Challenge of Coordinating Climate Adaptation Strategies at Different Scales,” Assessment and Presentation, Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure Workshop on Infrastructure Resilience II, April 2016

Abstract

In 2016, Mona Serageldin and I2UD developed the workshop presentation “Urban Resiliency & the Challenge of Coordinating Climate Adaptation Strategies at Different Scales.” The workshop on Infrastructure Resilience II: Advancing Planning and Design Tools was organized by the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure under the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Documents include the presentation and presentation text.

Learn more about current research on climate resiliency improvement strategies at I2UD’s main site: “AI Climate: A Decision Making Tool for Climate Resilience: Using AI to Identify Climate Change Hazards in the Cities of the Global South.”


[Excerpt: Presentation Text, by Mona Serageldin, for “Urban Resiliency & the Challenge of Coordinating Climate Adaptation Strategies at Different Scales”]

“Urban Resilience is a cornerstone of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and will be at the center of the discussions at the Habitat III conference. Climate experts and environmentalists are developing tools to assess the regional manifestations of climate change, but reliable prediction tools at the local level are still lacking. Professor Charles Kennel and his colleagues have demonstrated that multiple environmental stress factors interact with local micro-climate and ecological systems to produce different effects at different locations and hence different levels of exposure. They advocate regional assessments as a basis for local action.”

“Settlements in risk areas will differ in location, urban patterns, social characteristics, sources of livelihood and cultural particularities which in combination will shape vulnerabilities to climate change related effects. The focus on informal settlements will highlight the social dimension of exposure to the risks associated with climate change, which are often aggravated by human action. We will present two cases, Arusha, Tanzania and Cartagena, Colombia to illustrate the challenge of resilience building.”

“City and community responses to past weather events provide a good indication of the technical and managerial capacity of local authorities and the ability of vulnerable groups to protect themselves and their assets. Local resilience requires dynamic urban planning and management and an observatory capable of monitoring change in selected environmental indicators and mapping the spatial configuration of affected areas and systems. This task is facilitated by access to aerial photography and GIS. Land issues are critical to the effectiveness of local adaptation strategies, but their impacts tend to be underestimated.”

Project Year:2016
Project Type:Workshop; Presentation
Geographic Regions:Arusha, Tanzania / Cartagena, Colombia
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Alejandra Mortarini; Barbara Summers
Sponsors:Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Climate Change and Resilience Building
  
ID:2016_04_001
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7th Africities Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa, November 29th, 2015: Presentations, Case Studies, Workshop Documents

Abstract

Beginning in July 2015, Mona Serageldin, Daniel Tsai, and Barbara Summers from I2UD prepared presentation materials for the 7th Africities Conference, held on November 29, 2015, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Conference presentations include an Inception Report, and workshop documents and agendas from July 2015, in French and English. Case studies from July and November 2015 discuss Cairo and Khartoum. A final presentation, “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Johannesburg,” was given by Phillip Harrison (SA Research Chair for Spatial Analysis & City Planning of Johannesburg).


[Excerpt: Index and List of Figures for “Cairo Case Study for the Africities Conference Report,” I2UD, 2015]

Project Year:2015
Project Type:Conference; Workshop
Geographic Regions:Cairo, Egypt / Khartoum, Sudan / Johannesburg, South Africa
Reports:
Presentations:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; François Vigier; Daniel Tsai; Barbara Summers; Tarek Waly; Maren Larsen; Oriol Monfort; Philip Harrison
Sponsors:South African Cities Network (SACN); United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG-A)
Categories:Urban Planning
  
ID:2015_07_001

Related I2UD Projects

Galleries 6-7 – Egypt: Cairo and Helwan, 1986, 1990

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“Urban Planning Guide for City Leaders,” Research for UN-Habitat Report, 2014

Abstract

In 2014, Mona Serageldin, Elda Solloso, and Gil Kelley contributed to background research papers for an edition of the UN-Habitat publication “Urban Planning Guide for City Leaders.” The 188-page report sought to help local leaders to develop and communicate urban planning initiatives and to follow best practices in light of rapid urbanization.


[Excerpt:] Table 4.1, Adapted from research by Dr. Serageldin (page 97):

Project Year:2012
Project Type:Development Strategy
Geographic Regions:Global / None Specified
Reports:Urban Planning Guide for City Leaders (Final Report, September 2014)
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Pablo Vaggione; Carolina Morgan; Elda Solloso; Gil Kelley
Sponsors:UN-Habitat; Siemens; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:2012_00_002
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“Environmental Health Factors in Housing,” Design Study for the Rapid Urbanization of Low-Income Settlements in Urban-Fringe Districts, 1989

Abstract

“Environmental Health Factors in Housing” was a study from 1989 by the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (the Unit) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design that addressed the link between rapid urbanization and rapid densification of low-income housing settlements in economically struggling cities.

The report addressed the environmental hazards, poverty, disease, and housing conditions emerging in areas around housing developments that had been built recently but lacked adequate infrastructure for socio-economic longevity and community health. The Unit presented its aim to form a model for affordable, practical design criteria, attuned to both economic and social factors for urban-fringe districts.

Documents include working reports from April, July, and August 1989, a study summary, and a research strategy and methodological guidelines document by Rafique H. Keshavjee and Orville Solon from December 1989.



[Excerpt: Study Summary, I. Overview, July 1989, p. 2]

“Most urban settlements in lower-income countries, whether they are new settlements built by the government, established informal communities or new squatter areas, are subject to tremendous pressures of population growth and economic and physical change. The greater the pressure for development, the more rapid the transformations brought about by this maturation process. This continuous growth and change can rapidly transform their original physical forms beyond recognition and alter the community’s social and economic functions. The process is further intensified when governments introduce improvements such as water, sewerage, basic services and housing. For example, carefully planned housing projects designed according to standards which assume a segregation of commercial and residential activities will find that, overtime, these activities will occur simultaneously in the same area.

The need of low-income families to generate additional income and living space results in the construction of new rooms and apartments which were often not anticipated in the original design of the site or its infrastructure. In such cities as Karachi, Dhakka and Cairo, where housing shortages are high, additions to structures can reach over six stories in less than five years, raising densities from under 400 to over 1,000 persons per hectare. The most dynamic aspect of transformation within a community affects housing, small scale commercial establishments and the disappearance or overuse of communal open
spaces.”

…..

[Excerpt: Study Summary, III. STUDY DESIGN, July 1989, p. 7]

“The purpose of the Study is to develop practical, affordable design criteria which are responsive to the social and economic dynamics of low-income settlements. It will focus on aspects of housing and community design which have received little attention in the past. Most notably, the long-term impact of rapid growth in low-income urban settlements and the effect of the resulting transformation of housing and environmental conditions on the health of the residents. The definition of this linkage and the development of appropriate environmental design criteria, will allow decision makers to choose physical improvements that will maintain their positive impacts as a community matures.“

Project Year:1989
Project Type:Environmental Climate Research Paper
Geographic Regions:Global / None Specified
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; François Vigier; Rafique H. Keshavjee; Orville Solon
Sponsors:World Bank; Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Categories:Climate Change and Resilience Building
  
ID:1989_07_001
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Design Studio 1987: “Arad New Town,” Land-Fill Development Solutions for Arad New Town, Muharraq Island, Bahrain, Seminar Curriculum

Abstract

The Design Studio from Spring 1987, “Arad New Town” of Bahrain, was led by Professors François Vigier and Mona Serageldin under the Department of Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University in 1987. The document is a syllabus for the 1987 topic, a new land development site in the late 1980s in Muharraq Province, Bahrain: Arad New Town.


[Excerpt, Design Studio Syllabus, 1987]:

“The objective of this year’s studio… is to explore solutions that are responsive to the life styles of the future inhabitants of a satellite development in Bahrain, off Muharraq Island, and integrate the modern technology required to create a large-scale project with the cultural traditions of Bahrain and the Gulf area. The policy initiated several years ago to undertake land fills on the coral reefs girding the islands that make up Bahrain offers a rare opportunity to “create” the site as an integral part of the design of the new town. The land fill’s location near the historic town of Muharraq allows the taking into account of the functional, economic, and social interrelationships between the new town and its older neighbor.”

“Arad New Town is to be built on a land-fill (whose geometry has yet to be defined) to be located on a 3.7 square kilometer coral reef and tidal flat extending from the bridge linking old Muharraq and Arad to the village of Halat an Naim […] A bridge will be constructed between the site and old Muharraq over the channel that will have to be created to maintain the viability of the ecologically sensitive Dawhat al Muharraq marsh. The new town offers a unique opportunity to simultaneously address ecological, design and implementation issues.”

Project Year:1987
Project Type:Urban Design Studio
Geographic Regions:Arad and Muharraq, Bahrain
Reports:1987 Design Studio: Arad New Town (Syllabus)
Authors:François Vigier; Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Categories:Design Studios; Education
  
ID:1987_00_001

Related I2UD Projects

Gallery 3: Bahrain: Manama and Muharraq (1980s)