World Cities Day 2020: Moving Beyond Shelter
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake struck, not only did USAID help put a roof over the heads of people affected, we also worked with communities to build a new, more durable vision for their neighborhoods to withstand future disasters.
The word home conjures all sorts of meaning: family, friends, warmth, comfort. We think that the word shelter should mean more, too. After a disaster hits, shelter is typically identified as an immediate humanitarian need. But to us, shelter is more than four walls and a roof.
For years, USAID has worked with people affected by disasters to help them through the immediate aftermath. However, USAID also helps neighborhoods and larger settlements think of their future and partners with communities to work through longer-term issues and find better ways to integrate other types of assistance — such as water, sanitation, health, and protection — so that these settlements can be better and stronger than they were before. We call this a “neighborhood approach.” On World Cities Day, we celebrate how this approach helped a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti build back safer.
Remembering the 2010 Haiti earthquake
In 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused massive damage and destruction in Haiti, with the greatest impact on the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. Up to 300,000 people were killed, and at least another 300,000 were injured. The quake also damaged or destroyed more than 180,000 buildings, displaced more than 1.5 million people, and destroyed much of the area’s roads and buildings. In all, an estimated 3.5 million people were affected by the disaster.
While the earthquake was devastating, efforts to respond to it actually presented an opportunity to transform damaged neighborhoods into stronger, more resilient ones, while serving as models for how cities can recover.
Rebuilding the Ravine Pintade neighborhood
Ravine Pintade was one neighborhood in Port-au-Prince that was severely impacted by the earthquake. In this neighborhood alone, the earthquake left behind more than 100,000 cubic meters of rubble, creating a five-foot high debris field. Only seven percent of houses were considered safe to live.
USAID supported Project Concern International and Global Communities (formerly Cooperative Housing Foundation) to apply the neighborhood approach to help Ravine Pintade recover.
Through our “KATYE” project, the Haitian Creole name for “neighborhood,” we worked closely with neighborhood residents and local officials to repair and improve the community. We joined to replace water kiosks, provide stronger retaining walls, install drainage pipes under repaired walkways, and improve the walkways for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. We also installed solar powered lights, and provided transitional shelter that could be upgraded or replaced with more durable housing when the community’s focus could shift towards recovery and longer-term visions for development.
Safer Neighborhoods Lead to Safer Cities
The impact of the KATYE project was evaluated by USAID and Project Concern International on the tenth anniversary of the 2010 disaster. The study found that repairing the neighborhood through a holistic lens — addressing urgent humanitarian needs while also planning for longer-term improved neighborhood conditions — reduced vulnerability to future disasters and improved the overall health and safety conditions of community residents.
It also provided durable shelters for hundreds of families that are still in use today, including the two-story transitional shelter that helped respond to the challenge of urban population density by “building up”. With low-cost sustainability in mind, the dwellings include a system to harvest rainwater, which can then be used in the home for washing clothes or bathing.
The theme of this year’s World Cities Day, “Valuing Our Communities and Cities,” celebrates the key contributions of local communities in keeping people safe and maintaining economic activities. By working hand-in-hand with the Ravine Pintade community to rebuild their neighborhood, USAID helped lay the foundation for safer, longer-term development, while also strengthening the neighborhood to better withstand the next disaster.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charles A. Setchell is the Senior Shelter, Settlements, and Hazard Mitigation Advisor with USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.
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Read about USAID’s humanitarian work here.
Learn more about our Shelter and Settlements efforts here.
