Humanitarian Design (Architecture)

This article develops a cultural investment model for historic cities, using Diriyah—the UNESCO-listed birthplace of the Saudi state—as a case study. It argues that cultural investment too often relies on infrastructure-led strategies focused on monuments, museums, or digital platforms, while neglecting the role of human capabilities and creative communities. Building on cultural economics (Throsby, 2010), symbolic capital theory (Bourdieu, 1993), and place branding studies (Florida, 2002; Nye, 2004; Valaskivi, 2013), the paper proposes a five-dimensional framework: Asset, Brand, People, Platform, and Monetization.

Applied to Diriyah, the model highlights opportunities and risks. As an asset, Diriyah combines material heritage, symbolic capital, and economic potential. As a brand, it aspires to global recognition, strengthened by what this article terms “Brand as Spatial Extension”—the capacity of cultural marques to project value beyond geographic boundaries through licensing and narrative diffusion. The analysis underscores the decisive role of creative communities in sustaining authenticity, and stresses that platforms and technologies must serve as enablers rather than ends in themselves.

The article concludes that sustainable cultural investment in historic cities requires a shift from infrastructure-led to capability-led development, ensuring that heritage becomes a renewable source of cultural and economic value in the global symbolic economy.

Humanitarian design as a technological and aesthetic endeavour that has become part and parcel of contemporary humanitarianism promises to improve lives and bring dignity in the name of universal humanity through a wide spectrum of approaches, from expert-oriented problem solving to participatory and collaborative initiatives. However, decolonial thinkers who have questioned the universal positioning of the human, argue that the universal human of Western liberalism, human rights and ultimately humanitarianism, has always been and remains a Western white man. Against this background, I pose an important yet rarely considered question: Who is the human in humanitarian design? How is this human imagined by designers and their design solutions? How does the imagined human participate in the design process? Based on interviews with designers in Europe who work with humanitarian design projects for and with refugees in the Middle East, East Africa, and South Asia, I characterise and problematise three imaginary dimensions of humanitarian design: the imagined problem, the imagined participation, and the imagined human. I argue that designers reimagine these three dimensions in a way that feeds from and extends the existing racial injustices which leads to the obscuration of racialisation in and by humanitarian design.

The design of today's mosques is predominantly concentrated on the prayer hall, therefore losing their humanitarian qualities. Mosques are now primarily utilized as a place of prayer for Muslims, rather than as a gathering place for the community. Contemporary mosques have the ability to serve as important gathering places for community activities and social organization. In terms of mosque design, architects are attempting to include a variety of architectural languages that promote inclusion and equity. The goal of this study is to assess Muslim houses of worship from a humanitarian perspective; to identify humanitarian spaces and activities, and to evaluate their efficacy. An interview with the mosque's imam, on-site observations and online research is conducted using Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jame Mosque as a case study. The mosque is then evaluated based on its physical spaces and activities from a humanitarian standpoint. The discoveries of this study reveal that while the mosque's contemporary architectural design is excellent, however other than the typical prayer hall layout, humanitarian innovation in the internal spatial organisation is absent. These findings indicate that Mayor Mohammad Hanif Jame Mosque lacks humanitarian spaces and activities, which may impede the country's development.

Architecture was, and is, a patronage-based practice (Crawford, 1991) – a reality that has had a profound impact upon the patterns of engagement adopted by the architect: linear and hierarchical processes, a carefully curated client base, methods of valuation prioritizing exclusivity and a sharp focus on the production of symbolic capital. Although not without merit, these patterns become problematic when the architect attempts to forge robust, community-based design efforts and create a sustained address to the emerging challenges faced by society’s most vulnerable (Surwiecki, 2005). 

To be effective here, the architect must critically examine their field’s historic prejudice and formulate new, more inclusive, patterns of engagement (Freire, 2010). Else old patterns will persist, causing the architect to impose normative design practice, with its biases, upon constituencies historically disadvantaged by them and generate the kind of “malevolent urbanism” such processes naturally create (Jacobson, 2010 and Theime & Kovaks, 2015). Conversely, if the architect can formulate new patterns, then they may be able to offer their skills and training to those who need them most.

This paper will investigate how this reformulation might occur by analyzing three recently-completed, small-scale design actions. Built of mostly scavenged means in only a few days with budgets of under a few thousand dollars, each of these modest projects was realized using a unique, socially-responsive approach to design, construction, and evaluation.  From crowdsourcing to hyper-local peer-to-peer production, bricolage to viral propagation, the proposed study will provide an evidence-based evaluation of each practice through the impacts realized by the resulting works (Jacobson, 2010). From this assessment, the paper will prompt a re-imagining of socially-responsive design practice - one capable of addressing the immense challenges faced by those who have historically lived in the shadows of architectural practice, and works thereby created.

V oktobri 2015 uskutocnil Geologický klub pri Katedre geologie a paleontologie Prirodovedeckej fakulty Univerzity Komenskeho v Bratislave v spolupraci s Klubom uciteľov geovied – odbornou skupinou Slovenskej geologickej spolocnosti odbornu exkurziu do oblasti južneho Talianska (region Kampania), na Siciliu a Liparske ostrovy v trvani cca 2 týždne. Exkurzia bola zamerana na poznavanie vulkanickeho fenomenu typickeho pre tuto casť Europy a priniesla množstvo nevsedných zažitkov vsetkým ucastnikom. V tomto clanku by sme chceli prezentovať tieto vulkanicke fenomeny aj sirsej geovednej komunite.

Neste artigo, parte-se da ideia da evolução das formas e processos de urbanização
aproveitando o momento para o debate e a produção de pensamento num quadro
de renovação epistemológica, convocando questões políticas e sociais consi-
deradas fundamentais. Com base nesta abordagem, e conscientes da profunda
crise ecológica e climática, do aprofundamento do Capitaloceno, e dos variados
processos sociometabólicos implicados no planeta — que contribuem para o ar-
gumento que define este momento de incertezas fundamentais —, propõe-se a
sistematização de algumas possibilidades. A partir de um exemplo paradigmático
no Fundão, são apresentados alguns argumentos que permitem sensibilizar para
a necessidade de repensar o papel da arquitetura, e de respostas ao habitar efe-
tivamente inclusivas, em condições limite da periferização social, muitas vezes
negligenciadas.

The Neuroarchitect Podcast Interviews  Afonso Nuno Martins
Afonso Nuno Martins, professor at the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), was the featured guest on The Neuroarchitect Podcast, hosted by Maria El Helou — an architect, researcher, and PhD lecturer based in Greece.
Reflecting on his career trajectory, Dr. Martins highlighted three significant stages. The first centred on social housing and the lessons learned while working alongside Álvaro Siza on the Casajovem Cooperative project in the city of Guarda, where he co-authored the Pinheiro neighborhood allotment plan as a representative of the cooperative residents and closely assisted Siza and Antonio Madureira throughout the various phases of the architectural process. The second stage focused on cultural heritage and heritage parks, with particular emphasis on the Mondego River Heritage Park, which he led for several years in collaboration with experts from the human sciences, environmental sciences, and design and heritage and tourist fields. The third and ongoing stage is dedicated to humanitarian architecture, combining practical work through NGOs with action-research conducted at CIAUD, first at the U. of Lisbon, now at UBI, and pedagogical initiatives in Portugal and internationally. His academic activities have included visiting appointments in 12 countries.
Throughout the hour-long conversation, Dr. Martins and Maria El Helou explored topics such as humanitarian architecture, disaster risk, forced displacement, the refugee crisis, the global housing emergency, and the complex relationship between architecture, culture, and spirituality. They also discussed UBI’s Postmaster in Humanitarian Architecture, Infrastructure, and Incremental Housing for Crisis, which Dr. Martins has directed since 2024. This pioneering postgraduate program brings together over fifty scholars from across the globe — including twenty from UBI and twenty practising humanitarian architects — and has already welcomed 28 master's-level students from four continents, including Maria El Helou.

O bairro da Queimadinha fica localizado próximo ao centro, está cercado pelas avenidas José Falcão da Silva (oeste), Av. Maria Quitéria (leste), Av. Eduardo Fróes da Mota (Norte) e rua Carlos Valadares (sul), sendo assim, quando observada no mapa tem a forma geométrica de um quadrilátero irregular no centro, ao norte do anel de contorno do Portal do Sertão, no município de Feira de Santana-Ba, que fica a aproximadamente 100 km da capital Salvador. A Queimadinha é frequentemente concebida como um bairro de estrutura espacial precária, habitado fundamentalmente por trabalhadores, e simbolicamente representado como um local perigoso e marginalizado. Essa representação legitima algumas ações de abandono e

Understanding the problem of poverty in the context of primary sociability (in simple terms: the ability to adapt to unfamiliar people and conditions) is different from that of secondary sociability. The former envisages social assistance and solidarity from the family or extended family, neighbors, tribe, or community, while the latter relies on the state.

In traditional societies (primary sociability), poverty was viewed as something natural, as not everyone had the same starting position, assets, abilities, or skills. Help was given where possible, and when it wasn’t, material deficiency prevailed. The poor accepted their status as poor because they were forced into it by the collective socioeconomic and legal consciousness of the time. There were no concepts of social, economic, or cultural rights.

The contemporary "setup" of society—systemic socioeconomic relations, means, and objective conditions—permanently generated poverty. The fate of the poor depended on the mercy of others or good fortune. Transitioning to modern society (secondary sociability) aimed to bring material progress and secure human rights. Modern societies intended to ensure social reconciliation, solidarity, social inclusion, or social cohesion through the welfare state as an institutionalized entity tasked with satisfying people’s social rights.

Being poor or suffering poverty in modern society signifies a failure within the system, not merely a series of individual failures (which are not dominant in causation). Modernity’s character lies in its complexity and functionality. If belonging to modern society implies achieving material security, then the discourse of "help yourself" cannot persist. Ideas and policies advocating individual responsibility for social risks and material deficiencies are remnants of feudalism.

Such approaches undermine the legitimacy of established democracy, denying civil or political rights. In modern societies, poverty is no longer a natural state but part of the system's functional differentiation, which includes mechanisms for eradication and harmonization. Modern legal and social awareness frames poverty as an undesirable state or deviation. This perspective has been challenged by global capitalism and neoliberal ideology in practice.

If Slovakia aspires to identify as a modern country in the 21st century, it must develop a modern social system and implement policies reflecting secondary sociability—a functioning welfare state. The role of modern political and social approaches is to recognize social rights as full-fledged human rights and freedoms for all citizens. Without this, modernity merely introduces new forms of poverty without eliminating the phenomenon itself, despite its initial goal of comprehensive social emancipation.

This volume seeks to spark discussions on poverty and social insecurity in 21st-century Slovakia and attempts to provide qualified answers. Twelve invited authors—Petra Červená, Peter Daubner, Daniel Gerbery, Barbora Holubová, Alexandra Kárová, Zuzana Kepplová, Ľudmila Kolesárová, Ján Košč, Alena Krempaská, Anton Marcinčin, Ján Ruman, and Peter Takáč—address these phenomena theoretically, empirically, and through artistic and literary perspectives.

Individual contributions examine aspects of poverty, such as child poverty, intergenerational poverty, systemic causes, poverty as an individual responsibility, female poverty, poverty tied to chronic illness or family breakdown, homelessness, and the right to housing. These topics are explored through the lens of reporting and difficult social situations.

The editors and authors aim to provide readers with insights and data on poverty and social insecurity in Slovakia, reflecting on the current state of play, legislative settings, specific policies, attitudes, and myths. The intention is to address the causes of poverty, predict future developments, and propose normative solutions to prevent persistence and deepening of these issues.

This collection aspires to initiate debate in Slovakia on poverty and social insecurity, to empathetically reflect on the daily struggles of socially excluded citizens, and to promote efforts for change—whether through discussions, petitions, or proposals for specific laws. Poverty and social insecurity remain ever-present, ready to affect anyone from the lower and middle classes at any time.

Those from higher social-status groups generally need not fear poverty or social insecurity, as late capitalism inherently limits social mobility. Falling from the top is rare, just as rising from the bottom is challenging.

Ján Košč and Ján Ruman
Editors

Periferias e segregação urbana em Florianópolis: um estado da arte a partir da História Resumo O presente artigo tem como objetivo realizar uma pesquisa do tipo estado da arte dos principais trabalhos acadêmicos que discorrem acerca da periferia urbana e da segregação urbana em Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, tendo em vista a introdução do material e da temática para a disciplina da História. Com base nos levantamentos realizados por Valladares (2005) na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, busco retratar aqui os principais tópicos, métodos de pesquisa, instituições e áreas do conhecimento observados em trabalhos de conclusão de curso, dissertações e teses disponíveis nos repositórios das principais universidades do estado de Santa Catarina e do país. Foram analisados 46 trabalhos ao todo, selecionados a partir da relevância e da abordagem das temáticas selecionadas: periferia, favelas, segregação urbana e ocupações de Florianópolis e região. A partir dessa análise, teço comentários sobre a relação do material com a realidade colocada historicamente na cidade, bem como as possibilidades de estudo e de aproximações do conteúdo para os historiadores, colocadas principalmente na integração interdisciplinar e na observação das cidades e periferias como objeto de estudo dotado de dinâmicas próprias, ainda não totalmente exploradas no campo da História.

The Work of VTN Architects Vo Trong Nghia, founder of VTN Architects in Ho Chi Minh City, is noted for blending traditional Vietnamese techniques with sustainable materials. The introduction covers his academic journey, accolades, and commitment to meditation alongside his architectural innovations. VTN Architects prioritizes sustainable design, using bamboo and other natural materials while incorporating greenery into urban spaces to help combat pollution and address climate change.

This paper explores the principles and applications of Biophilic Design, focusing on its ability to reconnect humans with nature in urban environments. It examines the work of Võ Trọng Nghĩa, an architect known for integrating greenery, passive ventilation, and local materials into contemporary architecture. Nghĩa’s projects, including the Stacking Green, Farming Kindergarten, House for Trees, and Binh House, exemplify his commitment to creating sustainable, community-centric designs that enhance well-being and counter the negative impacts of urban sprawl. His innovative use of bioclimatic principles and bamboo as a renewable material demonstrates a harmony between modernity and tradition, fostering environmental sustainability and local economic growth. By advancing a vision of urban spaces where nature and humanity coexist, Nghĩa’s work highlights the transformative potential of Biophilic Design in addressing global challenges of rapid urbanization and environmental degradation. This study emphasizes the necessity of adopting such approaches on a global scale to restore the balance between human development and the natural world.

Growing up in the middle of a concrete metropolis like Bangkok, it was undeniable that we all have witnessed our relentless drive to evolve and overcome nature, reflected in the city's ever-changing landscape. This phenomenon, known as urban sprawl benefits us in various ways both economically and politically, but the great price we have to pay for our actions is the significant decline in greenery within the cityscape. This dramatically shifts the relationship between humans and nature that has existed for hundred thousands of years from mutualistic in which both sides thrived to competition although we are the only side competing. The continuation of this will only worsen our deep connection with nature until it becomes completely lost. This has sparked many debates on whether it's possible to repair the broken connection between us and nature, leading to the emergence of a new architectural movement known as Biophilic Design. This approach to architecture and urban planning aims to reconnect people with nature by incorporating natural elements, forms, and processes into the built environment. It focuses on creating spaces that enhance well-being, productivity, and sustainability, fostering a strong bond with nature. 1 This approach increases green spaces while allowing urban growth to meet social and economic demands, ultimately improving

Humanitarian Architecture, Infrastructure and (Incremental) Housing for Crisis is a postmaster program at the University Beira Interior (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture), addressing society's most urgent crises. It focuses on vulnerable populations impacted by climate change, extreme weather, and disasters, including biological crises. Tackling housing and relocation issues in informal settlements, the program highlights challenges tied to poverty, migration, displacement, hunger, social injustice, and armed conflict, emphasizing human rights, equity, and social justice. Its central goal is to redefine architectural practice to serve societal needs: "Architects should serve humanity."

The historical gates of Buraydah are an important heritage site in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The Gates were built between 1850 and 1901 to protect the city but were demolished later, leaving almost no records or plans behind. The Prince of Al-Qassim has taken on the project to rebuild the Gates to teach future generations about their culture and heritage. The participation of the community becomes essential in this case. This study examines the role of the local community in the rebuilding process by questioning the extent of community participation to ensure the city's authenticity and how to enhance its involvement in the process. To achieve this objective, the study employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods for primary data collecting through online surveys. It was supported by a literature study as supplementary data especially to trace the history of the Gates. The aim is to provide a complete picture of the Buraydah Gates, including its history, how they were built and demolished, and their significance to the community in the present times. This project is not like most other rebuilding projects we see today. It is not a case of looking at old plans and drawings and recreating them. It argues that community participation through scouring for rare photographs of the original gate and drawing plans based on the perception of the elderly recalling the design is the most effective approach to ensure the city’s authenticity. In addition, this project stands out because it is based on what the community remembers and feels about the gates. However, many aspects of this site are undocumented, and it is imperative to record and make notes of the progression in order to serve our future generations this study enriches that documentation.

In August 2016, I began fieldwork as Donald Trump's U.S. presidential campaign reached its peak. As Trump's popularity snowballed, his campaign and election dramatically reshaped my fieldwork, with implications for power and positionality in the field. This article details how fieldwork and the research process are shaped by formal politics. In particular, I examine the effects of Trump's presidential campaign and election on fieldwork by exploring how these events transformed relationships and interactions between participants and me in the field. As I show, my identity and positionality in southern Mexico became increasingly visible through contemporary politics in the United States. This process, although unexpected and uncomfortable, provided key opportunities to engage with participants in conversations around my own power and privilege, highlighting the multiple and dynamic natures of positionality in the field. Such insights deepen understandings of positionality and contribute to the methodological literature in geography by detailing how identity and positionality in fieldwork are explicitly shaped by broader, formal politics, which often take place outside the researcher's control. These issues are especially important as xenophobia and populism proliferate worldwide, complicating the relationships and interactions that unfold between researchers and participants as well as the broader ethics of conducting geographic research.

This article surveys possibilities of determining the value of building land as base for property taxes, done by municipalities. It is shown that reform is needed. Application of ad valorem taxation could be fairer. In such taxation owners of more valuable building land should pay proportionally larger taxes. Ad valorem taxation will offer a stable source of revenue with a potentially broad and expanding tax base for governments. It will provide the benefit of a more equitable distribution on taxes, as well as greater fiscal transparency and accountability. Administratively easy determination of real estate value is essential. Price maps of building land, administrated by municipalities, could be a solution

Al-Dirah, an old neighborhood in Riyadh, is an excellent illustration of Saudi tradition and history. It was built in 1824 and is widely known for its rich heritage and historical traits, with historic landmarks such as Al Masmak Fort, Al-Dirah Souk, Al-Mu'eiqilia Market, and Deera Square. It also had the major royal castle in Saudi Arabia's second state. It was a thriving economic neighborhood from the past until the present times. With all these values, Al-Dirah has the potential to represent the branding of Riyadh as the capital city. However, this district is facing challenges such as traffic, overpopulation, collapsing buildings, and maintenance issues which might impact the image of the neighborhood. This study aims to investigate the values and potentials of the Al-Dirah neighborhood as well as recent urban problems from the perspectives of residents and nonresidents. It argues that having significant potential ranging from cultural, historical, and economic is not enough for developing the branding for the city without considering the perceptions of the residents. Their perceptions are important to create an image that can be potential for the city branding. Therefore, their role needs to be recognized. A mixed method both qualitative and quantitative approach was utilized for this study through online structured and open-ended questionnaires, supported by direct observations on the site. The findings reveal that although old neighborhoods are often associated with urban problems and poorly built environments, however, from residents' perspectives, it has the potential for city branding, especially if it is supported by their cultural, historical, and economic values. While most of the studies related to city branding focus on the policies perspective from the top-down, this study gives another perspective which is from the community or bottom-up. This study supports the Saudi Vision 2030 goals to achieve a sustainable living environment, boost the economy through tourism, and strengthen national identity at the same time. This study enriches references about city branding for practitioners and policymakers.

Backgorund: Architecture acts as a facade to the world, in which one can understand the insides of the people, religion, culture, and much more about a city. Using humanitarian architecture as a guide for reconstructing, as well as the long-term impacts of the urban planning of a city in terms of sustainability and authenticity, this study answers the questions of how the City's character and identity can be maintained while providing quick assistance via humanitarian architecture. What are the challenges that prevent humanitarian architecture from enhancing cities' authenticity, and how can we overcome them? By examining Al-Diriyah project, this study aims to look into the complex relationship of humanitarian architecture with the branding and authenticity of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from the perspective of residents and non-residents. Method: A blended qualitative and quantitive approach was applied as a comprehensive methodology to achieve the objectives. This study will help the application of humanitarian architecture for rebuilding countries in the East, highlighting authenticity and maintaining its cultural significance

O presente artigo apresenta resultados de uma pesquisa sobre Habitações de Interesse Social constituídas por residências cujos projetos foram desenvolvidos por meio do Projeto Casa Fácil, entre 1993 e 1996. A principal característica desse atendimento era fornecimento do projeto de residências de padrão popular para pessoas de baixa renda construírem suas moradias. Esses projetos podiam ser escolhidos por meio de um catálogo com projetos padronizados ou elaborados de forma personalizada para cada usuário do Casa Fácil.  As edificações construídas nos anos 1990 foram parcialmente comparados e revisitados in loco em 2024. A análise comparativa e crítica  transcorridas várias décadas do projeto e da obra originais também fazem parte desta artigo.

Embora Brasília tenha sido concebida como um projeto utópico
com o objetivo de forjar uma sociedade igualitária, os planejadores
não deram ênfase significativa às considerações de gênero. A
cidade pretendia oferecer a todos os moradores, independentemente
das distinções sociais, oportunidades iguais e as comodidades
urbanas necessárias para o desenvolvimento humano abrangente.
No entanto, diversos estudos têm revelado que existem
diferenças na forma como homens e mulheres percebem e vivenciam
a cidade. Consequentemente, surge uma questão pertinente
sobre como suas aspirações igualitárias se traduziram em realidade,
não apenas em termos de hierarquias sociais, mas também
em relação à dinâmica de gênero. Por meio de uma combinação
de análise de discurso dos princípios fundadores de Brasília, exame
de fatos históricos, escrutínio de dados demográficos e observações
sociais que indicam segregação baseada em gênero,
este artigo sustenta que certas características espaciais da cidade
contribuíram para a discriminação baseada em gênero, afetando
especialmente as mulheres.

The focus of this two-part work is Love's enormous potential, as 'the force of all creation,' to empower humanity's transformation to a peaceful sustainable world. Such radical change requires the full spectrum of human faculties and proficiencies-viz, those of the intellect and those of the heart. Part One documents love's generative role in biopsychosocial function, and love's vital role in our psychic proficiencies-the powers of heart, mind, and spirit to shape reality. In Part Two, a quantum holographic theory describes how Love-held Will can induce change, through the psychoenergetic processes of psi-formation.

Embora Brasília tenha sido concebida como um projeto utópico
com o objetivo de forjar uma sociedade igualitária, os planejadores
não deram ênfase significativa às considerações de gênero. A
cidade pretendia oferecer a todos os moradores, independentemente
das distinções sociais, oportunidades iguais e as comodidades
urbanas necessárias para o desenvolvimento humano abrangente.
No entanto, diversos estudos têm revelado que existem
diferenças na forma como homens e mulheres percebem e vivenciam
a cidade. Consequentemente, surge uma questão pertinente
sobre como suas aspirações igualitárias se traduziram em realidade,
não apenas em termos de hierarquias sociais, mas também
em relação à dinâmica de gênero. Por meio de uma combinação
de análise de discurso dos princípios fundadores de Brasília, exame
de fatos históricos, escrutínio de dados demográficos e observações
sociais que indicam segregação baseada em gênero,
este artigo sustenta que certas características espaciais da cidade
contribuíram para a discriminação baseada em gênero, afetando
especialmente as mulheres.

The devastating war in Ukraine has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, demanding a multifaceted response from humanitarian organizations.The DG ECHO Index, a widely used tool for assessing the effectiveness of humanitarian operations, has faced scrutiny for its applicability in complex crises like this. This chapter

The 2030 Agenda, proposed by the United Nations in 2015, was adopted and adapted by the ODSlocal (the local SDG) Platform. Thought to support municipalities and municipal communities in pursuing local sustainability, ODSlocal is based on a comprehensive and intense mobilisation of local authorities, stakeholders, and local actors while monitoring the progress of Portuguese municipalities concerning various SDG targets through national key performance indicators. At the same time, it also maps the innovative and sustainable practices that municipalities and other local actors are implementing in each territory.
Listening to the protagonists of this assisted but endogenous change is thus a sine qua non of the ODSlocal from an early stage. This paper presents some results of the first ODSlocal questionnaire survey conducted to acquire a baseline knowledge of local policy engagement strategy and action within member municipalities of the Platform. Given the spatial-cultural differences between regions (e.g., inland, coastal) and dimensions (number of inhabitants), the survey was conducted online, gathering information about how municipal actor groups perceived local sustainability. Moreover, to ensure a robust sample that portrayed the universe of respondents, we relied on the help of ODSlocal focal points in each municipality, who secured a reasonable number (1,310) of valid responses, including 70 from political decision-makers, 1,029 from municipal technicians, 58 from focal points and 153 from local stakeholders.
The results provide a preliminary diagnosis of SDG localisation regarding policy planning and implementation as well as community mobilisation and enforcement. In particular, this paper will focus upon the critical role of monitoring and transparency for sustainable development (Chowdhury & Kushwanth, 2017) as well as municipal and stakeholder evaluations of political priorities and outcomes. Our findings confirm the existence of gaps in knowledge and collaboration, both between local governments and their communities and within municipal structures. Nevertheless, all consulted groups, notably the municipal technicians who directly engage with localising sustainability, view these challenges as surmountable and prioritise addressing them as a pathway forward.

It took a long time for humanitarian action to evolve from an act of activism to a subject of research. Valérie Gorin expertly traces this evolution, while reminding us that "humanitarian studies" are still far from complete. In a subtle way, the author illustrates the role that a review like Humanitarian Alternatives can play in building a bridge between action and reflection.

This study aims to assess the level of preparedness of visually disabled people in terms of the emergency response plan for earthquake and tsunami. This study uses analytical methods, cross-sectional design, and questionnaires as data collection tools. The sample of this study was 54 visually disabled people who were living in Banda Aceh. The analysis revealed that the level of preparedness of the emergency response plan, the majority of visually disabled people has a low level of preparedness to plan an emergency response (63%), especially the total blindness group (46.3%). The Mann-Whitney test results showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between the visual impairment group and total blindness group on the preparedness of the emergency response plan (p = 0.016). Hence, this study suggests some recommendations, including a disaster preparedness program that is sensitive to people with disabilities, increasing the participation of people with disabilities i...

pós n.21 • são paulo • junho 20 07 Entre os dias 9 e 13 de outubro de 2006 realizou-se, na FAUUSP, mais um seminário internacional do Núcleo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia da Arquitetura e Urbanismo-NUTAU. Esses eventos vêm acontecendo há mais de dez anos, embora, mesmo antes deles, o grupo que fundou o NUTAU já tivesse promovido outros eventos, como o primeiro deles, First Symposium on Multimedia for Architecture and Urban Design. O NUTAU'2006 foi organizado em torno de quatro temas principais: habitação de interesse social, gestão do processo de projeto, tecnologia e sustentabilidade e tecnologia nas escolas de arquitetura, cujos coordenadores respectivos foram os professores Maria Ruth Amaral de Sampaio, Sílvio B. Melhado, Ualfrido Del Carlo e Sheila W. Ornstein. Duas atividades importantes abriram os trabalhos, começando, já no primeiro dia, com a reunião preparatória sobre habitação de interesse social, presidida pelo professor Geraldo Serra. A reunião foi aberta com uma palestra brilhante pronunciada pelo engenheiro João Cláudio Robusti, presidente do Sindicato da Indústria da Construção Civil-SindusCon, seguida pelas intervenções de outros líderes empresariais do setor, com destaque para o diretor da Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Material de Construção-Abramat, Melvyn David Fox, e do vicepresidente do Sindicato das Empresas de Compra, Venda, Locação e Administração de Imóveis Residenciais e Comerciais de São Paulo-Secovi, engenheiro Cláudio Bernardes. A reunião concluiu que o setor privado deverá prover as necessidades habitacionais brasileiras em todas as faixas de renda acima dos três salários mínimos de renda familiar, com as condições atuais de financiamento e subsídio e, abaixo dessa renda, os problemas sociais são de tal ordem, que reduzem a importância da habitação diante de um conjunto de outras necessidades. Na sessão de abertura, o Prof. Dr. Siegbert Zanettini, apoiado por sua equipe, apresentou o projeto do centro de pesquisas da Petrobrás, o CENPES II. O edifício se constitui em exemplo das posições defendidas pelo NUTAU, inclusive durante o próprio evento, sobre a urgência da concepção e construção de edifícios mais sustentáveis e inteligentes. Realmente, o projeto do professor Zanettini define o estado da arte em matéria de macroestruturas preocupadas em maximizar o conforto dos usuários e a eficiência da produção, ao mesmo tempo em que minimiza o desperdício energético, o consumo de água e a produção de deseconomias diversas em seu entorno. No dia subseqüente, com a participação do pesquisador do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística-IBGE, Fernando Albuquerque, do Rio de Janeiro, e da arquiteta Josefina Baldó Ayala, de Caracas, sob a coordenação da professora Maria Ruth e do arquiteto Paulo Eduardo Fonseca de Campos, foi realizada a sessão plenária sobre habitação de interesse social. O pesquisador

The malleable nature of both the idea of a city and the idea of resilience raises an important question—why measure? Resilience is assumed to be located in the physical infrastructure of specific places or as a quality of the people located there. For disasters, we are often trying to conceptualize, measure, or render legible resilience in physical structures. But what is it that we are trying to measure, and is the idea of a city reflected in these measurements? If cities are organized around something other than resilience, is resilience their natural by-product? What is necessitating the need for increased—and measured—resilience? Using interpretive policy analysis, we explored five well known disaster resilience frameworks (UNDRR’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign, UN-Habitat’s City Resilience Profiling Programme, The World Bank and GFDRR’s Resilient Cities Program, Arup and The Rockefeller Foundation’s City Resilience Index, and The Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities...

Displacement is at a world record high as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations. Children make up around half of the refugee population worldwide, and 40% of the 80 million displaced people globally. Approximately two-thirds of displaced people live in urban areas, the large majority in developing countries (UNHCR 2020). The quality of spaces available to children has an important impact on child development and wellbeing as it affects a number of children’s rights including play, health, safety and learning.
Co-designing built interventions with children affected by displacement can:
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empower children and have a lasting positive impact;
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improve social cohesion, inclusion, social capital, and integration between refugee and host communities, and within the refugee community;
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have a positive impact on the local economy, build capacity and provide employment; and
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deliver better social infrastructures (child-friendly urban public spaces, including open public spaces, streets and public facilities such as schools and playgrounds) for children and their communities.
Despite their impact, there is an undersupply of built interventions that have been co-designed with children. This is because: they require professionals from different specialisms to work together, and often organisational structures do not make these collaborations easy; their additional value is difficult to recognise; and they require a larger initial investment compared to the built product alone. Furthermore, these interventions often present multiple operational challenges linked to safeguarding, cultural norms and appropriateness. This prevents many organisations from taking on such projects, despite the strong need for children’s voices to be part of design responses in displacement contexts.
The DeCID handbook was born out of a lack of practical guidelines for
co-designing built interventions with children affected by urban displacement. It was created by a mixed team of practitioners and academics from different disciplines, and via a research process involving interviews and thematic discussions with varied related practitioners.

O espaço urbano é o meio que possibilita o desenvolvimento das atividades, relações e manifestações humanas, produzido em diferentes escalas e sofre intervenções dos agentes formadores que atuam no processo de construção da cidade. O presente trabalho busca mostrar a evolução histórica da ação dos principais agentes formadores do espaço urbano da cidade de Viçosa - Alagoas, onde se buscou analisar o poder desses agentes na produção do espaço, visando entender de que forma este espaço é produzido pela sociedade urbana. Como trajetória metodológica, foram realizadas leituras de autores como: Santos (1988), Correa (2004), Carlos (2005) e Botelho (2007), e também pesquisas exploratórias de campo na cidade. A pesquisa mostrou que até a metade do século XX o agente proprietário foi determinante para expansão da área urbana. Posteriormente o Estado aumenta sua intervenção com a produção de conjuntos habitacionais, que historicamente teve um crescimento mais rápido por meio da construção de...

According to the United Nations, by 2030, 60% of the world’s population will live in cities, and 70% by 2050. Both consolidated and fast urbanizing areas face diverse acute shocks from natural disasters and long-term stresses, such as the effects of climate change. Therefore, there is a need for cities to implement plans for increasing resilience and improving preparedness to cope with both acute shocks and long-term stresses. Development of resilience action plans (RAP) constitutes an important process for the cities to plan their resilience enhancement in the long, medium, and short terms. These are key tools for the city, considering the associated complexity, uncertainties, data scarcity, interdependencies among urban services provided in the city, as well as involved stakeholders. Herein, a framework is presented to support city resilience action planning related to climate change through a multisector approach. The framework was applied step by step to three cities—Barcelona, ...

This research aims to understand the collaborative governance and disaster risk reduction of forest and land fires at the ontological and sociological level that are very significant. The problem is very interesting to be analyzed by conducting a descriptive qualitative research based on theory of public policy, collaborative governance, and disaster risk reduction. Data were collected use in-depth interview, observation, and documentation related with forest and land fires cases in Indonesia. Data were analyzed use interactive models are data reduction, data display, data verification, and supported by triangulation. The results were based on ontological and sociological level for reducing risk disaster and improving a disaster management policy and regulation that are needed for providing information to stakeholders regarding regulations and sanctions and produce a clear input for public officials in making better regulations on disaster management.   

The conference proceedings complied in a Report format with following Sections:
1. Regional Planning
2. Urban Planning
3. Housing
4. Tourism and Heritage
5. Environment: Transportation, Sanitation, Water Management, Solid Waste Management, and Natural Conservation
6. Rural Planning
7. Energy and Climate
8. Governance
9. Other

Al-Dirah, an old neighborhood in Riyadh, is an excellent illustration of Saudi tradition and history. It was built in 1824 and is widely known for its rich heritage and historical traits, with historic landmarks such as Al Masmak Fort, Al-Dirah Souk, Al-Mu'eiqilia Market, and Deera Square. It also had the major royal castle in Saudi Arabia's second state. It was a thriving economic neighborhood from the past until the present times. With all these values, Al-Dirah has the potential to represent the branding of Riyadh as the capital city. However, this district is facing challenges such as traffic, overpopulation, collapsing buildings, and maintenance issues which might impact the image of the neighborhood. This study aims to investigate the values and potentials of the Al-Dirah neighborhood as well as recent urban problems from the perspectives of residents and nonresidents. It argues that having significant potential ranging from cultural, historical, and economic is not enough for developing the branding for the city without considering the perceptions of the residents. Their perceptions are important to create an image that can be potential for the city branding. Therefore, their role needs to be recognized. A mixed method both qualitative and quantitative approach was utilized for this study through online structured and open-ended questionnaires, supported by direct observations on the site. The findings reveal that although old neighborhoods are often associated with urban problems and poorly built environments, however, from residents' perspectives, it has the potential for city branding, especially if it is supported by their cultural, historical, and economic values. While most of the studies related to city branding focus on the policies perspective from the top-down, this study gives another perspective which is from the community or bottom-up. This study supports the Saudi Vision 2030 goals to achieve a sustainable living environment, boost the economy through tourism, and strengthen national identity at the same time. This study enriches references about city branding for practitioners and policymakers.

Backgorund: Architecture acts as a facade to the world, in which one can understand the insides of the people, religion, culture, and much more about a city. Using humanitarian architecture as a guide for reconstructing, as well as the long-term impacts of the urban planning of a city in terms of sustainability and authenticity, this study answers the questions of how the City's character and identity can be maintained while providing quick assistance via humanitarian architecture. What are the challenges that prevent humanitarian architecture from enhancing cities' authenticity, and how can we overcome them? By examining Al-Diriyah project, this study aims to look into the complex relationship of humanitarian architecture with the branding and authenticity of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from the perspective of residents and non-residents. Method: A blended qualitative and quantitive approach was applied as a comprehensive methodology to achieve the objectives. This study will help the application of humanitarian architecture for rebuilding countries in the East, highlighting authenticity and maintaining its cultural significance

Um dos pontos mais discutidos globalmente e o fomento de solucoes criativas e inovadoras que permitam crescimento economico aliado com equilibrio social. A economia criativa ganha forca no debate de revitalizacao de grandes cidadese espacos que necessitam de solucoes para amenizar problemas de ordem urbana, tendo a comunicacao como aliada naconscientizacao de um novo comportamento. O objetivo do artigo e descrever o projeto da construcao de jardins verticais nasempenas cegas presentes em centenas de edificios na cidade de Sao Paulo, com base em proposta da ONG Movimento 90o.

Natural hazards pose a significant threat to historical cities which have an authentic and universal value for mankind. This study aims at codifying a multi-risk workflow for seismic and flood hazards, for site-scale applications in historical cities, which provides the Average Annual Loss for buildings within a coherent multi-exposure and multi-vulnerability framework. The proposed methodology includes a multi-risk correlation and joint probability analysis to identify the role of urban development in re-shaping risk components in historical contexts. The workflow is unified by exposure modelling which adopts the same assumptions and parameters. Seismic vulnerability is modelled through an empirical approach by assigning to each building a vulnerability value depending on the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) and modifiers available in literature. Flood vulnerability is modelled by means of stage-damage curves developed for the study area and validated against ex-post damage cla...

The frequency of natural disasters keeps increasing from time to time. The catastrophes from the events affect millions of people around the world. It demands the involvement of architects in the design and planning difficulties associated with rebuilding post-disaster areas and cities. However, there is a continuing lack of architects who are capable of handling the damage left behind by devastating natural disasters like floods, fires, earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis. In addition, there is a shortage of architectural students who are interested in this crucial matter. Targeting architecture faculties and students, this study discusses the architects' role in the humanitarian subject. The objective is to figure out the level of awareness and exposure to this topic at the higher education level. It was done by examining the involvement of architecture faculties and students in humanitarian architecture through mixed qualitative and quantitative methods. This study proposes a way to shed light on humanitarian architecture to alert architecture faculties and students to the growing need for help and support in reconstructing communities damaged by catastrophes. It also provides an understanding of how to offer assistance while respecting the culture, identity, and needs of the affected people.

In September 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria affected the Caribbean region and especially Puerto Rico. A disaster response project led by the Latin American non-profit organization (TECHO) in informal communities, built 58 progressive emergency modules in a co-managed effort along with affected families and volunteers moved by the urgency of probably the worst housing crisis in Puerto Rico. In the midst of a humanitarian crisis, initiatives arise that aim to support vulnerable populations, but these contributions from the third sector must be evaluated to understand their impact, compare parameters, and analyze whether they can be replicated in the future.
A quantitative and qualitative experimental evaluation of the current state of the housing project five years later will show technical and social aspects of the evolution of households and homes compared to the original module baseline and measure the level of accomplishment: supporting a fast return home through prefab modules assembled on site, expecting a progressive approach where modules would turn into safe homes improved over time through self-construction.
The results obtained show how transitional or progressive housing may be an adequate alternative for disaster relief, involving affected families and volunteers from the beginning. The study will show different levels of appropriation and improvements among those homes occupied by constituted nuclear families, young people with construction skills, or where there was community support to make upgrades. COVID-19’s lockdown shows how having extra time will be invested in improving their homes. On the other hand, houses provided to single-parent households or elderly people will evidence less maintenance or quality. Also, families with alternatives outside the community may move elsewhere showing that housing is only a part of adequate urban habitat conditions.

HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

In the face of disaster risks, this paper aims to emphasize the importance of incorporating resilient design principles into disaster preparedness. Additionally, it questions the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of rating tools employed in assessing building resilience. The case study involves an analysis of the resilient design guidelines that have been established for a recently constructed archive building of a Turkish bank. As a smart building incorporating sustainable and low-consumption solutions, the nature and confidentiality of documents in the archive require preparedness for disasters, both natural and man-made. The building’s resiliency is evaluated utilizing two distinct assessment tools. Based on the results, the design decisions are made align with all aspects of CBRI as outlined by Burroughs in 2017. However, the building scores as non-resilient according to the BRI developed by the World Bank Group in 2023. This inconsistency underscores the need for consistency across different rating tools, comprehensiveness to incorporate both sustainability and resilience principles, and long-term projection to anticipate increasingly prevalent disasters. Moreover, the enhanced accessibility, transparency, and accountability facilitated by online rating tools became obvious. These tools serve to promote communication among diverse stakeholders and motivate them to embrace resilient and sustainable policies and practices within the realm of disaster management.

The measure of disaster resilience within the hotel sector is investigated in this exploratory quantitative study. Disaster resilience of hotels describes the organisations' ability to withstand and recover from a disaster. Data collected from hotel general managers and staff in two New Zealand tourist destinations were derived through an Internet-based survey instrument. The survey data queried different aspects of disaster resilience from a capital- Authors' note: Research funded in part by Massey University, GNS Science New Zealand, and Hawkes's Bay Civil Defence Disaster resilience survey hotels New Zealand 2 based approach. Capitals investigated included economic, social, human, physical, natural, and cultural. Survey insights from both general managers and staff in Hawke's Bay and Wellington regions advance our knowledge of resilience predictors and highlights current and future resilience-building actions and activities, and gaps. The inclusion of employee responses in studies of tourism management is uncommon and provides an added dimension to our understanding of disaster resilience-building in the hotel context. The data shows that hotels in the sample have positive attributes of disaster resilience across all of the surveyed capital predictors. Data also identified some gaps in these hotels' disaster resilience. Recommended areas of future focus for resilience-building include: budgeting disaster management activities, greater emphasis on involving staff in disaster planning, and increased information on hazards and protective actions for guests.

The measure of disaster resilience within the hotel sector is investigated in this exploratory quantitative study. Disaster resilience of hotels describes the organisations' ability to withstand and recover from a disaster. Data collected from hotel general managers and staff in two New Zealand tourist destinations were derived through an Internet-based survey instrument. The survey data queried different aspects of disaster resilience from a capital- Authors' note: Research funded in part by Massey University, GNS Science New Zealand, and Hawkes's Bay Civil Defence Disaster resilience survey hotels New Zealand 2 based approach. Capitals investigated included economic, social, human, physical, natural, and cultural. Survey insights from both general managers and staff in Hawke's Bay and Wellington regions advance our knowledge of resilience predictors and highlights current and future resilience-building actions and activities, and gaps. The inclusion of employee responses in studies of tourism management is uncommon and provides an added dimension to our understanding of disaster resilience-building in the hotel context. The data shows that hotels in the sample have positive attributes of disaster resilience across all of the surveyed capital predictors. Data also identified some gaps in these hotels' disaster resilience. Recommended areas of future focus for resilience-building include: budgeting disaster management activities, greater emphasis on involving staff in disaster planning, and increased information on hazards and protective actions for guests.

O artigo analisa a experiência de trabalhadores migrantes na Ocupação Contestado, em São José/SC. Apresentamos quatro trajetórias de trabalhadoras migrantes, as quais revelam sua experiência como trabalhadoras, migrantes, mães e participantes do processo político-educativo constituinte da Ocupação. Concluímos que a migração é determinada pela dinâmica do capital, e a ocupação é expressão, por um lado, do processo de expropriação/exploração no trabalho, da ausência de moradia e da violência do estado. De outro lado, revela a indignação e a força de luta dos trabalhadores organizados. Palavra-chave: Trabalho e Educação; Ocupações urbanas; Migração; Experiência.

The need for future cities to be resilient stems from the fact that now more than ever in history, both natural and human-made hazards are threatening cities in the forms of shocks and stresses. The ability of cities to resist or restore themselves following these events is dependent on their resilience. As we now firmly enter the Anthropocene, the geological epoch in which human activity, for the first time in history is directly influencing the Earth's systems, we need to develop resilient cities that can cope with the increase in hazards. Although climate change is one factor influencing urban resilience, it is not the only one. A lack of understanding of the subsurface can also influence a city's resilience, as can the unplanned use of its underground spaces. In planning and developing our cities of the future, a deep understanding of the geology that supports the city is required not only to be able to determine the possibilities of future use but also to determine whether there are natural processes that could threaten human existence over time. The destruction of ecosystem services through unchecked human activities could be one of these activities. In this paper, the authors will investigate how the subsurface and use of underground spaces can influence urban resilience. The role that underground spaces can play in achieving urban resilience for our future cities will be described.