Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

Policy responses to disaster risk
207
Unconsolidated informal settlements vary in the
strength and character of leadership. Partnerships with local
planning authorities can build procedural rigour and provide
additional legitimacy. Such partnerships can also be a mechanism
for local planning authorities to initiate regularization,
which often requires significant land-use decisions to be
made that can allow later provision of critical infrastructure,
such as water and electricity.
BUILDING CODES,
REGULATION AND
DISASTER-RESISTANT
CONSTRUCTION
In 2003, an earthquake in the city of Bingol (Turkey)
destroyed 300 buildings and damaged more than 5000
others. One of the buildings that collapsed was a school
dormitory, killing 84 children. The dormitory had only been
built in 1998 and was a modern engineered structure. The
fact that this event occurred only four years after the
Marmara earthquake reopened the public debate on the
prevailing standards and building codes that are applied or
(as in the case of the dormitory) not applied. 48
Most countries have building codes aimed at ensuring
that construction meets a minimum standard of disaster
resilience. In some cases, codes might not be as appropriate
as they could be. For example, in Jamaica, losses to
Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 included 30,235 homes. High
losses have been blamed on a lack of preparedness in the
physical planning and housing sectors and because the 1983
National Building Code of Jamaica was inappropriately
modelled on UK standards. In contrast to the housing sector,
many small businesses were well prepared and were able to
return to work quickly. 49
The United Nations International Strategy for
Disaster Reduction (ISDR) 50 recommends that building
codes should be:
• realistic, given economic, environmental and technological
constraints;
• relevant to current building practice and technology;
• updated regularly in light of developments in
knowledge;
• understood fully and accepted by professional interest
groups;
• enforced in order to avoid the legislative system being
ignored or falling into disrepute;
• adhered to, with laws and controls based more on a
system of incentives rather than punishment;
• integrated fully within a legal system that takes account
of potential conflicts between the different levels of
administration and government.
Box 8.11 Relocation planning in Sacadura Cabral, São Paulo, Brazil
In 1997, relocation was proposed as part of a slum upgrading programme in Sacadura Cabral,
São Paulo (Brazil). A densely populated barrio subject to annual flooding was chosen by city
planners for relocation. A total of 200 families were to be relocated from within the
settlements to allow redevelopment and upgrading of the site.
The selection of families to be moved was initially controlled by the planning authority;
but this met with much local resistance and was eventually replaced by a more communicative
strategy built around a series of public meetings with communities and their leaders. Relocation
planning was revised as an outcome of these meetings. The new plan included a role for the
local community in the selection of families to be relocated. An agreement was reached that
families would be housed within 1 kilometre from Sacadura Cabral and be given access to subsidized
credit. Local people were to lead the reconstruction and upgrading process, with technical
assistance from the local authorities.
A particularly innovative aspect of the project that arose from local consultations was
that the selection of families for relocation was not restricted to those living in areas within
Sacadura Cabral to be upgraded. Instead, the whole community was included. Thus, some of
those who agreed to be relocated were not living in areas to be cleared and upgraded. The
relocation of these families provided space within the existing community for some people
living in areas to be upgraded to be re-housed within the community.
Source: Olivira and Denaldi, 1999
The greatest challenge is enforcing adherence to building
codes during construction. Failure to comply with codes is a
root cause of vulnerability in buildings. Too often, perverse
incentives make it more attractive for administrators, architects,
builders, contractors and even house owners to
circumvent construction standards. This is not simply a
product of poverty, but, at heart, is a problem of governance.
In Turkey, much of the loss of life associated with the
Marmara earthquake in 1999 has been attributed to the
ineffective regulation of construction. In this case, risk
generated by ineffective governance was compounded by
high inflation, which meant that few people had insurance
cover. Public outrage at this failing led to a protest and
reform of the system of building regulation in Turkey.
The potential for regulation of building codes to be
undertaken by the private sector has been explored in recent
research. Although it is argued that it might be cost efficient
for a private body to undertake site inspections, it is unclear
if a private body would be any less open to the perverse
incentives that distort public-sector inspection and enforcement.
51 Even where external financing might be thought to
provide additional incentives for oversight and successful
use of standards, this is not always the case. A recent review
of World Bank lending during the period of 1984 to 2005
found that 60 per cent of projects receiving disaster financing
were damaged by a subsequent event. Of 197 completed
projects with a focus on mitigation – designed to use
disaster-resistant standards – 26 per cent showed flaws in
design, and half had been damaged by a subsequent event.
Of the 65 projects in the transportation, urban and water
and sanitation sectors approved between 2000 and 2004 in
countries identified by the World Bank as disaster hotspots,
only 3 projects included any detailed disaster planning. 52
In cities of lower-income countries, but increasingly
also in large cities of middle-income countries, the high
proportion of citizens forced to reside in informal settlements
where activities operate outside the formal planning
and regulatory systems is particularly challenging for build-
Failure to comply
with codes is
a root cause of
vulnerability in
buildings