Context of Research
-Research derived from reality of place
-Both 3rd World and 1st World issue
-Focus on pragmatic application
Research Questions
How develop awareness, appreciation and respect
for built environment?
Representative Project: "Architecture
Explorers"
Development of a teacher's guidebook for elementary
schools. This initial phase develops and tests a model handbook through field
trials with a Boston elementary school. The long-term goal is to develop an
exportable Teacher's Kit for 3rd World heritage appreciation. Funding is from
Boston Society of Architects.
How improve techniques of dialogue and interaction?
Representative Project: "Mozambique
Distance Learning Pilot Initiatives"
Joint MIT-World Bank- University of Maputo exploratory
studies in participatory design and development linked to city structural
planning. Focus on three levels: community-community links, channels to link
to city, and receptivity at structural planning level.
How link design with social and economic development?
Representative Project: "The Syria
Dead Cities Heritage Corridor"
Rural development opportunities through linking
historical preservation and eco-tourism at the village level. 1000 so-called
"Dead Cities" provide the framework for the development. Project
jointly developed with Aga Khan Program at MIT.
COMMUNITY
ACTION PLANNING (MicroPlanning)
A Participatory Development Methodology by
Reinhard Goethert and Nabeel Hamdi
Community Action Planning empowers communities
to design, implement and manage their own settlement programs. Its methods
are participatory, community-based, problem-driven, fast, and designed to
inform policy from the grassroots. This approach was developed by Reinhard
Goethert and Nabeel Hamdi during their collaborative work over the past 15
years. Their participatory approach catalyzed in Sri Lanka as part of the
Million Houses Program, a national-scale participatory program internationally
applauded. In Sri Lanka it was applied nation-wide and has become a model
emulated in programs internationally.
The key element of Community Action Planning
(CAP) is an active, intense community-based workshop, carried out over a period
of 2 to 5 days, depending on the specific goals of the workshop. The output
of the workshops is a development plan which includes a list of prioritized
problems, strategies and options for dealing with the problems, and a rudimentary
work program describing who, when and what is to be done. Integral to the
method is the equal relation between the professional technical inputs and
the community.
The set-up for the workshop requires a minimum
of preparation, materials and training. Required is a motivated community
and a confident moderator/facilitator/organizer who can take the lead in assuring
that announcements are made, participants identified, a location selected,
a few materials collected, and finally in running the workshop. Much of the
preparation is done by the community. A designated person often takes responsibility
for the logistics. Moderators need not be highly skilled and can adapt the
style and content to suit their own temperament and the prevailing circumstances.
Training of moderators/facilitators can be minimal, but is strongly advised
to participate in an actual workshop in order that future moderators can capture
the dynamics of the event as much as understand its procedures.
Materials required are limited to markers of
some kind, large sheets of paper (any kind: wrapping paper, newsprint, cardboard,
unfolded boxes), and a place for display of outputs.
The location should be in the community and accessible,
rather than in government offices. Example locations have included formal
classrooms to sitting on the ground with the back of a makeshift store as
display space. This offers familiarity to participants, emphasizes the bias
toward the community, and allows instant corroboration of issues.
The start to the process is problems definition.
Both perceived those felt as being a problem and "real"
problems those that are measurable are included without initial
distinctions.
The process adopts four general stages of work:
· Stage 1: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION and
PRIORITIZING: What are the problems?
· Stage 2: STRATEGIES, OPTIONS and TRADEOFFS
: What approaches and actions are most suitable to deal with problems?
· Stage 3: PLANNING FOR IMPLEMENTATION:
Who does what, when and how, and how to get it going?
· Stage 4: MONITORING: How is it working
and what can we learn? (A variation of this stage is sometimes included in
Stage 1 in identifying problems.)
At each stage charts structure the workshop and
are completed by small mixed-background/mixed discipline groups during the
workshop sessions. The charts are prepared on large pieces of paper for display
purposes and with a minimum of formality to highlight the working nature of
the sessions. They remain with the community as a record of discussions and
agreements. At the conclusion, the community has a prioritized list of problems,
a plan of action for implementation for key agreed options and an appointed
person to liaison with authorities.
Participants at the workshop include a cross-section
of community representatives, technical officers from the various departments
(sanitation, water, housing, health, education, dependent on the nature of
the municipality organization). The facilitator plays a key role as moderator
and must have the confidence of all participants.
The original handbook explaining Community Action
Planning (at that time called Microplanning) was prepared for the National
Housing Development Authority of the Government of Sri Lanka and for its technical
staff. The handbook was later expanded with the addition of a frontpiece on
the conceptual background, a section describing the workshop dynamics in Santiago,
Chile, and a section on assessing the impact one year after MicroPlanning
workshops were held in four communities. A modified version was prepared as
a "Training of Trainers" guide as part of the dissemination of the
methodology throughout the country.
Subsequent to the development of the methodology
in Sri Lanka, the approach has been used by the authors and others worldwide,
in Bangladesh, South Africa, Boston (USA), Poland. It is being used extensively
in Central America by the regional version of ILUA. It has not been successful
in Boston because of the underlying political commitment required. There local
authorities feared that the outcomes would not match official expectations,
despite their funding of the preparation of a locally-oriented handbook. The
methodology was selected by the World Bank's Economic Development Unit for
its municipal programs throughout Latin America and translated into Spanish.
The process is flexible and variations of the
approach with their explanatory handbooks have been prepared to address specific
circumstances. In Bangladesh a version was prepared that linked training of
local technical officers, participatory community upgrading, and the on-going
strategic planning effort in Dhaka and Chittagong. In South Africa the method
is being used as part of the township upgrading, and a pilot project was undertaken
in Schweizer-Reneke, North-West Province, with subsequent workshops in the
planning stages. Recently it has been adapted as a tool for risk mitigation
by communities in India.
In all cases where community action planning
was used the fundamentals were retained: rapid, intense field-based workshops,
a problem-driven agenda, equal community/technical participation and documentation.
Key Resources:
MAKING MICROPLANS: A COMMUNITY BASED PROCESS
IN PROGRAMMING AND DEVELOPMENT. Reinhard Goethert and Nabeel Hamdi. IT Publications,
1988.
(Also available in Spanish as: LA MICROPLANIFICACIÓN:
UN PROCESO DE PROGRAMACIÓN Y DESARROLLO CON BASE EN LA COMUNIDAD, Instituto
de Desarrollo Económico del Banco Mundial, Documento Técnico
del IDE, 1992.)
ACTION PLANNING FOR CITIES: A GUIDE TO COMMUNITY
PRACTICES. Nabeel Hamdi and Reinhard Goethert, John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
Case Files in the book illustrate a variety of
practical ways in which MicroPlanning maybe applied, with examples from Sri
Lanka, South Africa, and Boston, USA. Note the flexibility and freedom in
adjusting the specific items to suit the particular circumstances.
PLAN FOR ACTION WALL CHART. A large format chart
(30"x40") which may be used as a guide for running workshops, a
management tool in organizing, evaluating and arranging logistics for workshops,
and as a training tool for practitioners. Available from SIGUS-MIT, Room 9-369,
School of Architecture and Planning, MIT, Cambridge, MA. 02139. Or email:
sigus@mit.edu.
DESIGN
AND PLANNING. This includes research on 'The Good Squatter' (since
squatting - or quasi-legal development - is so common, how can it be directed
toward a win-win end?); and Rapid ePlanning (how to approach the two key issues
of today in the peripheral areas: speed and scale of development).
DISSEMINATION
OF INFORMATION. This includes development of participatory tools, and
CD/internet sites of information.
SUSTAINABILITY.
Focus in part is on the key role of children, and research includes 'Children,
Heritage and Development'.
ROLE
OF THE PROFESSIONAL. Where and how can architects and planners best
contribute? How can their unique skills be utilized?
RESEARCH TOPICS OF SIGUS INTEREST
Special assistance will be offered to students who focus on topics related
to the interests of SIGUS. SIGUS provides guidance in formulating the thesis
hypothesis, preparing an outline, structuring fieldwork and identifying local
contacts, as well as advising on the report and/or thesis during its development.
Contact sigus@mit.edu for
discussion of topic in more detail.
Although many of the interests are grouped by country, generally they may
be applied to other contexts as well.
El Salvador
"Comparison and Evaluation of Five Different Housing Prototypes Resulting
from Divergent Perspectives by their NGO Funders". Studies targeting housing
offered by the varied donors in their earthquake reconstruction programs.
"Evaluation of the Innovative 'Cluster' Type of Land Subdivision in Sensunapan
vs Traditional Forms in Santa Ana". Comparing initial development goals of
land subdivisions to their current state 20-years afterwards.
"Earthquake Resistance of Design and Structural Innovations in Low-cost Housing".
Analyzing dwelling performance under various earthquake magnitudes.
Egypt
Revisiting the legacy 'site and service' projects from the 1980s built by
varied international development agencies. What worked, what lessons?
Peru
The 1967 PREVI competition in Lima. How did it turn out? What lessons may
be learned?
Kosovo
Study of the Informal sector rapidly growing on the outskirts of the larger
cities, particularly Pristina.
General
"Shape Grammars: Children, Heritage and Design". Programs and methods that
respect and build appreciation of architectural heritage through educational
programs.
The 1976 Vancouver-Tondo competition in Manila.
Comparison of international housing competitions targeting low income. How
effective where they? Is this a good model for innovation?
Rapid urban growth modeling through computer graphics. Development of simple
dynamic growth model for practitioners and tested in various urban areas.