LEARNING FROM THE POOR

Post-disaster housing solutions are rarely developed upon empirical information and case-based knowledge. Instead, solutions for housing reconstruction are usually the result of what a restrained group of professionals from the formal sector consider the most appropriate solutions given the limited resources available. Very often, these solutions fail to address the expectations of the users and to efficiently address the needs of low-income families. Spontaneous housing construction provides crucial information about how low-income families (and, in general, the informal sector) normally cope with limited resources to solve their needs for shelter and services under extreme conditions. A detailed analysis of spontaneous housing in Colombia and South Africa demonstrates that despite cultural differences, various common characteristics exist in the housing solutions of the informal sector. The comparison of these characteristics with previous studies conducted in India confirms the existence of fourteen common patterns among the cases studied. Despite the fact that the informal sector has been the only sector capable of housing the majority of poor residents in developing countries, many of these characteristics are often neglected in post-disaster low-cost housing reconstruction. In fact, the solutions and priorities of formal post-disaster projects often contradict the ones used by the informal sector. While the formal sector seeks to reduce costs through standardization, uniformity and speed through mass production, the informal sector emphasizes variety, often slow evolution and recycling. If properly adapted to contextual aspects, these fourteen patterns bring important lessons for improving post-disaster housing solutions