Haiyan: Architecture and natural disasters : Turning a tragedy into a new opportunity by rethinking the urban landscape and humanitarian response

Abstract: My starting point was to gain an understanding of how humanitarian aid was organized in Tacloban City after the disaster of typhoon Haiyan. Two specific sectors has been studied; Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and Emergency Shelter. As basic parameters the Sphere Handbook (The Sphere Project) served as a guideline, a set of minimum standards of humanitarian response compiled by different humanitarian agencies with the aim to improve the quality of humanitarian assistance. Large parts of the city's urban land area is currently located in a geographic location that poses a significant risk in terms of vulnerability to floods, landslides and storm winds. A summary of risk analysis indicates that a specific area of land south-west of today's city center are more suited as a development site in terms of reduced vulnerability. The strategies of resistance against the forces of nature for the city of Tacloban are divided into four different scales from macro to micro; City, Barangay (the smallest administrative division within the Philippine municipality system), Sitio (territorial enclave inside a barangay) and the private home.