Decoding Emergency Settlement through Quantitative Analysis

Abdon Dantas, David Banh, Philip Heywood and Miguel Amado
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Abdon Dantas: Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
David Banh: School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4067, Australia
Philip Heywood: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia
Miguel Amado: Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: By the end of 2020, more than 80 million people were forcibly displaced around the world; this represents about one percent of the global population. Many of the displaced found shelter in emergency settlements; whether in refugee camps, IDP camps or community settlements. Some of these settlements are transitory, while others have been consolidated into permanent habitats; some span the size of a city, while others are the size of a village; some are well structured, while others provide only the bare minimum needed by residents. Notwithstanding these variations, there is still a lack of understanding of the range, depth, scale, and scope of these settlements. There is also a need for comparative analysis between different types of emergency settlements, as they are still generalized as temporary encampments. The aim of the study is to identify the distinctiveness of each type of emergency settlement to demonstrate that one strategy for their planning and management will not fit all. It does so by reviewing the criteria for analyzing emergency settlements around the world by using a quantitative analysis methodology on a set of variables considered relevant for the characterization of each typology based on a set of 500 cases. The results indicate that each type of emergency settlement has different characteristics and topology, and identify which variables, being identical, influence each typology differently. The article also discusses the basis for better-informed decision-making about the medium and long-term policies applicable to individual settlements.

Keywords: human habitat; crisis management; sheltering; forcibly displaced; informal settlement; refugee camp; emergency settlement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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