The following are studies done by TAO-Pilipinas staff:

Living With Water: Formal Models of Settlements in the Vietnam Mekong Delta

by Arlene Christy D. Lusterio, Executive Director, TAO-Pilipinas

The study looks at sustainable settlements development in river basin and coastal environments. It examines three rural settlements in the Vietnam Mekong Delta: one in the Mekong River basin affected by periodic inundation; and two in the coastal area bordering the South China Sea affected by coastal erosion, storms, and salinity intrusion.

Settlements development in the Delta is anchored on the following policies: to live with and control water; increase agricultural productivity; and alleviate poverty. In line with the above policies, the selected settlements have implemented four main measures: water control system and disaster considerations in planning; compensation and rehabilitation measures for the affected households; poverty reduction; and environmental protection. Environmental protection is mainly focused on the protection of human life, crops and property but misses out on the protection of the natural environment on which the overall survival of the Delta is hinged.

This study was completed through a Research Fellowship given by the Asian Scholarship Foundation. Email the author to request for a copy.

Enhancing the Role of Technical Assistance NGOs in Housing the Poor: A Case Study of TAO-Pilipinas, Inc.

by Faith Varona, Program Coordinator for Research and Publications

The past decades have shown the increasing role of civil society in filling the housing and basic services gap in the Philippines. Technical assistance (TA) NGOs are a recent phenomenon in development work. This study aimed to: identify, understand, and analyze the roles as well as potentials and limitations that TA-NGOs play in facilitating access to housing by the poor in general, by looking at the experience of TAO-Pilipinas in particular; assess the institutional framework affecting the relationships among various actors involved in housing particularly the NGOs, and examine how these actors interact to address the housing needs of the poor; and review selected international experiences and case studies where NGOs play an active role in housing to see to what extent they can be compared to the Philippine situation and analyzed in the thesis.

This study was the author’s thesis for a Masters in Urban Management and Development from the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)-Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, funded through a fellowship from the Netherlands Fellowship Program of NUFFIC (The Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education). It is available at the IHS-Rotterdam and HDM-Lund University resource center/library. Email the author to request for a copy.

From Emergency Shelter Towards Implementation of Disaster Resistant Technologies in the Philippines

by Gertrudes Samson, Program Coordinator for Human Settlements and Environment

The Philippines is frequently visited by disaster. The country’s condition is challenging because it faces typhoon and earthquake hazards due to its location along the seismic and typhoon belts. As an alternative to emergency shelters, the study proposed the implementation of disaster resistant technologies, which can reduce vulnerability and mitigate the the destructive impact of such natural hazards in the Philippines.

Both earthquake and typhoon hazards have to be addressed in order to design a disaster-resistant structure for the Philippines. The study came up with a synthesis of applicable and affordable technologies that are effective in resisting both typhoon/hurricane and earthquake hazards at the same time. The said synthesis was based on the experiences of other countries with similar situations. This study can help professional designers and people who want to build or retrofit existing homes to become disaster resistant.

This study was the author’s thesis for a Master of Architecture in Human Settlements at the Department of Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium in 2005. The author had scholarship support from VLIR (Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad - Flemish Interuniversity Council). Email the author to request for a copy.