Our Blog
Our blog exists to share our insights and experiences with urban planning in developing countries. It is also features our contributions in news outlets such as the Haitian Times, Urban Times, and EconomicDevelopment.org.
How Can Haiti Better Leverage its Diaspora? (Op-Ed)
When I interact with fellow djaspora, I often pick up on what seems like a collective sense of frustration or despair with one another, and even with our beloved Haiti. Some of us have worked tirelessly for years to be more active in Haiti’s affairs and others of us have recently emerged within the last three years. Regardless, the angst that I observe seems, in part, due to the fact that the Diaspora in general has been unable to cohesively participate in moving the country forward. continue reading »
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
There are things I see in Haiti that just forces me to ask, “What’s wrong with this picture?” I mean, consider the cellphone company Digicel – owned by an Irish billionaire – and its outsized presence across the country. Literally every inch of Haiti is covered with Digicel’s corporate brand – even the street signs!
The goal here is less about targeting a specific company (though they make it kind of easy) and more so about highlighting the incredible influence of foreign entities all over Haiti’s built environment.
After taking a look at these snapshots, let us know what you think!
Defining Community
There is so much that is taken for granted when planning in the United States (no one has to think too hard about finding Brooklyn, NY on a map, for example). Overall, more developed countries have clearly identified geographic locations such as cities, neighborhoods and even city blocks and this enables community-building work to take place.
For countries like Haiti, however, this is not always so. continue reading »
It Takes a Village to Save a Tree
During the week I spent in Haiti, getting a better sense of the land and the issues surround deforestation with Community2Community (C2C), I began to understand that solving deforestation was not just about planting trees and increasing the tree canopy. More often than not, true reforestation methods required community accountability and oversight to ensure that projects that were started are sustained and are not forgotten after the planting occurred. continue reading »