Growing up in New York City, with all of its diversity, I have always had an interest in the way people interact with one another and their environment, as well as analyzing how those interactions influence development patterns. Working with Pinchina Consulting will be a great opportunity for me to develop a better understanding of strategies and practices that will enhance my overall experience in community development. In this way, I foresee my work here at Pinchina Consulting having a great impact on my career trajectory.

I look forward to keeping you updated this summer with the latest developments and information that Pinchina Consulting engages with!

Deforestation in Haiti’s Artibonite region

2013 has been declared “the year of the environment” in Haiti — though I, like many others, was not aware of this until very recently. On May 1, the Haitian government launched yon ayisien, yon pye bwa, a national reforestation initiative to double Haiti’s forest cover by 2016 with the planting of 50 million trees a year. It was also stated that this effort would be accompanied by an extensive public outreach component that not only addresses Haiti’s abysmal environmental state but also alleviates poverty. Whereas this latter portion has received less attention, it is actually the most important.

Believe it or not, Haiti’s deforestation problem is not about the trees. Deforestation was largely precipitated by people’s need to make a living. In the absence of other viable alternatives, cutting down trees became an feasible option that allowed struggling populations to use trees to make charcoal in order to sell it and support their families.

To effectively combat this, any attempt at reforestation has to take a two-pronged approach that explicitly addresses the countries socioeconomic challenges in addition to the environmental degradation resulting from the exposed mountaintops that have left countless Haitians, particularly the poor, vulnerable to the elements every year during hurricane season or times of heavy rain. This will require more than simply planting trees.

I am encouraged, however, by the public outreach component inherent in this initiative. In tandem with radio programs, pamphlets and advertising green alternatives to charcoal and wood (such as solar, kerosene and propane stoves), an environmental surveillance corps will be created to monitor protected areas. Furthermore, starting this September, environmental protection will be incorporated into the school curriculum to raise awareness among a younger population. Clearly the expressed goal of turning every Haitian into a forest guard is being taken seriously.

Nevertheless, this national reforestation strategy could be even more progressive by finding linkages between Haiti’s multifaceted challenges in order to simultaneously address the poverty issue. Of Haiti’s difficulties, the need to provide adequate housing, decentralize major cities, address severe food shortages and stabilize the environment, continue to be major preoccupations. What if Haitian people, starting with the 320,000 or so displaced by the earthquake, were provided the option to relocate to designated environmental zones where each household is held responsible for reforesting their allotted area, planting a variety of cash crops and possibly turning a percentage of the harvest over to the government’s agricultural ministry towards national production targets? The rise of a food cooperative or other farming collectives could emerge to enable this community to become more sustainable.

Post-quake relocation camp outside Port-au-Prince

For instance, China’s 1978 economic reforms are credited with having placed the country on the prosperous path that it is on today. They were initiated by large scale changes in Chinese agricultural sector that incentivized farmers to meet national benchmarks in order to combat that country’s ongoing food crises. This measure improved local economies through the creation of Town and Village Enterprises while coinciding with China’s industrial rise to position it as one of today’s superpowers. This point is not so much to advocate that Haiti should emulate China, but rather to highlight the fact that reforestation, relocation, the agricultural sector and ever present food shortages (among other possible combinations) can all work towards the same goal of improving Haitian livelihoods — as well as the country’s overall physical, social and economic well-being.

Along with developing crucial economic development strategies, the Haitian government needs to consider hiring those with experience in agro-forestry to train the general population in techniques, such as soil renewal, to increase the likelihood of success for this reforestation push. Many reforestation efforts fail, not because there were not enough trees or that they were cut down again after replanting (as has happened) but because appropriate trees for nutrient-poor soil conditions were not used in revitalizing the environment nor was there enough consideration for who would maintain the trees after they were planted.

Yes, more trees would stem the flooding, mudslides and soil erosion that has been exacerbated by deforestation. Just last year, Hurricane Isaac destroyed 40 percent of Haiti’s agricultural sector in August, and 80 percent of the remaining harvest was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy that October. Trees are extremely important, as well as greater public awareness, in getting Haiti’s environmental situation under control. While I am not familiar with Haiti’s previous national reforestation initiatives or why they have failed, this current approach has great potential to succeed if the economic development component, that is inextricably linked to deforestation, is better integrated throughout this effort.

Remittance from the Diaspora remains the most sustainable financial resource available to Haiti — despite any political, societal or natural hardships the country grapples with. These dollars, however, are primarily transmitted through individual contributions to respective family members as opposed to extensive local or regional initiatives. At the same time, countless Haitians desire to scale up infrastructure upgrades and to foster stronger communities back home. As a result, many pursue individual projects, where possible, to work towards these goals.

The collective strength of Haitians living abroad could be more fully realized if there was a framework within which Haitians abroad could contribute towards large-scale redevelopment efforts.

To my knowledge, Haiti does not currently have an extensive tool that would allow it to understand the composition of its descendants outside of the country (or even within for that matter).

What if the country was better able to determine which Haitian communities produces the most emigrants, while also being able to quantify the emigres from these communities based on the cities they end up settling in?

In this way, Haiti would know that in Brooklyn, this number of Haitians come specifically from Cap Haitien and in Montreal, a certain percentage of all Haitians there come from Mirebalais, and so on. As localities work to propose and implement actual community projects, natives from these communities could then work towards supporting these developments in their hometowns.

Consider the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, where for over twenty years, local citizens in this city of 1.5 million have engaged in participatory budgeting. This process allows the local community to get together and collectively determine what the city’s budget will be and how future spending and investment decisions will be made. Whereas 75 percent of households had access to water and sewer in 1988, this number grew to 98 percent in 1997 because of this community engagement process.

Furthermore, across the U.S., entities like Community Development Corporations (CDCs) work with local people to improve a community’s physical appearance as well as to spur economic activity that also enhances the social and economic well-being of the marginalized populations living in that community.

While the concept of community members taking part in planning and developing their own localities is not at all new, what is novel is for a Diaspora group to partner with its home community to bring about the physical and social change Haiti needs. Haitian localities do not have the funds that would allow for a participatory budgeting process to be useful nor do they tend to have the CDCs that would spur widespread local economic development. What Haiti does have though is a sizeable population of Haitians living abroad that it can partner with to leverage resources.

Establishing an entity at the local level, in partnership with municipal officials, would be an important step towards bridging the gap between the Diaspora and mainland Haitians. In this manner, Haitians abroad would have an actual medium through which they can collaborate with their kinship communities, and the communities would be better positioned to actively include those who are abroad.

Thus, if Leogane wanted to revitalize its commercial corridor, for example, it would begin by determining how much a new road would cost, the type of business activities that would thrive on this strip and the workforce development opportunities necessary among other issues. Upon gathering this information, local stakeholders would have clear objectives to present to its diasporic entity and members of the Diaspora from Leogane would know exactly what initiatives could most benefit from their assistance (financial or otherwise) with maximum impact for the entire community – including their families.

Overall, the utility of the Haitian Diaspora holds great promise for Haiti and creating a formalized structure for Diaspora engagement can significantly impact the progression of redevelopment efforts now and in the future. If members of the Diaspora from specific communities worked with their in-country counterparts to pursue key infrastructure or citywide initiatives for their localities, this would provide an opportunity for all Haitians to move away from individualized and short-term solutions towards lasting change.

As originally featured in the Haitian Times.

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!

I don’t even know how to begin addressing the perplexing nature of this photo. With the juxtaposition of Digicel’s corporate headquarters (taken from behind), the local architecture and the temporary – now permanent – ‘gift of the American people,’ this image is just something else.

Yes – gift of the American people! That’s what the tarp says.

…and I wasn’t making it up about the street signs. They used to look like this:

But now they look like this!

Problem, anyone?

Bottom line is, local context is important, fostering a sense of place is important and preserving a community’s character matters when thinking about urban planning in a place like Haiti (or anywhere to be honest).

Again, not to single out Digicel – which actually is my cellphone provider in Haiti – but in order to improve a place, one has to put the multifaceted wellbeing of that particular place above all other interests.

Not so sure this happening just yet…

For countries like Haiti, however, this is not always so. Sure major regions, provinces and cities are easily located on a map. Identifying, or even being aware of, local jurisdictions and neighborhoods though is not always a given. As if the planning process itself was not daunting enough, urban planners in these environs are often compelled to establish or confirm community boundaries before even attempting to plan for economic development.

It is important to note that community economic development is not just about building infrastructure and strengthening local businesses. Whether we are engaging in community building in Haiti or elsewhere, the beauty of a community is that it is defined by its geographic location as well as by the people who live, work and interact in that place.

Therefore, finding ways to connect people, land and money builds the local assets necessary to improve the local economy. 

In our community participatory process in Haiti a few weeks ago, our interactive mapping exercise taught us more than we could have ever learned by simply looking at a map alone. A great deal was revealed by working with local community members to actually define their community.  It was also empowering listening to and learning from the community rather than us imposing our outside ‘expertise.’

By obtaining a better understanding of the physical and social dimensions of the community – from the community – we are now in a position to work with them in meeting their overall land-use and economic development goals.

Be on the look out for updates as this progresses!

Photo credits – Ross Oscar Knight Photography

The work of C2C’s local partner with community members was a prime example of the follow through that is necessary to maintain a reforestation program long term. In mountainous communities of Petit Goave, it was very common to see goats and cattle tied to trees along the mountainside for grazing. A problem that would arise from time to time, however, was farmers tying animals to young trees for grazing. Not only is there a risk that the animal might eat the leaves, there is also the risk that they might rip the tree itself from the ground, thereby damaging the tree’s root structure and any potential for successful tree development.

To curtail this, community leaders, with the help of the local mayor and judicial system, has devised a program over the past few years where farmers are required to pay a fine of 500 gourdes (about 11 U.S. dollars), if their animal is caught tied to seedling tree. The animal is photographed and given to a local community member who informs the owner that they have been fined. During my week there, I witnessed 2 animal removals from seedling tree and was struck not only by the diligence of local leaders in reporting these instances but also by the community acceptance of the process because it was understood that the loss of a tree was something the impacted the community in its entirety.

Reforestation projects are large undertakings that require significant oversight. This oversight depends on community participation that goes beyond simply planting trees; it also requires shifting norms and making residents accountable to each other for bettering the community as a whole.

Photo - A member of the farming and reforestation collective, C2C’s local partner, untying cattle from a young tree.

Walking around a mountainous community in Petit Goave, Haiti a few weeks ago with our partner Commnity2Community, one of the most prevalent scenes is severe ravine formations. A ravine is a land formation that is created through continual erosion from a water event.  They create catastrophic flooding events where the ravines act like channels, funneling water into the valleys below and damaging homes in the process.

The ravines also strip away soil, removing important top layers and leaving behind nutrient-poor soil that can only sustain very hearty plant species. Trees with normal root structures cannot grow in these conditions because what is left behind by nutrient-poor soil is a dry and rocky type of soil – that the roots cannot attach themselves to – causing young trees to rip out during flooding or hurricane seasons.

Overall, the narrative of reforestation has been a shortsighted one. Trees, under a reforestation initiative, are planted over the span of a few months and what happens to the trees afterwards is usually unknown. In order for reforestation programs to work, not only must there be oversight after the trees have been planted, there needs to be oversight even before the trees are planted to make sure the land is resilient enough to support those trees.

I am often asked how I came to be interested in this subject matter and the honest answer, like most of my life these past three years, is that I stumbled upon it. Last summer, several news outlets announced that China was creating a $10 billion infrastructure bank for Latin America and this immediately raised question for me in terms of who would oversee such an entity, how smaller Caribbean nations would access these funds, what China would get in return and the like. I went on to write my first Urban Times article on this but my curiosity led me to conduct a more in depth study of China’s activities in the region to-date.

The reality is that China has been actively engaged in Latin America and the Caribbean for about a decade now. It was until 2008, however, did China make its intentions explicit with the release of its Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean. The document mainly addresses China’s political, economic and sociocultural aspirations for Latin American countries as well as its desire to engage in mutually beneficial relationships as one developing country to another.

It is important to note that China’s impact is not being felt evenly throughout the region when its relationships with larger South American countries are compared to China’s influence on the smaller Central American and Caribbean states. The goal of my presentation was to highlight these differences so that Caribbean urban planners and local officials could more proactively address China’s involvement in their countries.

For resource-rich countries such as Brazil, Venezuela or Argentina China’s economic priorities and desire for raw materials (such as various metals, oil and soybeans) dominate. Consider that China’s overall trade, primarily with these countries, was $10-13 billion in 2000 but grew to $143 billion by 2008. As a result, Pacific-facing countries have received substantial port, airport and road upgrades from China so that goods from the region could be transported back to China more quickly.

On the contrary, Central American and Caribbean who are without the natural resources China desires are most affected by China’s political motivations instead. China has strategically used infrastructure investments and various financial gifts as a tool to win over (or maintain) the allegiance of these smaller and more vulnerable nations away from Taiwan. The Caribbean has 11 of the 23 countries in the world that acknowledge Taiwan as an independent state and this stands in violation of China’s ‘One China Policy.’

While many island nations benefit from the roads, schools and hospitals that China builds, urban planners have to be at the forefront of monitoring the impact of these developments on the local communities that receive these projects. It may not be China’s intent to cause harm but ignoring long-term effects of Chinese investments in the region can lead to significant unintended physical consequences if poor site selection, no maintenance provisions or a lack of local management continues to define how China’s infrastructure activities are implemented. The last thing Caribbean planners want is to passively facilitate a future state of urban decline by not aggressively engaging with China today.

There are so many more interesting facets to share but I will stop here for now. Stay tuned in case I decide to follow up with a ‘Part Two’ of this discussion!

Again, the Haitian state is well within its right to redefine its global image and to restore Haiti as the tourist destination it once was.

For example, it is common knowledge that Bill and Hillary Clinton, honeymooned in Haiti back in the 1970′s, among other notables who have frequented the country throughout its history. Furthermore, Minister Villedrouin is correct in her constant reiteration that “the product is there.” More than the sun, beaches and good weather that just about any Caribbean destination has to offer, Haiti has global history with the Citadelle being a World Heritage United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) site as the largest fortress in the western hemisphere, and Mole Saint Nicholas being the landing place of Columbus’ New World discovery, in addition to other national treasures. The idea is that if people are willing to look beyond Haiti’s present shortcomings of abject poverty, poor infrastructure and a weakened economy, then tourism can significantly help the nation address these challenges through economic development.

From my vantage point as an urban planner, economic development is a policy measure that brings outside funds into a community to raise the standard of living for an area’s residents. This is often accomplished through basic infrastructure upgrades and by revitalizing a community’s image or appeal so that it benefits from future investment and activity. In short, economic development is about improving the social and economic well-being of a community, not just about fostering a country’s economic growth.

To promote tourism, Haiti’s present efforts have included the construction of airports in Les Cayes, Île-à-Vaches and in Cap-Haïtien; building hotels in Port-au-Prince and Pétion-Ville; and opening a hospitality school, amidst other initiatives. However, for the countless Haitians who themselves do not yet have the privilege of leaving Haiti to be tourists elsewhere, physical and social infrastructure investments such as new roads, school buildings, public health services and workforce development (beyond tourism training institutes) can go a lot further in bolstering their daily realities. Attention to these concerns is just as important, if not more so, as marketing Haiti’s food, culture and historic sites.

That is why it not enough for Haiti’s latest tourism campaign to focus almost exclusively on increasing revenue for the national economy without adequate consideration for the aforementioned approaches to economic development. Economic development succeeds when there is sustained efforts to monitor how well people’s daily are faring as a result of the monetary inflow from an industry like tourism. For instance, while Haiti receives $10 per passenger for the Royal Caribbean’s private island resort in Labadee, which rakes in $6 million a year for the Haitian government’s coffers, one cannot help but wonder how many more millions the Royal Caribbean makes in profits. All the while, communities trapped outside the resort’s gates certainly cannot attest to subsequent increases in their standards of living from this arrangement.

To better advocate for tourism as an economic development measure, Haiti has to develop a clear and simultaneous strategy for how tourists’ dollars will be spent towards improving the Haitian populace. Imagine if something akin to a neighborhood tourism council existed to increase citizen participation and to help determine which social or infrastructure project benefited from tourism revenue. This could better integrate local communities into the tourism economy rather than hopelessly feeling like tourism is happening to them. Regardless, the tourism sector cannot thrive on abysmal roads, traffic congestion and a subpar waste management system.

Neither can the Haitian people.

Developing a plan that funnels tourism earnings towards these and other national priorities would better ensure that the money generated from tourism actually remains on the island rather than returning to foreign conglomerates on the first flight (or ship) out. An earnest dedication to improving human capital, local economies and places throughout the country — along with strengthening Haiti’s tourism allure worldwide — will say a lot about how committed the Haitian state is to rebranding the nation, and rebranding itself.

As originally featured in the Haitian Times. Photo is author’s personal, taken in her paternal hometown of  Cap-Haïtien, Haiti.

Elevated Homes (pictured above)

The concept of elevated homes is not a new one and essentially involves building homes on support columns that are above the flood level of the area, thereby having water past under the home instead of through it. The process, however, can be extremely costly and only a temporary fix if the elevation does not take into consideration potential sea rise overtime.

Floating Homes

Floating homes are designed to remain on the water while being securely tethered to a location. The floating vessel is able to absorb wave impacts, mitigating direct impacts on the house. In serious cases, the homes can simply be moved to a new location to avoid storm damage. While this concept already exists in countries that have waterfront exposure, as in the Netherlands and in Vancouver, it remains to be seen whether this concept could be applied on a larger scale in a cost-effective manner for countries with poorer economies.

‘Disaster Proof Core’

A project proposed by a group of Indian architects, who won the Design Against the Elements 2011 competition, was the ‘disaster proof core.’

This design suggests that a low-income house be built with a cost-effective material, such as bamboo, while having a disaster resistant core that contains essential utilities like water and electricity lines. in the case of the disaster, the bamboo could be quickly and cheaply replaced without interruption of important utilities.

There are already a plethora of flood mitigation techniques that exists and could be applied in a place like Haiti or the Dominican Republic. What is left to be determined is the form in which these designs can be implemented in communities with other issues such as soil erosion and deforestation that exacerbate flooding conditions during natural disasters. Large overarching mandates for flood mitigation design may not be a successful as finding a way to engage communities on a one-to-one basis on how they envision protecting their homes for the future.