Funded by
USAID, Irish Aid & UKAID
The subject of this study was mainly motivated by post-earthquake analyses of the underlying causes of the 12 January 2010 disaster in Haiti, namely the country’s environmental vulnerabilities, institutional weaknesses in urban management, lack of spatial planning and the informal as the only rule of urbanization.
This work was based on three case studies:
- Canaan, or the birth of an ex-nihilo district
Canaan district is an interesting case in several aspects, because its status is still not clearly defined, while it now shelters several tens of thousands of people over a vast area uninhabited before the earthquake. Little literature exists today on this district built ex-nihilo and that is why it seemed important to us to propose our reading of the situation.
- Morne L’Hôpital or the story of a collective denial
Morne-Hôpital because of its location and the related risks of flooding of the city, its topography and its geological importance, covers vital environmental issues.
- Bristout-Bobin
The Bristout and Bobin districts are experiencing a difficult environmental situation that has hardly improved nearly three years after the earthquake of 12 January 2010. These are the areas where some of the poorest people in the greater Port-au-Prince metropolitan area live. In addition to the lack of infrastructure and public services, deprivation and isolation, these populations are victims of an attitude of denial of reality on the part of public authorities.
It provided an opportunity to study the environmental impact of the national reconstruction strategy.