THE EFFECTS OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ON SAMOA’S ARCHITECTURAL RESILIENCE

The paper included here was published for the 2016 "6th International Conference on Building Resilience" It explores construction issues that are described within my Thesis.

ABSTRACT:

As the threat of Climate Change looms, extreme weather events, such as cyclones are becoming more common for the Pacific Islands. With 70% of the Samoan population living across their coastline, the country is identified as one of the most vulnerable Pacific Islands. It is prone to high waves and storm surges, along with tropical cyclones, which destroy livelihoods, housing and claim lives.

The traditional architecture of Samoa was originally built to withstand such weather events, but is not built for the increased cyclone intensity and rising sea levels. On the other hand Western building practices can achieve better longevity through material selection but can be found lacking in many tropical weather conditions, which are not faced in the countries they originate from. This contrast remains unresolved, with unsuitable housing remaining one of the largest dilemmas currently faced by Samoan inhabitants.

Samoa is currently considered to be a Least Developed Country, but is soon to graduate to become a Developing Country. This places Samoa as one of the more developed nations of the Pacific, therefore encouraging Samoa to take the lead in resilience to the ever imposing effects of Climate Change. Samoa has a close relationship with both New Zealand and Australia and therefore has access to building expertise, education and materials. Why then, is Samoa so lacking in architectural resilience against the effects of Climate Change?

This paper endeavours to determine the cause for this lack of action and to, in turn, provide potential solutions. These solutions could aid similar problems being faced in other Pacific countries as well as encouraging further architectural resilience that can then be mirrored by the remaining, vulnerable countries of the Pacific.

INTRODUCTION:

The climate problems that Pacific Islands are currently facing require immediate attention, with Samoa as one of the most vulnerable of the island nations. If changes are not soon made, Samoa’s rising population could find itself displaced. With predominantly coastal living, the architecture of Samoa is required to have some level of resilience against these weather events. While traditional architecture was developed to deal with the unique climate of the Pacific, it cannot stand up to the extreme weather events being incensed by Climate Change

While Samoa is one of the further developed Pacific Islands, its built resilience is severely lacking, which is preventing the country from reaching self-sufficiency. This lack of action is leading to the nation’s loss of livelihood, culture and most importantly, lives. Due to a close relationship with New Zealand, the country has access to high levels of construction education and materials. However, the amount of architectural damages caused by recent weather events, implies that construction education is not being provided with these materials.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the reasons for Samoa’s lack of architectural resilience against Climate Change.

1.0 - LITERATURE REVIEW:

In the paper ‘Acting on Climate Change & Disaster Risk for the Pacific’, World Bank highlights several important points, each reinforcing the point that Samoa, as well as other Pacific countries, must soon develop their architecture and daily living in response to Climate Change (World Bank, 2016).

“Vulnerability is exuberated by poor socioeconomic development planning, which has increased exposure and disaster losses, and by climate change, which is predicted to amplify the magnitude of cyclones, droughts and flooding”

Figure 1: Economic loss due to natural hazards in 15 Pacific countries (World Bank, 2013)

It is shown, in Figure One, that tropical cyclones are the most damaging in terms of economic loss. As Climate Change is set to increase the intensity of tropical cyclones, this loss will only increase. This perpetuates the cycle of Samoan inhabitants losing their housing and then rebuilding in the same style as before, only to lose their home once again.

This World Bank paper specifically warns against a continuation of the current way the world is treating the changing climate. The current approach is one that focuses on disaster relief, rather than focusing on mitigating the damages these disasters cause in the first place by focusing on adaptation methods.

A key point investigated during interviews within Samoa, revolved around the difficulties of collaboration between outside countries and Samoa. This difficulty is described by World Bank as a recurring problem, laced with good intentions, that needs to be managed.

“Weak coordination between institutions limits the impact of interventions, and the institutional rigidity of donor organizations can make cooperation and partnership still more difficult”

In these situations, outside organisations come to Samoa to provide relief in the way they see most effective, rather than what the people of Samoa view as effective. This issue is further discussed in Section 3.4.

The World Bank paper is in sync with this paper’s focus that Climate Change is a present and increasing threat on the inhabitants of Samoa. It encourages the implementation of measures to reduce the damage that these weather events can cause.

While World Bank, like many other reports, reinforces the idea that Samoa needs to develop its current way of living, it does not suggest why the country is struggling to make these much needed changes. The position Samoa currently stands in remains relatively undocumented and it is this issue that this building resilience paper plans to deconstruct.

2.0 – METHODOLOGY:

The main methodology followed for this paper was through a narrative approach, which has resulted in qualitative data. This research was carried out over ten days during a research trip to Samoa’s main island, Upolu, in June 2016. The first half of this trip was dedicated to interviews with experts within the varying fields of architecture, urban planning and humanitarian work in Apia, Samoa. The second half of this trip involved collaboration with the Samoan Red Cross Association, including trips to various villages across the island of Upolu. Due to time limitations, expert interview subjects were chosen from those available and working in Apia within the construction/architecture industry, ranging from Urban Designers to Quantity Surveyors. Local interview subjects consisted of those who volunteered, from several villages, all located within Upolu.

This methodology allowed the research to include the personal opinions of people who had experienced disasters, such as Cyclone Evan, first hand. This therefore allows a depth that cannot be achieved through online fact checking.

Field observations were also made as well as research into the focus topics: Samoa and Climate Change. Field observations were most beneficial when inhabitants from small villages were interviewed. With a background knowledge of architecture and construction, the replies given during an interview could be analysed in comparison to the surrounding housing.

A downfall of this methodology is that the information has come from individual interpretations of information and therefore may have been influenced by personal opinions in some cases. However, as all information was gained from residents of Samoa, this allows a uniqueness to this paper where the information is based off a Samoan point of view. It should be understood that due to the nature of this methodology, the bulk of the information is subjective.

Each interview subject for this research signed a consent form, allowing their answers to be shared. A condition of this consent is that the interviewee is not to be named, nor will any information be released that could identify them. Therefore, references used in these interviews identify the subject by their job title only.

3.0 – EXPERT NARRATIVE:

3.1 – land ownership

Within Samoa there are three forms of land ownership, these are customary, freehold and public land. Public land is owned by the government and makes up 7% of Samoa’s land, while freehold is privately owned land and makes up 12% of Samoa. The most common land type is customary land, which is owned communally in accordance to the traditional customs of the Samoan people (Ye, 2010). With 81% of Samoa’s land labelled as customary land, any government driven projects to move residents inland is confronted with immediate issues. This is that the bulk of the land is not owned by the government, specifically the Land Titles Investigation Commission, and so cannot be handed out, “the Commission has no authority to make any determination or order if it finds that land in issue is customary land” (Ye, 2010).

With the land lying in the ownership of the matai (chief), residents often find themselves with no land to move too. Therefore they are forced to remain by the coast in threatened areas. This is a key issue preventing Samoa from developing resilience as this lack of land choice restricts many changes that could be made.

3.2 – the building code

Code compliance is another significant issue that was uncovered during the interviews with experts in the building industry. One reason is affordability, this was described by a Climate Consultant, “people can’t afford it, they can’t afford those materials” (Consultant, Climate Change, 2016). Nor can families afford the labour required to construct buildings up to code compliance. Samoa has minimal resource production facilities and so many materials are shipped in from overseas, hence their exorbitant price.

Gaining a building permit involves applying to Planning and Urban Management Agency (PUMA), this is a Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment division begun in 2002. This area of construction generally works well, although at a minimal speed. The main issues discussed arise after the permit has been approved and the house has been built. Samoa currently has no law enforced that these buildings are then inspected. This means that after gaining a permit, residents can essentially build as they please, to the level of compliance they chose. This issue was outlined by a Quantity Surveyor working within Apia, “lots of residential housing just gets constructed and no one comes and checks what’s happening. They don’t check the foundations, the structure” (Surveyor, Quantity, 2016).

Both of these issues could be largely improved if there was better construction education available readily within Samoa. Again, this problem was identified by a Climate Consultant interviewed, “your average carpenter on the ground know nothing about it [the building code]” (Consultant, Climate Change, 2016). With a lack of skilled builders Samoa is set to consistently continue the pattern of ‘building back the same’, rather than the encouraged, ‘build back better’.

3.3 - hazard identification

While the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has worked to produce a map of Samoa displaying the various sites prone to hazards, this has not yet emptied the identified sites. This is due to many issues, one of which has been discussed in Section 3.1, surrounding land ownership. Another issue is generally that communities feel a strong tie to their land, especially to the proximity of the sea. “Our cultural and ancestral ties to the land makes it hard to move away” (Consultant, Climate Change, 2016). A case study of this is expanded upon in Section 4.2.

This is not only seen in the more isolated communities of Samoa, where less options are made available, but is seen in the capital, Apia. Formerly known as Aggie Greys, the Sheraton Hotel chain has rebuilt this 5 star hotel, right on the coastline, beside a river, well within a flooding zone.

These cases demonstrate how the need for housing land can dominate the long term safety of any land. This is not an issue seen only in Less Developed Countries, but is a problem exuberated within Samoa due to the combination of housing needs and cultural ties to the land.

3.4 – collaboration issues

Currently, the main way Samoa gains assistance from outside countries is from humanitarian organisations providing aid. While these organisations have only good intentions, time can often become the most important factor, with cultural and climate understanding taking a back seat.

An example of good intentions gone wrong is the intervention of Architects in Emergencies, an Australian organization (IPA, 2009). Their design strived to provide sanitation as well as shelter, options that are often provided one without the other. Unfortunately, the company’s final design consisted of a fale shelter with the latrine built right up against the shelter, a copy of this design is shown in Figure Two.

Figure 2: Architects in Emergencies Fale Design CITATION IPA09 \l 5129 (IPA, 2009).

[endif]--While this design was aimed to be of a great help to victims, the building could not be used, as the intimacy between the sanitation building and the shelter was against traditions generally followed in Samoa. This meant that these designs ended up being used as storage, something not necessary in the case of an emergency.

While these organisations provide a lot of valuable support, it is plain to see that those who know best are the community themselves. This is why a higher standard of self-sufficiency should be aimed for within the Samoan community so that many repairs can be made internally. Where help is required from external parties, collaborations must be enforced to ensure that a design will be beneficial, rather than a hindrance. An interview with an Urban Design Advisor, working within Apia, reinforced this idea “You need to collaborate with the locals and the villagers for so long before you can even come up with a good design” (Urban Design Advisor, 2016).

4.0 – LOCAL NARRATIVE

The local people of Samoa have a far more succinct knowledge of Climate Change than even the average New Zealander. The likely reason for this is that most Samoan inhabitants have seen the effects themselves over the past years. This puts them in an optimum position, where building resilience in regards to the changing climate will not be resisted. Interviews conducted with local residents provided insider knowledge as to how inhabitants are already resisting the effects of Climate Change.

This area of the report contains information from several inhabitants from villages across Upolu. The villager’s full names are not given, which was agreed upon before the interviews. Further information has been sourced from online research.

4.1 – the tsunami house

Located on the southern coast of Upolu are a stretch of villages, from Lepa to Lalomanu, which were some of the worst affected in the 2009 tsunami (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 2009). The typography of Lepa’s village layout consisted of a sea coastline and stretch of land backed by a towering cliff. The residents had minutes to react and with a severe lack of preparation, the resultant fatalities were the highest across Samoa (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 2009). The people of Lepa had chosen to live along the coast line due to the reasons previously stated in Section 3.3, as well as the fact that the resorts dotting the coastline brought in much of the village’s income.

While the majority of housing was destroyed by the 10m waves, one design was predominant in the surviving architecture. This was the design which has now been developed into the Tsunami House (Figure Three). This design was then adapted by the Samoan government and was offered to families who had lost their homes. The design follows the basic principles of a traditional fale with its open spaces, allowing weather to pass through. Seven years on from the tsunami these designs could still be seen across the island of Upolu. Demonstrating the adaptability of Samoan people, many of the tsunami houses now have add on structures. These are generally in the design of a fale palangi, allowing the household some enclosed spaces for security.

Figure 3: Remaining, abandoned Tsunami houses in Lepa (Image Author’s Own)

[endif]--The tsunami house itself has proved its performance in the case of extreme weather, but it is unlikely that the attached enclosed housing would fare as well. Residents also stated that they could not remain in this housing during times of extreme weather as it did not offer protection to inhabitants (Resident, 2016). The development of this design displays how traditional housing is most likely the most appropriate, whereas the need for the inhabitants protection, perhaps calls for a hybrid design. However, the issues covered within the Expert Narrative are preventing the people of Samoa from moving forwards with these ideas.

4.2 - relocation

Since the 2009 tragedy, the southern coast villages have been relocated to the top of the cliffs, where the residents now live amongst their plantations. However, while this elevated land is clearly the safer options, many families are still moving back to the coast line and rebuilding. In the case of the subjects interviewed from these areas, the reasons included an innate wish to be near the ocean as well as the hotter climate that comes from living further inland. Interviewed residents also commented that they had to return daily to the base of the cliff to collect water from reservoirs, because rain was not common enough for their rainwater tanks to suffice (Resident2, 2016). A final reason was that the majority of their deceased had been buried on the foreshore, and tradition dictates that they reside nearby. While adaptations have been made, such as the construction of escape routes snaking up the cliff, the people moving back to the coast are still in an immensely dangerous position.

In these situations, it is not necessarily construction problems standing in the way of the inhabitant’s safety, but rather, tradition. The prevalence of traditions in countries similar to Samoa is not something to be ignored as it is certainly an aspect of daily lives that built resilience will have to construct any adaptations around.

4.3 - community resilience

While the prescribed immediate response after a disaster is Emergency Services, the actual first responders come from within the community. Family ties are important, with extended families generally living within the same villages. This means that families are very rarely left to their own devices and there is always an abundance of help available a few doors down.

Figure 4: Home belonging to interviewee in the village of Aleisa (Image, Author’s Own).

[endif]--This is no different in times of disaster. This was revealed in Samoa following an interview with a family living in the village of Aleisa. This family lived in traditional designed housing, constructed out of western materials, most of which was found material. This house had very little disaster resilience and the family was aware of this. When Cyclone Evan hit, the family evacuated themselves, with no outside help. They relocated down the road to their relative’s house, who lived in a concrete block home, designed to resist high wind speeds. After the cyclone this family returned to find their home destroyed. Again, with no humanitarian help, they rebuilt with help from labourers within the village (Resident3, 2016). While the final product, as pictured in Figure Four, is by no means cyclone resilient, the family is not worried for their safety, as they have their relatives just down the road.

This displays just how capable the people of Samoa can be, even without the aid of any outside organisations. While not all residents have a stronger shelter to escape to, those without simply need the education and means to create their own safe shelter. With such a strong sense of community and a willingness to adapt, the local people of Samoa display that with less blockades within the construction industry, Samoa could easily become one of the leaders in Climate Change resilience.

5.0 - DISCUSSION:

The interviews conducted within Samoa highlighted several clear issues that are preventing Samoa from developing its architectural resilience against Climate Change. The key reason being, a severe lack of education within the construction industry. This issue is increased by a lack of enforced building regulations and a lack of understanding of the building code.

During this narrative research, the people of Samoa clearly demonstrated their own inherent resilience in the face of climate change. The people met with from villages showed a clear interest in learning and improving, they had simply been given no opportunity to do so. Those working within the architecture industry expressed frustration with the current construction normalities. These discussions revealed that the problems with Samoa’s resilience does not lie within inhabitants of Samoa, but within the practises that have been insufficient from the day they were implemented.

Samoa has a strong relationship with developed countries such as New Zealand and Australia to the point where Samoa’s own building code is roughly based off the two countries building codes. Although the provision of a code to follow, it is of little use if no education is provided concerning how to enforce this code. While these countries provide Samoa with a lot of support, especially post disaster, it is clear that more focus could be focused on disaster mitigation, through education. It is also important that this building code be revised to suit the extreme climate of Samoa and to implement a specialised construction education.

Another issue surrounding the building code is not just that the materials are often too expensive, but that the builders do not have adequate knowledge to use appropriate alternate materials for the climate. This means that low cost architecture is being built well below compliance without the house owner’s knowledge. With the implementation of a specialised construction education, climate responsive building techniques could be enforced. These could include basic measures to reduce wind loads as well as elevated structures in flood prone areas. These simple measures being taught to local builders could significantly decrease damage during extreme weather events.

Many of Samoa’s current issues do come down to government regulations, a political minefield that cannot be addressed with ease, especially from outside of Samoa. Small changes could be made within the construction industry through the provision of education. Many Samoan students are already choosing to study within New Zealand, by encouraging a career in construction, a higher level of knowledge may soon be the norm within Samoa. By providing further incentives for Pacific students studying within the construction industry, changes could be made beginning from the newest generations.

6.0 - CONCLUSIONS:

Samoa currently sits on the cusp of becoming one of the most influential countries in resilience against climate change. The people of this nation have shown all the attributes of being open to adapting to the World’s changing environment. The reason for Samoa’s lack of architectural resilience can be sourced to the issues surrounding construction education and regulations.

With Samoa’s growing development and close connection to New Zealand it is in a strong position to begin promoting education surrounding code compliance to increase the skill levels within the country. This increased focus on education coming from a country in such a vulnerable position would influence and provide opportunities for other threatened countries within the Pacific. This could allow Samoa to take the lead in developing built resilience against Climate Change.

7.0 - REFERENCES:

• (2016, May 31). Consultant, Climate Change. (E. Cayford, & J. Hulme, Interviewers)

• (2016, June 3). Resident. (E. Cayford, & J. Hulme, Interviewers)

• (2016, June 3). Resident2. (E. Cayford, & J. Hulme, Interviewers)

• (2016, June 6). Resident3. (E. Cayford, & J. Hulme, Interviewers)

• (2016, May 31). Surveyor, Quantity. (E. Cayford, & J. Hulme, Interviewers)

• (2016, May 30). Urban Design Advisor. (E. Cayford, & J. Hulme, Interviewers)

• IPA. (2009). Samoa Tsunami Relief Shelter. Architects in Emergencies.

• NASA. (2000). Maps - Population Density Grid. Retrieved from Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/grump-v1-population-density/maps?facets=region:oceania

• Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center. (2009, September). Preliminary Analysis of the September 29, 2009 Samoa Tsunami, Southwest Pacific Ocean. Retrieved from USGS: https://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/tsunami/samoa09/

• PCCSP. (2011). Climate Change in the Pacific: Scientific Assessment and New Research. Regional: PCCSP.

• Ting, J. C. (2013, September 22). Samoa's Risk Profile. Retrieved from MNRE: http://www.mnre.gov.ws/index.php/riskreductiondmo/samoariskprofile

• Uusimaa, H. (2013). Implementation of the Strategic Program for Climate Resilience: Pacific Region. Regional: Asian Development Back.

• World Bank. (2013). Samoa Data. Retrieved from World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/country/samoa

• Ye, R. (2010). Torrens and customary land tenure: a case study of the land titles registration act 2008 of Samoa. Victoria University of wellington Law Review, 827.

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