Transitional habitability: Solutions for post-catastrophe in Chile

Chile faces disasters regularly as the result of earthquakes, floods, mudslides, volcanic eruptions and fires that specially affect vulnerable communities. Despite the accumulated experience, there are still disconnections between the emergency, recovery and reconstruction processes. Consequently, there are different and uncoordinated shelter solutions for each of the stages in the process from emergency shelter to permanent housing, resulting in sub-standard delivery, negatively affecting the built environment, and duplicating costs and time.
This paper is based on a collaborative initiative between public, private, academia and NGO actors, with the objective of reflecting, analysing and improving the shelter alternatives currently available for Chilean communities, based on recommendations from the Sphere Project, UNHCR and the CCCM Cluster. The article reflects on the concept of “transitional habitability”, proposes a “Matrix of Diversified Solutions for Post-Catastrophe (MDSP)” that identifies types of shelter according to different requirements, and presents two shelter alternatives: a proposal for the reconversion of sports centres into collective shelters; and the use of an improved standard for emergency houses after a hydro-meteorological event that affected the country in 2014. Finally, the paper reflects on these projects and provides some recommendations to consider for future shelter alternatives.