Process inclusive Infrastructure: Notions towards Cyclone Resilience in Bangladesh

While developing a housing project the concept of resilience needs to be reflected in the whole process rather than the resulting product; because both the extent of loss or damage and recovery from a disaster depend on victim's building practices, preparedness, effective response and most importantly acknowledgement of the risks. The design process, therefore, should be derived from beneficiaries' economy, social behaviour, settlement and dwelling morphology, and inclusive of their participation. Any rehabilitation initiative devoid of empowerment of victims may result in unsuccessful endeavour. As Bangladesh is highly disaster prone and projected as one of the worst victims of climate change, resilience inevitably becomes a part of the housing process. The Purpose of this write up is to demonstrate some concepts of resilient habitat for cyclone prone areas of Bangladesh. These concepts are derived from literature review, observation study and interviews with the inhabitants and stakeholders. It emphasizes the inclusion of indigenous measures as well gender dimensions. Technologies that may promote local skill and facilitate women's involvement in maintaining and preparing the house are encouraged. As a whole, the paper attempts to manifest local response experiences and outline some points to look into the way of reducing disaster impacts and build back better.