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Die vorliegende Publikation präsentiert Ergebnisse von 55 Studierenden des Bachelorstudiengangs Städtebau und Stadtplanung aus dem Modul „Stadtmanagement 1, Vermittlung von Planung, Wohnungswirtschaft (SPB3)“, das im Wintersemester 2022/2023 am Fachgebiet Stadtmanagement der BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg stattgefunden hat.
It is well known that the development and adaptation capacities of rural communities in the developing world largely depend on the flexibility of the communities’ ‘social structure’ (the community as a norm-group itself, together with its ‘institutions’ as the legal, moral and ideological framework). ‘Structures’ that have been identified by research as being crucial for rural livelihoods are found to be specific non-market security structures that are based on concepts of solidarity, reciprocity, and kinship. It is also widely acknowledged that ‘agency’ (understood as the decision-making and action-taking of individuals, including their aims to influence others) also plays a role. However, very little is known about how the interplay between ‘structure’ and ‘agency’ shapes institutional change and adaptation. Specifically, proper analytical frameworks for analyzing this interplay are missing. This dissertation aims to contribute to our understanding of development and adaptation capacities of rural communities against the backdrop of current mechanisms of social security and their evolution, to the interplay of different factors in such processes of institutional change, and the relationship between structure and agency, as well as to the required development of appropriate analytical frameworks. Empirical research was conducted on the Mahafaly Plateau in South-West Madagascar with three detailed micro-studies on cases of change, analyzing them through the lens of Contemporary Classical Institutional Economics and the Framework for Modeling Institutional Change (Ensminger 1992), then proposing suggestions on how to improve the framework. The cases reveal that indeed ‘agency’ is an important factor shaping institutional change on the local or regional level. Institutional change is found to be both driven by collective action as well as evolutionary mechanisms. Importantly, agency is influencing both of these mechanisms. The results may be transferred to other rural societies of the developing world that also base the enforcement of their formal institutions on orality, ideologically value personal freedom and procedural liberty, and show a high diversity of institutions of all kinds. For such societies, the results suggest that the societal environment on the one hand favors adaptation on the level of individuals or small groups and allows these actions to evolutionary change institutions. On the other hand, adaptation based on designed institutional change and collective action is difficult to plan and execute. The framework applied to the cases is shown to be suitable as it allows us to shed light on changes in institutions including ideology as a result of the interplay between individual actors and their behavior, changes in external factors such as relative prices, the constellations of actors, and their bargaining power. By modifying the framework by adding ‘agency’ as one of the core elements, the analysis becomes even more comprehensive.
Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges of the 21st Century. According to the United Nations, Vietnam with a coastline of more than 3600 km, is one of top 30 countries facing an “extremely high risk” from the impacts of climate change over the next 30 years. Research undertaken in Vietnam indicates that significant impacts due to sea level rise have already occurred, resulting in the increased unpredictability and severity of coastal problems, such as land-loss, flooding of low lying coastal areas, accelerated coastal erosion, all which directly impacts the local population residing in the coastal region. Moreover, due to sea level rise, the amount of land available for development along the coast and further highly populated low lying land such as in the Mekong Delta will decrease. Facing these risks requires government and experts to urgently find effective solutions to ensure adequate space for residents in low-lying coastal areas. The current solutions being discussed are not only traditionally raising accommodation or resettlement to higher areas, or “living with the water”, but also a view of “living on the water”. In this case, floating architecture is seen as an effective solution for many low lying coastal areas all over the world and in Vietnam in particular.
In fact that, Vietnam has a long history of floating settlements with a large number of floating villages. However, these floating villages are built with dilapidated houses which are built on rafts, and most floating settlements have been threaten by several socio-cultural, economic and environmental factors. Therefore, the main purpose of the research is to upgrade floating architecture in Vietnam to a higher level and standard adapting to climate change and social change. The research will provide methods and innovation tools to bridge the gap between existing floating house, as an unsafe and inconvenient type of accommodation, and contemporary housing needs in water bodies to allow for a fit between traditional designing experience and contemporary innovation of floating architecture.
Based on lessons and innovations of floating architecture development in other countries, as well as based on the traditional experience and vernacular architecture of floating houses in Vietnam, the research will create theoretical frameworks, guidelines and design criteria for sustainable floating houses and floating settlements. The sustainable concept focuses on both sustainability and affordability when using innovative floating structures and materials in accordance with the local climatic and social condition of Vietnam, as well as adapting to climate change and sea level rise. The study will not only protect existing floating villages, preserve aquatic lifestyle that ensure a stable and permanent living on the water for inhabitants, but also improve floating architecture for modern demands and resilient living adapting to social change and climate change in Vietnam.