What is meant by crisis landscapes?

Our urban and rural landscapes are in a state of constant flux, they are never static. Disturbances occur all the time, some expected and some unexpected. The environment always responds to these changes, how, is dependent on scale of space and time (Bell 1999).

However humankind is now in an unprecedented and extraordinary position. There has never been a time in human history that our life-sustaining environment on earth has rapidly changed in one generation. Most of the changes are attributed to human activities through less ecologically balanced economic and technological activities that can potentially raise conflicts through physical, biological and social interactions (International Centre of Interdisciplinary and Advanced Research 2011).

Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, torrential rainfall, droughts, food shortages, melting polar caps, degraded soil quality, rising fuel prices, unemployment, riots, political upheaval and bankrupt countries. The new millennium has so far been epitomized by changes in economic life, global industries, advancements in and accessibility to technology and the increase in natural disasters. 

Gilding (2011) has demonstrated clear arguments to show that the economy has clearly outgrown the earth’s limits. Two major indicators of this being that ‘resource constraints have been forcing prices up and ecosystem changes were accelerating at a scale suggesting that systemic shifts and tipping points were underway’.

There have been further indications and warnings of the force of human induced ecological and geological changes for many decades now stating that unless we change the way we live and use the resources within them, the impacts of man would result in a crash –economically, socially, physically and environmentally (Girardet 2008).

We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude towards nature is today critically important because we have now acquired a fateful power to destroy nature. But man is part of nature and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.

Rachel Carson (1962)

We are at a turning point. The multitude and magnitude of disasters affecting the world today is hard to go unnoticed and both our anthropocentric and biocentric environments have to respond in new and more dynamic ways. One of the terms given to landscapes that have been affected by a natural or human induced disaster is crisis landscapes. This chapter intends to define what is meant by crisis landscapes for the purpose of this study.

Definition of crisis

According to the majority of dictionary definitions the word crisis can be identified as meaning a crucial or decisive moment or situation, at a point of time, of great danger or difficulty. The word crisis is apparently derived from the Greek meaning 'turning point', and should strictly refer to a moment rather than a continuing process, so that uses such as a prolonged economic crisis are strictly speaking self-contradictory (Fowlers modern English dictionary 2012). However, while many crises are started from rapid onset events, there are conditions that still lead to a crisis but have less clear start and end points. While there is less clarity of these points in time it doesn’t mean it isn’t a crisis (Glantz 1994).

The Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management see a crisis as a situation of complex systems, such as family, economic, societal and environmental systems, and ‘when the system functions badly an immediate decision is necessary to stop further disintegration of the system, but the causes of the dysfunction are not necessarily known’. Venette (2003) argues that ‘crisis is a process of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained’ backing up Seegar, Sellnow and Ulmer’s (1998) theory that of their four defining characteristics of a crisis, one is the need for change.

Crisis linked to opportunity
Whilst there is much debate over its true meaning many people believe that the Chinese ideogram for crisis is made up of two character symbols, one that translates as danger and the other that translates as opportunity. An opportunity is a situation, which makes it possible to do something that you want to do, or the possibility of doing something (Cambridge dictionary).

Mair, (2009) a professor in Chinese literature, has ridiculed the translation stating that a crisis ‘is not a juncture when one goes looking for advantages and benefits. In a crisis, one wants above all to save one’s skin and neck! Any would-be guru who advocates opportunism in the face of crisis should be run out of town on a rail, for his / her advice will only compound the danger of the crisis’. He believes it is ‘muddled thinking’ that lures people into a false sense of security in believing that they can benefit from unstable situations.

However Bast (1999) believes that humans grow emotionally and spiritually from crises and in her experience doesn’t believe that just because we could benefit from a crisis we would welcome one. Humans may feel that the experience of a crisis can turned around into a positive outcome as it has caused them to stop and look at what really matters in a relatively short lifetime.

Although the debate into the actual true meaning of crisis continues, the notion that opportunity can present itself out of a crisis is widely accepted. Olshansky and Johnson’s (2008) research identified that the recovery from a crisis offers some intriguing opportunities for positive change. For the purpose of this dissertation crisis is to be defined as a turning point, a time when change has to occur, derived from an event that has either a sudden onset or a set gradual conditions. 

Residents refuse to pay council tax

On September 26 2012 residents in a Lancashire village are threatening to withhold their council tax after claiming blocked drains added to flooding problems.

David Shaw, from Hambleton, said there have been drain problems on Sherbourne Road for the past six months. Water levels reached 2ft (60cm) in part of the street leading to human waste and rats in his front garden.

Lancashire County Council's Rick Hayton said drainage systems had "struggled to cope" with the severe weather.

"I've only had three hours sleep worrying if the water was going to come through," said Mr Shaw.

Residents from around half a dozen houses which were vulnerable kept flooding at bay with sandbags and boards nailed to their front doors.

"It's been an ongoing problem for six to eight months. We've contacted the council several times but nothing has happened," he added.

He said residents in the street had joined together planning to withhold part of their council tax.

'Rats and faeces'

"This is a situation where it could destroy homes", said Mr Shaw.

"As soon as it got dark the rats were running up and down the road because they had nowhere to go - but the worst part was when the manholes were lifted up and the faeces came out."

Mr Hayton said the rainfall had been "exceptional and drainage systems have, in many cases, struggled to cope with the large volumes of surface water".

"Lancashire County Council's highways services have been working around the clock to deal with a high volume of incidents across Wyre and the rest of the county," he said.

"We will be liaising with all of our partners, including the Environment Agency, Wyre Borough Council and United Utilities, to investigate exactly what happened in Hambleton and to look at any improvements that can be made.

"We share residents' concerns about flooding in this area and will work with them and other partners to improve the situation."

The flooding has seen the cancellation of trains between Blackpool North and Preston because of a landslide at Weeton and there are delays between Preston and Lancaster.

The Environment Agency has put five flood warnings and 11 flood alerts in place around the region. It is advising people to use sandbags to protect their properties. Heavy downpours across England have resulted in homes being evacuated, disruption to train services and school closures while many roads have been closed.

Earthquake hits Iran

TEHRAN, Iran -- A 6.2-magnitude earthquake killed at least 87 people and injured over 600 others in northwestern Iran on Saturday 11 August 2012, state TV reported.

Iran's main news channel said the quake hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province at 4:53 p.m. local time (GMT 12:23), also damaging hundreds of homes.

The TV quoted Khalil Saei, local Crisis Committee chief, as saying that 30 people were killed in Ahar, 40 in Varzaqan and 17 others in Haris.

The broadcast said at least 60 villages sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, while 4 other villages had been totally leveled to the ground.

The TV said at least 9 aftershocks jolted the same area and were felt in a wide region near the Caspian Sea, causing panic among the population.

Saei, local Crisis Committee chief, urged people in the quake region to stay outdoors and spend the night at parks and open spaces in anticipation of more aftershocks.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one earthquake every day on average, although the vast majority are so small they go unnoticed.

Huffington Post By ALI AKBAR DAREINI 08/11/12 03:07 PM ET

England flood risk to rise fourfold by 2035-report

* More investment, better planning of new housing needed

* Water scarcity likely to become more common (Adds UK government reaction, detail on UK flooding)

An article by Nina Chestney from reuters on Wednesday July 11 2012 says that the risk of flooding for many English homes and businesses could increase fourfold by 2035 if more action to deal with the impact of climate change is not taken, government advisers said on Wednesday.

As severe floods continue to batter parts of Britain after the wettest June since records began, around one in seven homes and businesses face some kind of flood risk, the climate advisers said.

Around 160,000 properties would be at risk by 2035 if better planning and more investment was made in flood defences, compared with 610,000 at risk if no action was taken, they said.

The cost of protecting more than half a million homes at risk of flooding will double to 1 billion pounds a year by 2035, according to estimates by the UK's Environment Agency in 2010.

The devastating floods of 2007 caused damage to homes and businesses, infrastructure and services, and resulted in lost work and school days, which cost the UK economy 3.2 billion pounds.

"We must take adaptation more seriously if we are to manage the growing risks of floods and droughts," said John Krebs, the chairman of the climate change advisory panel.

"This can be done by investing more in flood defences, faster rollout of water meters and giving serious consideration to where and how we build our housing and infrastructure," he said in a statement.

"Without action by households and businesses to prepare for these inevitable weather extremes the country faces rising costs, unnecessary damage and future disruption."

Scientists believe extreme weather like heatwaves, floods and droughts are linked to climate change and likely to become more frequent in the future.

Flooding will be the biggest climate risk to Britain this century with damage set to cost as much as 12 billion pounds ($18.63 billion) a year by the 2080s if nothing is done to adapt to extreme weather, a government-funded study said in January.

Since the start of May this year, over 3,000 properties have been flooded, 55,000 have received flood warnings and 31,000 were protected by flood defences, according to the UK's Environment Agency.

FUNDING

The government's advisers said in a report that property development in flood plains - or areas along streams or rivers that are likely to experience repeated flooding - has increased by 12 percent over the past 10 years compared with a 7 percent rise in other parts of England.

Public and private funding for flood defences is falling and is 12 percent lower for the current government spending period compared with the previous one, after inflation.

However, the UK's Environment Agency estimates that funding needs to increase by 20 million pounds a year on top of inflation to keep pace with climate change.

"We are spending more than 2.17 billion pounds over four years to protect people from flooding and our successful partnership funding model will draw in around an additional 72 million pounds," said a spokesman from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in response to the report.

"The money for flood defences is being spent more effectively than ever before and we now expect to exceed our target to better protect another 145,000 homes by 2015."

Apart from increased flooding risks, water scarcity is also likely to become more common in parts of the country due to climate change and population growth, the panel said.

Water scarcity is likely to be made worse by household consumption levels which are among the highest in north-west Europe.

Encouraging households to save water could cut total consumption by 700 million litres a day, which is two thirds more than is currently saved under initiatives by water companies, according to the report.

The government should take further steps to increase water efficiency through water metering and pricing, it added. ($1 = 0.6442 British pounds) (Editing by David Cowell and Alison Birrane) 

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:32 GMT

Source: Reuters // Reuters

Haiti Earthquake

In January 2010 an earthquake destroyed Port au Prince in Haiti.

That was 2010 - this is 2012...

Heat kills thousands of fish

Thousands of fish are dying in lakes and rivers across the US in the stifling heat. The excessive heat throughout June and July is reducing the amount of oxygen in the waters and therefore resulting in fish deaths. The picture shows some of the 10,000 bluegills that have died in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

The stench of rotting fish is "really putrid' Paula Gumpman, a local resident told the Knoxville News Sentinel. "It's like after a hurricane. Gooky and yucky."
  

A reservoir in Noblesville, Indiana.

Research Questions

In a recent publication by Paul Gilding, The Great Disruption (2011) he stated that “science says we have physically entered a period of great change, a synchronized, related crash of the economy and the ecosystem, with food shortages, climate catastrophes, massive economic change, and global geopolitical instability. It has been forecast for decades and the moment has now arrived.” 

There is no doubt that the current myriad of landscape traumas, whether in the guise of economic, environmental, political, climate or social crisis are resulting in destabilized global and local environments. Hurricanes, conflict, floods, unemployment, full landfill sites, rising fuel costs, shop closures, housing repossessions etc all have detrimental impacts on our landscape, environment and ultimately quality of life, now and for future generations. Whilst it all indicates towards a depressing future, out of crisis comes opportunity.

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” 

Charles R. Swindoll, 1934

Crisis could be seen as the catalyst for a new approach towards rural and urban design, with the role of landscape architecture at the forefront. Landscapes are operating in new destabilized conditions, where increasingly extreme and unpredictable elements are interacting with our environments. Landscapes are emerging out of disaster and more resilient and adaptable approaches are required to ensure that sustainable futures are achieved.

This thesis intends to explore what landscapes are emerging out of crisis and the role of landscape architecture in achieving more stable economic, environmental and social conditions.

The thesis will investigate responses to landscapes in crisis and the challenges that they bring. A crisis instigates a need for a greater understanding of the landscape and an increased awareness of the environmental impacts we place upon it. From this position of greater understanding how can we re-evaluate and re-approach post traumatic landscapes to give them a value and identify what new relationships and systems may emerge as a consequence.