Tackling Fire in Informal Urban Settlements: An Interdisciplinary Approach

全球大约有10亿人住在棚屋里。由于使用易燃建筑材料和内容物、明火照明、加热和烹饪方法、棚屋邻近以及缺乏有效的消防服务等因素，许多这些定居点经常面临致命火灾的危险。我们的项目重点关注南非（特别是开普敦地区）的这一问题，在那里，棚屋火灾每天都会发生，导致人员伤亡、流离失所、财产、财产、企业和社区遭到破坏。在建筑法规基本上无关紧要的情况下，在居民通常缺乏可用或负担得起的电力-迫使他们使用蜡烛，炉子或明火来照明，加热和烹饪-以及社会法律安排不鼓励使用更永久和更不易燃的建筑材料（如砖）的情况下，改善消防安全是极其困难的。解决非正式住区火灾问题的潜在解决方案（无论是在南非还是在国际其他地方）不仅必须在技术上合理，而且还需要考虑到这些更广泛的社会因素，这些因素影响了居民建造、维护和与建筑环境互动的方式。我们的研究在其跨学科范围内是独一无二的，因为我们试图对使非正式定居点易受火灾影响的社会政治和技术因素进行系统的理解。通过收集现有数据、进行多地点调查、进行比较分析和进行模拟实验，本项目将制定有效的解决方案。我们的研究将评估防火涂料、烟雾报警器和热探测器等“技术修复”的有效性和实际可行性，并制定社区可用于重建棚屋住区的指导方针，以提供有效的防火通道。根据技术最佳实践和棚户区生活的社会政治现实，我们的研究结果将使居民能够就消防安全采取行动，并概述对此类问题感兴趣的无数参与者可以在哪些方面贡献他们的时间、见解和资源。

Around one billion people across the globe live in shack settlements. Many of these settlements are at constant risk of lethal fires, due to the use of flammable construction materials and contents, open flame lighting, heating and cooking methods, the close proximity of the shacks, and the lack of effective fire services, amongst other factors. Our project focuses on this problem in South Africa (specifically the Cape Town area) where shack fires are an everyday occurrence leading to death and injuries, displacement, and damage to property, possessions, businesses, and communities. Improving fire safety is extremely difficult in a context where building regulations are largely irrelevant, where residents typically lack available or affordable electricity - forcing them to use candles, stoves or open fires for lighting, heating and cooking - and where socio-legal arrangements discourage the use of more permanent and less flammable construction materials, such as brick. Potential solutions to the problem of informal settlement fires (both in South Africa and elsewhere internationally) must not only be technically sound, but also need to take account of these broader social factors that shape the ways that residents build, maintain, and interact with their built environment.Our research is unique in its inter-disciplinary scope in that we seek to develop a systematic understanding of both the socio-political and technical factors involved in making informal settlements vulnerable to fire. By compiling existing data, undertaking multi-site surveys, carrying out comparative analysis, and conducting modelling experiments this project will develop grounded, effective solutions. Our research will assess the effectiveness and practical feasibility of 'technical fixes' like fire retardant paint, smoke alarms, and heat detectors, as well as developing guidelines that communities can use to re-structure their shack settlements to provide effective fire breaks. Being informed by technical best practice and the socio-political realities of life in shack settlements, our findings will enable residents to take action on fire safety and outline where the myriad of actors interested in such issues can most usefully contribute their time, insight, and resources.