Bishkek, Dhaka, Butuan City - Shavkat, Khairul and Elena of the German Red Cross and their wonderful teams know how to do it: Applying FbF in Urban Areas! Communication of unknown hazards like heat is a task that takes consistency, which Shavkat and team provide for urban communities. In Dhaka, the first steps into urban areas have been successful even though the pandemic has been a challenge for the dynamic affected population as well as staff and volunteers. In Butuan City, Elena’s team has supported small enterprises in a test relocation before a flood - to save their livelihoods and to give the population options to buy in a past disaster event.
Is the riddle solved? Far from it, but with their promising experiences and the analysis of Maria, you know what to look out for when you want to start an anticipatory project in the urban context: a strong volunteer base, joint monitoring and of course the collaboration with city authorities are key. Thankfully, urbanists like Natasha (TU Berlin) have the long term perspective in mind and can show how our languages/terminologies align, even if we have a different perspective. Anticipation can mean to design the built architecture in a way that will be conscious of the needs of a population and environment before, during and after a disaster event.
Anticipation in urban areas can be done successfully and we are looking forward to showing more examples in the years to come!