India: Gandhi Nu Gam, an example of holistic and integrated reconstruction

Following the earthquake of 2001 in Kutchch, Vastu Shilpa Foundation and Manav Sadhna, non-profit organizations working in Gujarat adopted a Participatory Housing Approach (PHA) to reconstruction. The agencies took a leading role in housing reconstruction, while involving home-owners in the planning, design, and reconstruction of their settlement. A challenge in this was to retain the distinct identity and culture of the region, whilst providing shelter and regenerating livelihoods. The answer was a holistic rehabilitation project that focused not only on housing, but also on infrastructure such as water and sanitation, amenities including a school and shrine, and the support of small enterprises. The sustainable use of local resources and revival of local crafts were a key component of this.

A post-occupancy survey in 2013, discussed in this chapter, reveals the largely positive impact on the socio-economic and cultural fabric of the community. The village economy has grown, largely thanks to the stimulation of traditional crafts, and the vernacular built form is accepted and continued by a trained new generation. Critical to the success of the project was its understanding of housing as part of a larger, integrated community with unique social, cultural, historical, and economic relations, rather than a mass commodity.