Innovative models for sustainable development in emerging african countries

Abstract

This book belongs to a series, which aims at emphasizing the impact of the multidisciplinary approach practised by ABC Department scientists to face timely challenges in the industry of the built environment. Following the concept that innovation happens as different researches stimulate each other, skills and integrated disciplines are brought together within the department, generating a diversity of theoretical and applied studies. Therefore, the books present a structured vision of the many possible approaches— within the field of architecture and civil engineering—to the development of researches dealing with the processes of planning, design, construction, management and transformation of the built environment. Each book contains a selection of essays reporting researches and projects, developed during the last six years within the ABC Department (Architecture, Built environment and Construction engineering) of Politecnico di Milano, concerning a cutting-edge field in the international scenario of the construction sector. Undoubtedly, the African continent will see the most interesting trends in the near future for the construction sector, as well as the most serious risks in terms of sustainability of the development models. These countries face two parallel challenges: fighting the lack of resources and channelling their development along a sustainable path. In both cases, innovative methods and technologies can offer a significant contribution: affordable housing set within the social context should develop in parallel with a wise exploitation of the energetic resources; the sustainability of the entire system partly depends on how waste is handled and how to set up a virtuous recycling system; emergency situations must be addressed rapidly and efficiently, and the introduction of low-cost technologies may allow to turn study and preservation of the cultural heritage into an opportunity for development, without subtracting resources from humanitarian assistance. In general, connecting past and present will help to shape the future of countries, where carefully chosen innovative instruments can really make the difference and can allow giant leaps towards a sustainable social, cultural and environmental balance.