The influence of wind and the spatial layout of dwellings on fire spread in informal settlements in Cape Town

2022 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 101734
Author(s):  
Lesley Gibson ◽  
Antonio Cicione ◽  
Samuel Stevens ◽  
David Rush
Keyword(s):  
Cape Town ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Spatial Layout

scholarly journals Determination of Critical Separation Distance Between Dwellings in Informal Settlements Fire

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Wang ◽  
Lesley Gibson ◽  
Mohamed Beshir ◽  
David Rush
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Separation Distance ◽  
Flame Length ◽  
Critical Distance ◽  
Fire Disaster ◽  
Critical Separation

AbstractApproximately one billion people across the globe are living in informal settlements with a large potential fire risk. Due to the high dwelling density, a single informal settlement dwelling fire may result in a very serious fire disaster leaving thousands of people homeless. In this work, a simple physics-based theoretical model was employed to assess the critical fire separation distance between dwellings. The heat flux and ejected flame length were obtained from a full-scale dwelling tests with ISO 9705 dimension (3.6 m × 2.4 m × 2.4 m) to estimate the radiation decay coefficient of the radiation heat flux away from the open door. The ignition potential of combustible materials in adjacent dwellings are analyzed based on the critical heat flux from cone calorimeter tests. To verify the critical distance in real informal settlement fire, a parallel method using aerial photography within geographic information systems (GIS), was employed to determine the critical separation distances in four real informal settlement fires of 2014–2015 in Masiphumelele, Cape Town, South Africa. The fire-spread distances were obtained as well through the real fires. The probabilistic analysis was conducted by Weibull distribution and logistic regression, and the corresponding separation distances were given with different fire spread probabilities. From the experiments with the assumption of no interventions and open doors and windows, it was established that the heat flux would decay from around 36 kW/m2 within a distance of 1.0 m to a value smaller than 5 kW/m2 at a distance of 4.0 m. Both experiments and GIS results agree well and suggest the ignition probabilities at distances of 1.0 m, 2.0 m and 3.0 m are 97%, 52% and 5% respectively. While wind is not explicitly considered in the work, it is implicit within the GIS analyses of fire spread risk, therefore, it is reasonable to say that there is a relatively low fire spread risk at distances greater than 3 m. The distance of 1.0 m in GIS is verified to well and conservatively predict the fire spread risk in the informal settlements.

Water Quality and Diarrhoeal Diseases among Children in Informal Settlements in Cape Town, South Africa.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 951
Author(s):  
Guéladio Cissé ◽  
Nesre Redi ◽  
Samuel Fuhrimann ◽  
Aqiel Dalvie ◽  
Martin Roosli
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Diarrhoeal Diseases

The MobiSan approach: informal settlements of Cape Town, South Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 3078-3090 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Naranjo ◽  
D. Castellano ◽  
H. Kraaijvanger ◽  
B. Meulman ◽  
A. Mels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Sanitation Services ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
Reducing Costs

Pook se Bos informal settlement and the Cape Town Water & Sanitation Services Department are partnering on an urban sanitation project with a Dutch Consortium consisting of Lettinga Associates Foundation (LeAF), Landustrie Sneek and Vitens-Evides International. The aim of the project is to improve the basic sanitation services provided in informal settlements through the implementation of the MobiSan approach. The approach consists of a communal Urine-Diversion and Dehydration Toilet (UDDT) built in a former sea shipping container. The system is independent of water, electricity or sewerage connection and it is maintained by full-time community caretakers who also act as hygiene promoters. The project seeks to link sanitation services with hygiene promotion in informal settlements while enhancing user satisfaction and reducing costs in providing basic sanitation services. This paper describes the preliminary experiences and lessons learnt during the implementation and evaluation of the MobiSan prototype and discusses its potential for replication. The MobiSan has proved to be an appropriate option by means of dealing successfully with shallow groundwater table, land availability and high settlement densities. In addition it has been demonstrated to be cost-competitive in terms of operating cost compared to chemical toilets.

scholarly journals Community leaders as intermediaries: How everyday practices create and sustain leadership in five informal settlements in Cape Town

Leadership ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 738-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmé Vivier ◽  
Diana Sanchez-Betancourt
Keyword(s):  
Public Services ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
What Works ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Intermediary Role ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
Do So

Community leaders are expected to navigate different social and institutional contexts, but they must do so without the direction, authority or legitimacy available to leaders within formal organisations. In this article, we draw on qualitative data from a participation initiative to explore how community leaders get involved in everyday maintenance of public services in informal settlements in Cape Town, in order to understand how they fulfil this intermediary role. Applying the lens of leadership-as-practice, we identify four practices that connect the communities and city, and which facilitate access to public services. We unpack how these practices emerge in and are shaped by the service maintenance system and material conditions of informality. We argue that community leaders fulfil their intermediary role through everyday improvisations to find ‘what works’, and in the process, they also create and sustain relations of dependence and interdependence that reinforce those very roles.

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