How do you ensure you create a positive impact that resonates for generations when planning the future resilience of communities facing climate challenges?
By investing in people’s wellbeing along with physical upgrades, you can design neighbourhoods that are safe and sanitary, while also maintaining the vital connections, shared spaces and a sense of belonging that hold them together.
In Vanuatu’s informal settlements, this holistic approach is shaping every step of the journey, ensuring that as the settlements’ homes and streets are made safer and more robust, the social fabric that underpins these communities grows stronger too.
Project overview
Vanuatu has one of the fastest-growing populations in the South Pacific , and growth in the capital city of Port Vila has almost doubled since 2000. With this has come housing pressure, resulting in a large number of informal settlements that are home to increasingly vulnerable communities.
The growing density issues within these settlements prompted the Government of Vanuatu to launch the Vanuatu Affordable and Resilient Settlement (VARS) Project, to address the challenges faced by these rapidly growing urban communities, particularly those vulnerable to flooding and environmental impacts.
“The government recognises the level of hardships that families and communities are facing inside informal settlements around Port Vila,” says Henry Vira, Project Management Consultant for the Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources – Vanuatu, and Social Development Expert for the VARS Project.
“With increasing rooftops, particularly around Port Vila, you find that the runoff now is creating flooding in the majority of informal settlements. Every time there is a big downpour, which at the moment is quite regular, the Government and Port Vila Municipality have to find a way of moving people to safer locations. We are looking at issues to do with lighting, sanitation, flooding and rubbish management to see how the project can improve the living conditions of community members.”
Resilience facilitation and delivery
The VARS project is focused on upgrading the essential infrastructure of four existing settlements in Anambrou, Tokyo, Seaside and Ohlen Mataso; as well as delivering a masterplan for the Etas area showcasing a new resilient and affordable housing solution. The project also seeks to strengthen the institutional capacity of implementing agencies. Project funding is provided by the World Bank and Beca is working in partnership with the Government of Vanuatu - specifically the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and Port Vila Municipality - to help bring the project to life.
Beca’s advisory and delivery services span right across the project, including commercial and investment guidance, funding model management, masterplanning, community engagement, environmental and social planning, site investigations, landscape and urban design, civil engineering, construction supervision services and marketing and delivery planning.
“A key aspect for the Beca team from the beginning, has been working with the Government of Vanuatu on the best use of the World Bank funding, considering the many options available for its application,” says Adrian Jones, Senior Principal – Project Director at Beca.
“The most effective way for us to approach the work was to deliver the things that the communities couldn't perhaps deliver themselves or couldn't deliver over time. The Government are clear about what they’re aiming to achieve and we're helping them to translate that thinking into practical, cost-effective action on the ground. Additionally, for the greenfield site in Etas we've been supporting the planning for how the economics of that could work from a construction and delivery perspective, and how that feeds into their affordability models for the community.”
Growing strong communities
The Government began the VARS project in 2021 with a feasibility assessment, followed by a community application process. Planning, site investigations, engagement and design are now complete; construction tenders are in progress; and works will commence by late 2025 for both the settlements upgrades as well as the Etas greenfield development (Elol Etas), where communities are expected to move into new homes by late 2026.
“One of the most satisfying aspects of the project has been the ability to work closely with each of the local communities through the design process so that we could listen, learn and transfer those learnings into a design that responds to their specific needs and their way of life,” says Elaine Chen, Senior Associate – Urban Design and Landscape at Beca. Ultimately the design of the spaces and infrastructure will enrich the communities and their sense of place rather than just delivering a functional, but cookie cutter design.
“The extensive consultation we were able to do enabled us to apply high quality design principles to the affordable housing development as well as to the settlement upgrades. It’s great knowing our contribution to this project will be life-changing, providing urgently needed infrastructure to those who are perhaps amongst some of the most disadvantaged.
“Something else that has been hugely beneficial has been the engagement and integration into our project team of local subcontractors, local community advisors, and consultants who are well respected specialists in their fields. Iain Haggerty, for example, has been consulting on our environmental and social impact assessments; he speaks the national language of Vanuatu - Bislama, and he's very well known throughout the community. The World Bank has provided highly positive feedback on the overall project plan, which is pretty much unheard of. That kind of feedback is unique, and an exceptionally good outcome for such an important and positively impactful project in this region.”