SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN OF EMERGENCY SHELTERS: A CASE STUDY OF INNOVATIVE EMERGENCY SHELTER DESIGN FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS, SHEIKH SHEHZAD CAMP-MARDAN, KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Pakistan has been impacted challenging by man-made disasters as well as natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, cyclones, and draughts. Internally displaced persons as a result of conflict zones are one example of man-made disasters. In the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it stretches from Waziristan to the Swat Valley. Food, hard climatic conditions, shelter, and a healthy
atmosphere were all pressing concerns for these individuals. The most difficult aspect was fitting it into the newly occupied spaces. This work focuses on the rehabilitation of these people from Swat Valley in the urban context of Mardan, where the summer temperature can reach 52 degrees Celsius. The most significant concern, given the extreme climatic conditions, is not only the availability of shelters but also the thermal comfortability of these designated shelters for IDPs. The occupants' psychological needs were left unmet by a need for self-sufficient and thermally comfortable accommodation. To present a sustainable, innovative, and cost-effective solution to deal with the problem of shelters and thermal comfortability at the same time, an exploratory and experimental approach was used in this article. For this study, microclimatic issues such as temperature, humidity management, and wind use are discussed. The results of the experiment suggest that using locally available materials following social and cultural trends, the prototype innovative shelters might be made climate-responsive and cost-effective.