Mitchell Sipus

Community Planner for Complex Environments and Conflict Cities

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Solutions

Solutions
- Area of Practice
  
  I assist government agencies, non-government agencies, and private businesses overcome complex challenges. I provide services to organizations interested in innovation, improving existing processes, and those who have a new idea but require someone skilled and experienced to carry it out.
  
  Products Offered
  
  I develop concise, viable solutions based on available assets and mobilized resources. My work always results in an observable, objective result consistent with the interest of the client and other stakeholders.
  
  My skill set is not location specific. I provide custom solutions to meet the unique needs of each situation and I excel within the most challenging environments.
  
  I have designed, implemented, and managed successful projects within refugee camps, urban slums, and conflicted border spaces and war zones.
Bio

Bio
- Mitchell Sutika Sipus is an interdisciplinary Community Planner specialized in designing streamlined solutions for complex environments.
  
  His professional work has included advising the Benadiir Regional and Municipal Government of Mogadishu Somalia on issues of immediate post-war reconstruction; training city administration in urban planning methods in Kabul Afghanistan; gang-violence reduction programming in Cairo Egypt; field assessments of emergency shelter standards within refugee camps on the Kenya-Somalia border; and the use of communications technology as an economic development tool within Nairobi, Kenya.
  
  Projects have frequently included a multi-faceted approach to socio-economic research, infrastructure evaluation, and project impact assessments.
  
  Mitchell is a Fulbright Scholar, and has degrees in Urban Planning, Architecture, Refugee Studies, and Design. He presently lives in Kabul Afghanistan and works throughout Asia and Africa.
Info

Info

Profile
- Mitchell Sipus
  
  Urban Planner, Consultant at City of Mogadishu
  
  Architecture & Planning | Afghanistan, AF
  
  Summary
  
  Community Planner specialized in designing solutions for complex environments including conflict zones and refugee camps.
  
  Specialties: Forced Migration, Conflict Stabilization, Technology-based Research and Development, Informal Economies, Protracted Encampment, Communications
  
  Experience
  - Jan 2012 - Present
    Urban Planner / Sutika Sipus International
    
    Special advisor to the Mayor of Mogadishu on post-war reconstruction and urban planning of Mogadishu, Somalia Urban Planning training city administration for Kabul, Afghanistan
  - Jun 2011 - Present
    Instructor / The American University of Afghanistan
    
    Instruct classes focused on graphic design, multimedia production, Spatial and Statistical Analysis utilizing open-souce GIS tools and Python programming • Founder and manager of the Innovation Lab, a rigorous inter-disciplinary program integrating social problem solving with technical analysis and building new technologies • Developing expanded curriculum to include social network analysis and data-mining • Ongoing research and programming design for mobile application technologies to integrate diverse data sources and GIS technologies to graphically map projected points of insecurity within Kabul and construct probable conflict models
  - Aug 2010 - Jun 2011
    Assistant Editor / National Academy of Sciences
    
    • Editorial support for sections in Sustainability Science, including special features in “Poverty and Hunger Alleviation” • Generated monthly PNAS production report, annual impact report and projections in Excel
  - Nov 2009 - Dec 2009
    Program Management Consultant / Samasource
    
    • Expanded and improved an existing project to provide internet-based employment opportunities, computer access, and training to low income, marginalized, and displaced populations within Nairobi and the Dadaab Refugee Camps • Conducted a comprehensive analysis of 11 Nairobi projects, assessed participant capacities and resources, and cross-coordinated project partners for maximized efficiency and inter- agency communication • Introduced new project and tools with training to 11 project partners and their employees • Provided Samasource with point-by-point plan for operations in Kenya and program expansion into Dadaab refugee camps within the legal requirements of the Kenyan government and the demands facilitating NGO partner, CARE Kenya
  - Oct 2009 - Nov 2009
    Somalia Projects Evaluation - Consultant / Arab African Development Agency
    
    • Program feasibility assessment and planning for youth civil-society programming coastal Somalia utilizing primary, secondary sources, and conducted interviews • Evaluated program proposals and existing initiatives to empower youth populations and facilitate capacity building on a community level by expanding local livelihood, education, and recreational activities • Assessed supply chains, budgets, and program design for projects to deter piracy through coastal economic development and prepared comprehensive report
  - 2008 - 2009
    Project Coordinator / Youth LEAD Project at St. Andrews Refugee Services
    
    • With LEAD Team, designed, developed and implemented interdisciplinary, violence reduction programming for Sudanese refugee at-risk youth in Cairo, Egypt • Personal programming responsibilities included management of youth hip hop program as strategy for alternative dispute resolution, program curriculum design, coordination with other sectors • Provided training to staff, youth, and volunteers for project operation and management
  - Aug 2008 - Jun 2009
    U.S. Fulbright Fellow to Egypt / U.S. Department of State
    
    Researched the role of humanitarian and refugee law in refugee camp planning and design.
  - 2007 - 2007
    Researcher / CARE / Norwegian Refugee Council
    
    • Conducted 3 month comprehensive assessment of refugee housing provided by CARE and Norwegian Refugee Council to determine socio-economic, environmental, and cultural sustainability of refugee housing program • Designed and implemented Community Development workshop for at-risk youth to engage youth in working with local aid agencies to facilitate improvements in the refugee camps and improve the quality of life for youth. • Recruited, organized, trained and managed 30 paid research assistants for regional survey enumeration. Training consisted of data collection methods. • Additional research included literature review for analytical framework, focus groups and individual interviews • Provision of technical report
  - 2007 - 2007
    Project Planning Consultant / Save The Children UK
    
    • Planned and designed safe child spaces for vulnerable Somali children according to Inter- Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) standards and Sphere Minimum Standards • Planning process required site visits, focus groups, qualitative interviews with refugee youth and the collection of environmental and social survey data from UNHCR technical services
  - 2007 - 2007
    Delegate to United Nations / SustainUS
    
    Advocated for youth participation within sustainable environmental and economic policies.
  - 2006 - 2007
    Technical Specialist / Gray & Pape, Inc.
    
    • Conducted assessments of historic structures and surrounding areas to assess the potential impact of new federal infrastructure developments upon the integrity of the structure and the site • Personal responsibilities included field visits assessments, archival research, data analysis, report writing, documentation, GIS analysis • Projects required database development with Microsoft Access, or Excel • Wrote reports for State Historic Preservation Office Selected Projects Researcher, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2007. • Conducted archival research for publication “Working in the Dry: Cofferdams, In-River Construction, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.” Research Report Published 2009. Consultant, Site Evaluation & Impact Analysis, Ohio Department of Transportation 2007-2006 • Site and infrastructure evaluation, survey assessment, building analysis • Level II analysis of Educational and Industrial facilities, historic register nomination and report for St. Rita’s School for the Deaf. Consultant, Wind Turbine Social Impact Evaluation, West Virginia, 2006 Led one of three teams in historic property evaluation of 800 sites in 5-mile radius for 3 weeks in rural Appalachia, West Virginia • Organized and conducted focus groups and semi-structured interviews with local community • Co-wrote report for State Historic Preservation Office, nominated 3 cultural landscapes for recognition and protection by National Historic Registrar
  Education
  - 2007 - 2010
    
    University of Cincinnati
    
    M.S. Architecture in Architecture
  - 2006 - 2010
    
    University of Cincinnati
    
    MCP in Community Planning in International Development
    Activities: Engineers without Borders - Logistics and project planning for water distribution project in Nyando Kenya
  - 2008 - 2009
    
    The American University in Cairo
    
    Graduate Diploma in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies
  - 2000 - 2004
    
    Art Academy of Cincinnati
    
    BFA in Drawing & Design
    Activities: 2006 New York Studio Program Alumni at Parsons School of Design, The New School, NY New York
  Additional Information
  - Websites:
    
    Personal Website, Blog
  - Honors:
    
    (Selection) 2009 UNESCO Fellowship Alternate in Post-War Reconstruction Education Sector 2008 U.S. Department of State Fulbright Fellowship to Egypt for Urban and International Development
Tweets

Tweets

Profile
- EU forces attack Somali pirates on land for first time http://t.co/2YBt0xWB via @msnbc_world
  
  May 15, 12 from Tweet Button Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- anyone else notice the explosion about 15 minutes ago? no details anywhere
  
  May 13, 12 from TweetDeck Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- http://t.co/bGruoIK3 #cnn - I love that Science Mag takes risks. If only PNAS would climb out of the 1970s...
  
  May 13, 12 from Tweet Button Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- kabul traffic seemed especially crazy today... people were driving faster and more scattered... makes sense to find there was a shooting.
  
  May 13, 12 from TweetDeck Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- why does QGIS have to crash every time I make a layer transparent? Ugh. EVERY TIME.
  
  May 09, 12 from TweetDeck Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- finding new solutions every minute... gotta love ASTER GDEM!
  
  May 09, 12 from TweetDeck Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Kabul's obession with Master Plans http://t.co/7oVFD47C, #afghanistan, #kabul, #urbanplanning, @memopolis @bentzminger
  
  May 08, 12 from TweetDeck Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Kabul's Rigorous Allegiance to Master Plans: Kabul Playground at Camp Julian (Photo: Sutika Sipus 2012) While p... http://t.co/r54O5EUp
  
  May 08, 12 from twitterfeed Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Kabul's Rigorous Allegiance to Master Plans http://t.co/lShWNUzS
  
  May 08, 12 from Google Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- trying a few new strategies in Mogadishu. looking for resources today.
  
  May 08, 12 from Twitter for Android Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Is Afghanistan too stressed and traumatized for reconstruction? http://t.co/xj0p8Nz8 But I wonder, is that every post-conflict society?
  
  May 07, 12 from TweetDeck Reply, Retweet, Favorite
Posts

Posts

Profile
- Kabul's Rigorous Allegiance to Master Plans
  
  May 08, 12
  
  Kabul Playground at Camp Julian (Photo: Sutika Sipus 2012)
  While preparing to return to Mogadishu in June to further reconstruction efforts, I also have a few planning related obligations in Kabul Afghanistan. One of which it a weekly training session with members of the city administration in a USAID funded project for capacity building. Although my colleagues work daily, I visit the program each week to provide teaching on urban planning and to develop a curriculum for guided problem solving activities. The class participants are city engineers, district managers, and other mid-level administration.
  
  Kabul, Afghanistan 2001 Formal and Informal Housing [green]
  vs. 2006 Informal Housing [purple] (Map: Sutika Sipus 2012)
  I had read previously in a dissertation on Kabul City Planning by Pietro Calgero that the Kabul municipality has historically maintained a strict adherence to a top-down rational planning model. Yet only last night did I realize the rigidity of this truth.
  
  In an attempt to overview various models of participatory planning, simply as a means to expose the trainees to planning methods in other countries and cultures for comparison, I found myself confronted resolute objections.
  
  In the words of one engineer in attendance "we know where to build the roads because they are in the master plan, then we go to the community and say we are building a road here, you will need to move. Then the problem is finished." When I asked about policies regarding informal housing, the response was equally severe. The attitude was that people who live outside the terms of the master plan have to right to the land and therefore must leave if told to do so.
  
  In Kabul, informal housing is a pressing issue, and while strides have been made to recognize the claims of informal occupants, the top-town approach dominates. I was surprised to discover the severe attitudes among many of the trainees, whose allegiance to the city Master Plan could not be shaken. As a planner who has little faith in the utility of master plans among developing economies, I sought some degree of common ground between the trainees. Not to mention, the city is again working on a NEW master plan! Like most master plans, it has taken years to assemble, and by the time it is ready for implementation, it will likely be out of date and irrelevant. Perhaps not, but I'm skeptical.
  
  By the end of the session, I found an opportunity when an architect in attendance noted that she frequently needs to negotiate with community members. Negotiation isn't nearly equivalent to any community-based or decentralized planning models I'm familiar with, but it is a step in the right direction. Over the next week the participants are to think of strategies in which these negotiation processes may take place. I look forward to their ideas. Will they surprise me again? Probably.
  
  The Kabul Neighborhood of Karte Seh (Photo: Sutika Sipus 2012)
- An Optimistic Future for Urban Planning in Mogadishu
  
  Apr 19, 12
  
  Mogadishu, Somalia (Sutika Sipus)
  Tomorrow I head back to Kabul. This morning I had the opportunity to discuss with the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, and other upper administration how to streamline existing operations and opportunities for new projects. As the Urban Planner for the Benadiir Administration, Mohamed Ahmed has already accomplished a great deal in the short time he has been here. Consequently, I made a point that my urban planning solutions all accentuate his own work, but also introduce new assets and opportunties. I've already started some of these projects, but I look forward to returning to Mogadishu in about 6 weeks to continue focusing the ground implementation. I am grateful to the opportunity to work together with the municipality and hope this partnership is long lasting.
  
  The Youth Volunteers of the Mogadishu Benadiir Adminstration (Sutika Sipus)
  What really stood out today was meeting with the Mogadishu Youth Volunteers. At a total of 200 volunteers, these youth are high school and college students who grew up in Mogadishu while faced with civil war and the threat of al shabaaab. After shabaab withdrew from the city, some of the young people from different districts started working together and were surprised by how much they could accomplish. The group quickly grew and became more sophisticated in organization, capable of taking on large projects. It blew my mind how hard these kids worked in the hot sun, with no water or shade, picking up trash, cleaning out overgrown brush, and burning rubbish. If the people of this city can continue to dedicate themselves to the common good like these kids, then the future looks bright.
  
  Local Cafe in Mogadishu Somalia (Sutika Sipus)
  I also had the chance to visit a cafe with some friends. The owner lived in the UK for many years and has opened a couple businesses since returning. The kitchen standards, the food quality, and the service are all top notch. There are lots of great things happening in the city of Mogadishu, yet where are the news agencies covering it? Of course upon returning back to the administrative offices, I did happen to see a foreign television crew. And what were they filming? The armed guards. No surprise.
- Another Day in the New Mogadishu
  
  Apr 18, 12
  
  One of the new flights between Istanbul and Mogadishu cuts across the sky from a bombed out cathedral (Sutika Sipus)
  Everything has been non-stop.
  
  I spent the morning down at the port, speaking with local fishermen about their industry and trying to learn how the fishing economy has changed over the last 10 years. I was curious if all the piracy along the coast had affected their livelihood, and they said they sometimes get hassled and search when far out at sea, but typically the piracy hasn't had any impact in their lives good or bad. Their biggest issue was the lack of refrigeration and storage options, so at the end of the day, anything not sold fresh at the market goes bad and much is thrown away. Occasionally they have a good day wherein they catch a lot of fish yet manage to sell all of it, yet this doesn't happen enough. It seems that right now business is good and they are selling more with the stability and rapid growth of the city, yet until they can refrigerate their catch, they will always be stuck losing money.
  
  Morning at the Port of Mogadishu (Sutika Sipus)
  I also attended a large meeting between the heads of all the district leaders and AMISOM. The AMISOM mission to Somalia has seen recent successes, but as the city is no longer a major conflict zone, they are striving to keep local peace. There is a municipal police force, yet the force is too small and underfunded, so the Uganda contingent is now trying to fill this role. District leaders expressed concerns passed to them from their neighborhood residents about the infiltration of al shabaab and about the circulation of unregistered weapons. The AMISOM Colonel did his best to work with the leaders to develop pathways to solve these problems.
  
  After the meeting between AMISOM, all District Leaders, and the Municipal Government (Sutika Sipus)
  At the meeting, a new district commissioner explained that his district contains a very beautiful beach and on fridays, many thousand people visit, yet there are no life guards and children have died from lack of supervision. He explained that on most days the local fishermen are sufficient to handle the problem, yet as al shabaab forbade swimming, many people want to exercise there new found freedom and thus the crowd is too big for locals to monitor on the weekend. The AMISOM Captain addressed the issue, hoping to coordinate the coast guard to address the problem.
  
  I left the meeting greatly impressed by the role of the local district leaders in expressing their communities. The Mayor gave an impassioned speech about the necessity of them being ever close to the eyes and mouths of the citizens and he further chastised the leaders to enforce strict oversight regarding fighters in their neighborhood. He argued that AMISOM cannot control the rise of warlord, yet the community can, so it is essential the youth are going to school and not getting involved with gangs or militias. It is essential that the local leaders push this policy throughout their districts.
  
  When the meeting concluded, the Mayor asked what I think about the events of the day, and I responded that it is truly sad the UN doesn't see these processes. Democracy and local level governance are daily ongoing within the city, yet when I had a meeting at the UN the day before, I was personally distraught over their poor knowledge of the geography, their ignorance about local governance structures, and their complete lack of understanding about the local channels of communication.
  
  I realize that those working within the UN must work within an exceedingly narrow framework, as this framework is necessary for such a massive institution to function. However for the individuals to not see outside the framework, and thus do work not informed by the urban reality, is truly sad. It is like doing urban planning without a site visit or writing a biography without meeting the subject. There is only so much information one can absorb from a distance. If you want to know how water tastes, then you must dive in and drink it, as standing on the shore will never leave you the wiser.
- Post Conflict Urban Planning and Reconstruction in Mogadishu Somalia
  
  Apr 16, 12
  
  The former Parliament Building, devastated by war. Photo by Mitchell Sutika Sipus
  
  Today was a massively busy day for meetings.
  
  I had a meeting with the Mayor and Govener of the Benadiir Administration, Mohamuud Ahmed Noor. We discussed his primary vision for the city and regional development, his trials and efforts in the past and the obstacles he faces today. Around this time I also met some traditional leaders and members of the Benadiir council working on a variety of USAID projects. I've been greatly impressed by his efforts and those of the Deputy Mayor, Iman Noor Icar with whom I've been meeting regularly. Aware of the issues of corruption in their country, they continually work with international donors so that no cash transactions take place, rather the donor has full responsibility for handling the funding while the administration simply provides the needed manpower to implement the projects. With this model, various initiatives in partnership with Turkey and USAID have been seeing great success.
  
  Last night the urban planner working with Benadiir, Mohamed "Shaan", and I discussed at length the obstacles concerning data collection and mapping of the city. Although UN-Habitat has a large collection of data, unfortunately they are not willing to share direct shape files and thus their information is of no real use to the municipality. It is truly unfortunate that a UN body would pose such a hinderance to the efforts of the municipality. Yet thanks to open-source mapping technology and the efforts of my friends at Somalia Report, I believe I can thoroughly solve this problem so that we simply side-step the UN and do the work that needs to be done.
  
  Mitchell Sutika Sipus, Mohamed, and Abdul on the Somali Coast
  
  I also had a chance to explore some of the historic district of Mogadishu. We were escorted by a Captain in the African Union's peace keeping force and I was able to talk to him about his experience of fighting in Somalia. The wreckage in this area from 20 years of war is truly profound to see, but it left me thinking a great deal about all the other images of Mogadishu that never come out.
  
  Business is booming in the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo by Mitchell Sutika Sipus
  
  While the world constantly sees the destruction in Mogadishu, they don't get a chance to learn about the dynamic change abreast, the massive return of Somalis, the economic explosion taking place from new investments and the visionary work of the municipal government. Just today I had a cappuccino at a cafe founded by a Somali who lived for a long time in the UK. It was delicious. Things are happening and they are happening fast. This is story that is worth telling, it must be told.
  
  Travel Businesses on Mecca Marena Road. Photo by Mitchell Sutika Sipus
- Arrival in Mogadishu
  
  Apr 15, 12
  
  The Former Parliament Building of Somalia. Photo by Mitchell Sutika Sipus.
  
  This morning I arrived in Mogadishu.
  
  I wasn't exactly certain what to expect, although I thought I had a general idea. Somehow some major details slipped my mind. I knew after departing the plane that there might be some suspicion about who I am, but I didn't expect so many military and police to try to stop and question me. Tough looking soldiers from the African Union were all around and it was difficult to avoid generating interests. Fortunately I was immediately accompanied by my security escort within 2 seconds of stepping off the plane, and a moment after by my host, a member of the Benadiir Administration. They had with them a letter from the mayor explaining my purpose and were kind enough to manage all the border issues, including passport control and visa acquisition.
  
  The other thing that really jarred my mind is the heat. It is seriously hot here. Like Cairo in August hot. But there is a constant steady wind from the ocean which is soothing and it also reduces the dust. The heat is also offset by the generous hospitality of my hosts. Over the years I've had the fortunate to learn firsthand about the wonderful way that Somali people treat their guests, and today definitely the people I met all certainly lived up to the reputation. As the hotel doesn't often have western guests, the kitchen made a kind gift of presenting me with a delicious grilled lobster with dinner. Cups of strong sugary tea are ever-present as are piles of fish, freshly caught and served with a spicy lime sauce. I could totally get used to this.
  
  Today was mostly a day for long meetings and brief introductions. Soon more serious work can begin as there are a great deal of issues to resolve but in the first 24 hours I hope to simply learn as much as possible before I propose any ideas or tools. The city is faced with a vast array of obstacles including conflicts over land title claims among returnees, issues of economic development, public health, education, historic preservation and so on. The city is faced with the challenge of reinventing itself, yet only now that I am on the ground can I begin to see the miasmatic web of complex social and political dynamics that also restrain it from moving forward. But hopefully in time we can loosen the knot by focusing on simple solutions to widely agreed upon problems. There is a great deal to be done, and somewhere admits the chaos are a few areas of mutually agreeable issues. And as we uncover these small points of objectivity, we also can uncover the small points of light to widen the window of opportunity that will change the story Mogadishu.
- En Route to Mogadishu
  
  Apr 07, 12
  
  I will step off the plane in Mogadishu in one week. Under most circumstances that would be a strange experience, but coming from Kabul it is all the more unusual. I hope to make the most of my layover in Dubai to freely wander around the streets, enjoy the feeling of entering a restaurant without being checked for weapons, or having to analyze surrounding buildings for sight lines and escape routes every time I sit in traffic. Kabul isn't all that dangerous, but one has to be constantly vigilant of their surroundings and Mogadishu isn't really all that different.
  
  The other strange thing has been the experience of thinking about Kabul within my pre-departure ritual. Over the years I've developed a process to prepare mentally and physically before entering complicated places. I like to take up an exercise regimen, consume copious amounts of powdered weight-gainer from the health food store, and spend weeks slowly packing my back before departure. I start by accumulating everything that I think would be worthwhile, from flashlights and pocketknives to socks and candy bars, then over the last few days chip away at that pile to determine what is essential, what is not, and how it all fits in my bag. I like my back to be no more than 50% full, leaving room to pick stuff up on the way, do my best to keep it light. But Kabul has me questioning the necessity of this whole process. After all, I can find all of those things here, so why did I bring any of them in advance? It has me questioning what to bring to Mogadishu, and what to leave at home. Especially strange since this time home is Kabul.
  
  For years I've dreamt of working in postwar reconstruction and urban planning in Mogadishu, but I always imagined it would be far into the future. I am grateful to my project partners for the opportunity, and while wide-eyed at timing, I feel good about it. I look forward to working with local officials to solve various infrastructure and population problems. Right now the issue of land ownership claims among returnees is a major issue for the city and I look forward to tackling this problem among others. Will definitely update the blog a couple times before leaving but the story doesn't end there. If this first visit goes well, I'll be back quite a bit over the course of the year.
- Reconstruction in Mogadishu Somalia: #urbanplanning, #mogadishu, #somalia, #design4dev
  
  Jan 30, 12
  
  Urban Planning and Reconstruction in Mogadishu
  For the last 7 years I have labored to understand as much as possible about the city of Mogadishu and to determine viable strategies for reconstruction when the opportunity is presented. I now have the opportunity to implement these concepts and look forward to introducing simple, yet tangible solutions to many of the city's complex urban planning problems in cooperation with the city government. Some of the solutions are dependent upon traditional planning and humanitarian initiatives such as concerns with historic preservation and sanitation. Other concepts are far more innovative, relating to processes in data collection, crowd-sourcing, and GIS. My business partners and I are presently developing a series of phased low-input, high-input initiatives for the city and will begin implementing these projects in the streets of Mogadishu this March. I look forward to the project unraveling with some fantastic partners at every step and sharing our progress online.
  
  Yet when I tell others about my work, they often ask, "why Urban Planning in Mogadishu, Somalia?"
  
  The answer goes back a few years to 2004, when I spent 90 days hitch-hiking across Northern India, where I lost my money and acquired malaria in the swampy state of Bihar. I chose to commit my life to reducing poverty, not with a vague belief that I can make the world better, but rather with the sense that I can make it less inequitable through precise, technical solutions. It was from that experience I was determined to work in development and to build upon my initial training in art and design through the study of architecture. After I began my studies, I met Aarati Kanekar, an architect who had worked in post-war reconstruction in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Upon meeting her, I expanded my studies to go beyond architecture, and to focus on urban planning.
  
  In 2005, I completed my first year of graduate school in Urban Planning and Architecture, and was faced with the seemingly massive task of choosing a thesis topic. Overwhelmed by the task, I thought hard about my essential priorities and determined that I should attempt to locate, define, and focus my lifework upon the world's most difficult problems, to work for the interest of the world's most marginalized and vulnerable populations as this is where the utmost improvement is needed. Uncertain how to proceed, I turned to Google.
  
  Concise and innovative urban planning solutions
  are in clear demand in Mogadishu Somalia
  I more or less typed all of my priorities into Google in hope that it would reveal something new to me. Success. It was from that simple search that I first learned of the Dadaab Refugee Camps. Embarrassingly, at 23, I was quite ignorant to the problems in Somalia and knew next to nothing of the decades of violence, famine, poverty, and displacement. As I began to invest more time into learning about the situation, I came to two conclusions. First, I decided that I would find a way to go to Dadaab to research and work directly with the problems of refugee camp design and planning. Secondly, I also decided that eventually, one day for whatever reason, that circumstances in Somalia would change and the city of Mogadishu will need to rebuild.
  
  After decades of conflict, it is difficult to be entirely optimistic, but in many ways, the prediction from 6 years ago has begun to manifest. After al-Shabaab withdrew from Mogadishu several months ago, they have had little success in a multi-front battle against AMISOM/TFG, Kenya, and drone attacks from the US. Although other forces may have strategic limitations, the fact that Shabaab has continued to change their tactics is evidence of continuing instability on their end. For the first time since its founding, the Transitional Federal Government has full control of the city of Mogadishu. With al-Shabaab primarily limited to the Kismaay region, there is even an effort underway to begin relocating refugees from the Dadaab camps back to Somalia.
  
  Mogadishu is an ancient city. Since the 14th Century it has flourished from its strategic location, an epicenter for trade between the Gulf and the Swahili coast. It is this strategic location that also facilitates regional piracy. It also serves as an ideal conduit for the trade between internal production and export. Although dominated by an array of colonial powers over time, from Oman to Italy, it nonetheless retains an internal, structural capacity to again become a major economic hub. Its urban density, coastal location, european roadways, and interconnection with other cities such as Afgooye or Kismayo have contributed to an urban resilience of the city. Perhaps one could conjecture that so much physical destruction has taken place in the city because the structural resilience made it too difficult for armed groups to conduct combat, and consequently only through degrading the city could military accomplishments take place.
  
  Now that city is beginning to stabilize and the Somali people are beginning to return to Mogadishu. With the massive influx of returnees, the city is faced with new tasks. Jobs need to develop, roads need to be cleared and repaired, sanitation improved, access to water, and systems need to be developed to deal with property ownership and acquisition. Without the funds to cover the costs, and with the lack of urban planning for a city in conflict, it will require creative and innovative efforts to stabilize and rebuild. Of course there are greater regional challenges, as many are also returning to Mogadishu because they fear the dangers of living outside the city. Obviously the key to the success of the city is connected to the stabilization of the region as well. But for the first time in decades, there is a chance that something can change. There is an opportunity.
- Problem Solving through Design and Dancing your Phd: #design, #urbanplanning, #dance
  
  Jan 28, 12
  
  Design is an experimental process to question and remix the obvious
  Last week I wrote about how design has lately become over privileged as a problem solving tool with the recent pop-culture and corporate belief in the power of design-thinking. Certainly while design-thinking will not solve all problems, it does have its merits. In fact, it is the use of design and product-centric outcomes which differentiates my own work from many competitors. Too often urban planning and development firms invest thousands of hours into research and strategy, only for the final product to manifest as a sterile report and an underwhelming powerpoint presentation. Imagine if urban planning retained the energy of a design process throughout multiple phases of strategic problem solving. It could potentially engage broader audiences, source more diverse inputs, and lead to solutions that aren't so easily diluted by city governments and regional politics.
  
  Design thinking has benefits. It is both systematic and exploratory. Take for example a typical model for concept development within industrial design practice. It is more or less similar to an urban planning approach - to identify stakeholder interests, define guidelines, to research similar projects and move forward with a product for phased testing. Over time the concept becomes more refined and at anytime you can - and should - revisit previous steps to continue revision. Eventually the final product is realized and implemented on a broad scale or mass produced. Only within the process of idea creation are decisions arbitrarily made, yet the process is not strictly scientific or entirely reliant upon market tests. In theory, the final result should maintain some degree (or hopefully all) of its original creative energy while nonetheless balanced and viable. Typically work developed via a design methodology should be effective, attractive, accessible, inexpensive, and broadly communicative. Perhaps it is the infusion of such simple concepts as "attractive" that have corporations suddenly lusting for design integration within their work. Yet the real question is, why was this not a concern before? How many revolutionary moments in human invention have been connected to the phrase "our product is really ugly, hard to use, and cumbersome, but please ignore that."
  
  Concept Development within Product Design Methodology
  
  The power of design can also undermine real analysis
  Obviously a design-based approach has an important role beyond the idea development and solution process, as it has the means to transform sterile content into an engaging opportunity. For example, a quick look through the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook reveals an adept use of Adobe Indesign and a variety of visualization techniques. Or take for example the work done by Space Syntax. Their GIS work is consistently beautiful. So much that I am often distracted by the quality of the renderings, uncertain of their specificity and meaning. Of course that is a keen advantage to providing data via beautiful imagery, as the method can smoothen over the gaps in knowledge and research. Then again, the strength is as much a weakness.
  
  If the purpose of design is to communicate, then we must be wary of how easily the beauty of design can undermine the ability to do so. Communication is challenging, in particular when communicating complex information to audiences who are unfamiliar with the territory. I believe every grad student experiences that moment when a relative asks "so what are you working on in school" only to watch their eyes glaze at the over-long, overly detailed, and laborious response. A couple clean graphics could change this entire situation, yet the result could just as well become "what beautiful colors."
  
  A recent TEDtalk by my buddy John Bohanon does well to illustrate how good intentions can go array when communicating information. In the video below (or here), John satirically examines the detrimental impact visual PowerPoint presentations have made upon the global economy. And in a beautifully choreographed yet modest proposal, John demonstrates how other means of communication are perhaps more appropriate to explore complex concepts. Although John embraces dance as a vehicle to communicate, one could just as well embrace music or knitting. Ultimately, the vehicle by which a message is delivered cannot redefine the message itself. It can only carry it. Sometimes the correct vehicle is chosen and is a smooth ride. Sometimes its not. And sometimes, it would have been better to walk or ride a bike had one taken a moment to stop and consider the possibilities.
- Buzzword of the Day: "Design-Thinking"
  
  Jan 22, 12
  
  Design Tip #1 for all the Design-Thinking Innovation folks: When pasting an image onto a monitor,
  include an offset darkened reflection for that professional touch [Pic by Mitch].
  Why is the catchphrase design thinking the big buzzword these days? Somehow alongside a massive cultural focus on innovation, companies are lusting toward design-thinking as a strategy to reframe old problems and create new, radical solutions. Yet how many organizations maintain an internal structure to accommodate such endeavors? How many organizations can afford to do so, when the premise of design is to take risks over and over again until something works? Not to mention, design is merely a tool equitable to all other tools for solving problems. Design solutions are by no means better, they are simply nicer to look at, easier to sell, and sometimes not as predictable.
  
  Now after paging through Forbes or entrepreneur magazines, it seems that all the people who are lusting for design solutions are non-designers. I wonder what they are hoping to find? Anyway, I'm fine with the trend because when I came out of art school, I didn't plan on ever making much money or being in high demand - but all that has changed. Thanks!
  
  Tip #2: Always include filigrees
  to come across as hip but refined.
  I find it fascinating, and somewhat comical, that so many organizations suddenly want to be design companies. Having started my career as a designer, I admit that directing my career into urban planning, economics, and conflict studies was extremely difficult. There were countless hurdles to acceptance among other development professionals who would immediately question the value of my education. Once I had a job interview with an ngo that kept asking about my BFA throughout the interview... even though I had masters degrees and work experience in their sector for 6 years, having graduated from art school nearly 10 years past. During that 8 years, I also had to work 10 times as hard as my peers to acquire a fundamental knowledge-base in statistics, research methods, and contextual knowledge. It is only natural that the challenges go the other way as well... even though it is a popular ideology that anyone can do art and design, this is far from the truth. Like anything else, one has to work their way up and there are many sleepless nights. Not to mention, design isn't like some disciplines where one merely needs to be smarter than the competition, as a design project easily entails hundreds of hours with no guarantee of success. For all the companies that suddenly want to become design firms, they are about to face a barrage unexpected hurdles.
  
  Take for example the firm Caerus Associates. Headed up by military strategist David Kilcullen, Caerus is a defense strategy consultancy that has initiated a transition toward working as a design firm. Yet when you look at their amateur website, it is evident that the one thing they really lack is an understanding of design. To make matters worse, the source code on their site shows that they didn't even do it in-house, but passed it to a group of young WashingtonDC hipsters who probably did it below market value in hope of building a better business relationship down the road. The fact that Caerus didn't reject the outsourced site design shows just how much more they need to learn before they can actually do decent work for someone else. If something as fundamental as a basic CSS site is such a design obstacle, do you really want such a firm proposing urban design solutions for an entire city or nation?
  
  Tip #3: Always include helvetica in your photoshop images,
  ideally contrasted with a font no one can read [Pic by Mitch]
  If a client is searching for design based solutions why bother hiring social scientists wanting to be designers when there are plenty of design firms out there that work in complicated areas. Just off the top of my head I can think of SAYA/Design for Change, Urban-Think-Tank, Solidere. Will their solutions work? Maybe, but not necessarily because they are design firms and architects are trained to approach social space as a design space rather than as social enterprise. But at least you are getting designers if that is what you are looking for.
  
  Reconciling complex social problems with product-oriented solutions is a monumental task and very few people have the training within both domains to accomplish this feat. If it was easy, urban design and planning wouldn't be so reliant on professional trends. The majority of architectural and planning solutions would extend far beyond the standard application of mixed-use urban development (maybe retail on the bottom with housing on top, whoa!), green-belt buffer zones, bicycle paths, pedestrian streets, community mapping exercises, economic incubators, zoning codes, voucher programs, community design centers, PAR, and public-private partnerships.
  
  Tip #4: Use QR Codes all the time
  since no one uses them outside of Asia
  So why keep recycling solutions and pretending it is something new and innovative? The present focus on design-based social innovation is simply another trend. It is equitable to the industrialist trends of 1890s, the garden city concepts of the 1900s, the Le Corbusier inspired highway elevations of the 1950s. Then of course there is the creative cities and new urbanism movements of the 1990s, the sustainability movement of the last 10 years and the overwhelmingly popular interest in urban resilience that is happening these days. All of these trends are permutations of the same thing more or less, varying only by degree.
  
  Today's overwhelming focus on social entrepreneurship, design-thinking, technology-based solutions and resilience is not a means toward something worthwhile. It is merely another observable reflection of economic circumstance and a cultural gravitation toward technology as a solution gateway.
  
  So why draw more dots when there are plenty to connect in the meanwhile?
  C'mon fellas, we can all do far better.
  
  --
  [Hmmmm... this was fun. Maybe I should do a whole series of tips for all those new Innovation Consultants and Strategic Design Firms out there].
- Humanitarian Aid and Development as a Profitable Enterprise
  
  Jan 14, 12
  
  Ikea as Humanitarian and Urban Planner?
  Years ago, I was asked to write an essay for a class on Architectural Conservation. We had a guest lecture by renown American architectural historian Patrick Snadon who discussed the issues of preserving ugly modernist buildings in contemporary cities, and we were asked to write a reaction to the topic. My own paper focused on the economic issues in preserving American architecture, as so often city, state and federal governments are asked to inject funds to preserve historic sites when such funds simply never exist. I suggested that preservationists could utilize more accessible tools, to perhaps utilize strategies that engage the private sector rather than the public. Sports stadiums, football games, and city plazas typically have corporate sponsors, such as FedEx Field in Maryland and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Large, wealthy companies vie for the opportunity to sponsor popular sports facilities and in the end, everybody wins.
  
  So why not do this with historic buildings or entire neighborhoods? Why couldn't Procter & Gamble initiate a large-scale urban development effort? Private companies have explored this in the past, such as when Walt Disney led the design and planning of Celebration, Florida. Such actions would facilitate brand loyalty, the companies could plan to include programs to increase their recruiting pool - such as special academic programs in schools that focus on product design or computer programming - and governments are less strained. Again, everybody wins.
  
  Ikea's Town Plan, London UK
  A few weeks ago I read about the massive retailer IKEA pursuing an urban development scheme in London, exploring town planning and development with real-estate company LandProp. Although some may find it outrageous, I greatly applaud IKEA's interest in expanding their penchant for refined design and cost-cutting production into the domain of urban development. Notably, this new town will not include an IKEA retailer. Around the same time, I also learned about a large grant from IKEA of 62 Million USD provided to UNHCR for development purpose in the Dadaab refugee camps. So what does this mean?
  
  Like the idea I had in grad school about corporations spearheading architectural preservation and urban development, I ask why can't this happen within humanitarian aid and international development? Why is it the sole responsibility of cash-strapped governments and NGOs to aid those in need, to overcome poverty, and to develop sustainable economies of scale? In many ways, the idea of doing this without financial stakeholders is absolutely ludicrous. If a company such as Ikea were willing to invest in the reconstruction of a city such as Kabul, the environmental development of Hargeissa Somaliland, or to invest in a neighborhood in Detroit, they could access a massive labor-pool, expand their customer base with deeply-rooted brand loyalty, and lock themselves into a more profitable future.
  
  What I think is critical, is that this process does not need to be philanthropic. Not everyone needs to be the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It could be a profitable enterprise. The risk is that we would live in a world where every city, town, and street would be named after Gilette razor-blades, Ivory Soap, and CocaCola but then again, we already live in a world where professional sports and entertainment are dominated by the same vestiges of capitalism. Buses and subways are covered in advertising, and movies feature endless product placements. Would it actually be all that different?
  
  So in the end, I ask if it is time to radically upgrade how humanitarian aid and development is undertaken. If laissez-faire ideologies are going to dominate the global economy, then why not utilize their embedded leverage, to push for the expansion of corporations to integrate all facets of daily life.
  
  Admittedly the concept goes against my own personal sensibilities. Maybe its a bad idea, maybe it would create an international catastrophe of unparalleled proportion, but then again, maybe it could work.
- 3d Maps for Humanitarian Aid and Urban Planning: #googleearth, #kinect, #gis, #urbanplanning
  
  Jan 12, 12
  
  NGO's often ask me to help them interface new technologies with current operations. Sometimes accomplishing this goal is a simple matter of providing staff with some technical training. On other occasions it requires a modification of data collection methods, database construction, and the organizational structure. These tasks are not necessarily complicated, but they do require some imagination on behalf of the organization to ask probing questions about what is and is not possible in their organization. This is particularly true when it comes to processes of data collection.
  
  Within a humanitarian crisis, advance understanding of the geography makes all the difference among first responders. But too often the situation is different upon arrival than had been expected. Especially when faced with a natural disaster such as an earthquake when buildings collapse and road are uprooted. Even when decent 2d maps are available, they only portray a fraction of the information necessary to situate logistical lines of operation. First responders relay information back to headquarters, but I suspect that with ongoing technological developments, this can take place faster and better.
  
  Google is well-known for their data-collection cars, equipped with fancy cameras by companies such as Elphel and Sick AG, roaming city streets to compile imagery for Google Street View. Most of the streets recorded are major cities throughout western countries, but there have also been experiments utilizing snowmobiles and tricycles to collect the same information in difficult terrains. Understandably, these systems are cost-prohibative for an aid agency, not only in terms of actual equipment, but also for data transmission, image compositing, database construction and the staff necessary to put everything together. It would seem an organization would need to function at the scale of Google or at least in partnership, but there are already many private companies out there - such as Cyclomedia and ImmersiveMedia- who conduct such work. If aid agencies were able to have a navigable 3d rendering of a crisis immediately upon arrival, it could change everything.
  
  So how can we scale this to something smaller and cheaper?
  
  In terms of digital 3d scanning, there might be options in the near future as experiments continue with the Microsoft Kinect. Originally intended for video games, Microsoft has been surprisingly "hands-off" about letting others hack and explore the device. Archeologists are already beginning to explore utilizing the device to scan archaeological digs for analysis. At the moment, the utility of such a device is limited to small spaces, but hopefully in the near future, the simple mounting of such a device on top of a vehicle could permit immediate digital scans of disaster sites upon arrival. At present the tool is clearly best suited for reconstruction efforts, but as the resolution increases in the next couple years, the tool will be better formatted for humanitarian emergencies.
  
  Likewise, at the very minimum, increased use of passive video collection by first-responders could provide headquarters offices a tool for marketing and communications. Cheap and easy, the simple mounting of cameras to vehicles or clothing could rapidly collect information for digital late-night upload with no difficulty. Ranging in shape and size, bodycams/handhelds/and helmet cams have come along way since popularly used by extreme sports enthusiasts in the 1990s, opening the door for widespread application. When I once worked on a project of a the Ohio Department of Transportation, I was surprised to discover the ODT had a collection of video footage of every roadway in the state. Why can't an aid agency collect the similar information for all areas of operation upon arrival?
  
  At the smallest personal scale, advancements in mobile phones and phone cameras provides the means to crowd source visual data collection. On an individual level, mobile applications such as Fulcrum permit a means to collect geocoded photographs with customizable forms for databases. With upcoming versions of the application to include audio and video, agencies have a rapid means to collect the information necessary to increase the efficiency of their response. As the mobile device automatically synchs with the database in the cloud, any agency or individual can quickly and seamlessly integrate realtime video footage, photographs, and survey-style data collection with their preexisting information, providing a richer information system for management and planners.
- Urban Planning in Kabul with a Low-tech Drone: #kabul, #urbanplanning, #gis
  
  Jan 11, 12
  
  Earlier today I wrote a post about the idea of utilizing drones for urban planning and design. Although little more than a digital camera connected to a flying helicopter, the idea of a personal "eye in the sky" would allow urban planners to collect real-time spatial information for analysis. However, while this might be an excellent improvement over the traditional use of weather balloons for aerial photography, the high-profile nature of drone research would not be suitable for hostile environments. As drones vary in size, from large aircraft to small bird-like robots and gliders (or even as small as insects), the role of drones within contemporary combat undermines the ability to use one for spatial urban research.
  
  A couple hours later I was driving through Kabul when I saw some children playing in the street and a new idea struck.
  
  Kites.
  
  Every night the Kabul skyline is dotted with kites of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Children and adults fly kites at a range of altitudes from the street, rooftops, mountaintops, ruins and street corners. Kites are a common feature throughout the city and while they lack the specificity of a remote-controlled craft, a sufficiently strong kite and a small/light camera would easily allow one to photograph the city from the sky without objection. It would not attract any unwanted attention and could be flown at any time of day. Of course one would need a super small, lightweight camera, but such a thing a possible. I've seen tiny cameras in big box stores in the US and all over the internet. Acquiring one on the spot in Afghanistan or elsewhere simply requires a little advance planning.
  
  It does raise questions about invasion of privacy, but I would posit it depends on how one uses this strategy. If it is merely to analyze urban infrastructure and broad social patterns such as traffic, then it really isn't an invasion of privacy any more than google earth. The only difference is that it is faster, cheaper, and provides more immediate flexibility.
  
  Certainly much work would be necessary to adjust the images into an accurate rendering of the landscape, but ultimately the necessity of accuracy is relative to the demand. This would not be a good method to map property boundaries or any surveying work, yet it would be a great way to determine times of traffic congestion or bottlenecks.
  
  The idea of using a kite for aerial photography and video makes me wonder as to what other local-technologies might offer for urban research within conflict. Of course this strategy won't work everywhere, but I am certainly curious about the results this experiment will yield in Kabul in the near future.
- Urban Planning and Design with a Drone: #urbanplanning, #gis, #drone, #design
  
  Jan 11, 12
  
  As an Urban Planner who teaches in a Computer Science department in Afghanistan, I spend a lot of time thinking about ways to apply emerging technologies to analyze and solve problems in cities, informal settlements, and refugee camps. I've been interested in this area ever since I observed the massive economic impact of a single mobile phone tower in the Dadaab refugee camps. A couple years later I read about the role that communications infrastructure has had to improve security within Afghanistan, and was attracted to the idea due to its low cost and high output.
  
  Working in developing countries, I always keep in mind that development ideas conceived in the global north may do more harm than good in global south. This is clearly evident whenever one looks at a formally constructed refugee camp, where it is common for engineers to clear all trees and vegetation before laying out a nice gridded settlement in a country where featureless, sterile grid communities are an oddity. Conversely, I also support an argument made by Jeffrey Sach's that one of the primary roots of poverty is concerned with a gap in access to technology. Clearly there is friction between the two ideas, yet upon occasions that technology is appropriated and implemented as a local solution, it is frequently a success.
  
  Notably, when working in conflict zones, I've found that technology-based research and analysis provides far more opportunity than technology-based initiatives. Most the time. Yet this is a greatly untapped area for planners, to go beyond a simple reliance on pre-existing GIS databases or a survey distribution to collect real-time, meaningful data. Quite honestly, it is hard to get good information, and it is even harder to get good information that is up to date. If you buy it, its expensive, and if you do it yourself, it becomes a full-time job. Consequently I'm always looking for strategies that are fast, cheap, and capable. This might include the use of mobile apps or crowd sourcing strategies, but I believe an untapped area is the use of small consumer drones.
  
  Recently a trend has emerged in journalism to collect information with readily available, consumer-market drones. The use of drone journalism has been of great use in areas of political activism and chaos, such as protests in Moscow (stunning drone photos here) and Syria. With increasing use of this method, the University of Lincoln-Nebraska has even founded a Drone Journalism Lab for further exploration.
  
  With the increased use of aerial video data collection by journalists and easily accessible with products such as the AR Parrot, I've recently been exploring how this same method could be of value to urban planners. In some incidents, the answer is fairly obvious, as planners could simply use small flying machines to conduct mapping procedures akin to balloon-based aerial photography. Utilizing a remote-controlled device rather than a weather balloon, it is possible to collect more specific data and at a much greater scale.
  
  Unfortunately, so far it appears that this method is not suitable for areas of conflict, given the role of drones within warfare. While the device of course is mobile and therefore does not put the researcher at risk (win), the necessity to physically collect the item at the end of the research process does put the research at risk (fail), or at the very minimum, raise local suspicions and create difficult conditions for further research (fail). There may be opportunities to conduct such aerial research in an open and acceptable manner, but such instances are too rare to merit much utility.
- Outlook 2012: Innovative Education and Post-War Reconstruction in Afghanistan and Somalia
  
  Jan 08, 12
  
  I'm excited as the InnovationLab at AUAF is about to take off this spring, with exciting student-driven projects. InnovationLab is committed to students integrating multimedia, communications, and GIS technology to document, analyze, and solve problems in their own communities. Utilizing Tilemill, tiles from Spatial Networks, Walking Papers, and a donated software by ESRI, students will be able direct their own neighborhoods, assess their own self-constructed databases, and explore innovative solutions to the structural urban problems that impede their daily lives in Kabul.
  
  Likewise, with ongoing defeat al-Shabaab in Somalia, the city is left in shambles amidst a sudden moment of stability. With the sudden change, thousands of Somalis have returned to Mogadishu, anxious to rebuilt their city. Although many have voluntarily worked to clean the streets in hope of resurrecting the infrastructure, there is a clear demand for technical services and expertise. With such critical timing, I am looking forward to initiating and overseeing a series of projects in Mogadishu this year in cooperation with several to-be-announced partners. Together we will work to reconstruct the city infrastructure, its economy, and its social fabric which had been severely downtrodden by decades of war.
  
  Other projects in East Africa for the year are in the pipeline, so stay tuned.
- Finding an al-Shabaab Training Camp on Google Earth. #Somalia, #alShabaab, #gis
  
  Dec 12, 11
  
  After two decades of watching Somalia collapse on itself and descend only into previously unknown depths of chaos, within 2011 it has dramatically transformed. Undermined by the famine, al Shabaab has been reduced from a fighting force of about 7,000 to roughly 5,000. Upon abandoning Mogadishu, the group has returned to their roots, utilizing hit-and-run tactics better suited to their small, agile forces.
  
  Although Shabaab has been reduced, their training and recruitment camps nonetheless to proliferate across the south, near Kismayo. These camps are designed to instruct youth to use weapons and “feature courses on bomb construction that are taught by al-Qaeda members in Somalia.” To reinforce recruitment efforts, Shabaab has forced the closure of local schools to encourage students to join the battle against the African Union forces in Mogadishu. Within a recent African Union report, al-Shabaab’s primary training camp was described as located in “Laanta Buro [sic] village at the periphery of Afgoye [sic] town nearly 40km south of Mogadishu.”
  
  Al-Shabaab Training Camp
  I found this al-Shabaab camp in Google Earth by comparing a collection of descriptive sources. The location of Laanta Buur village is described in a 2010 country report for the UK Border Agency.
  
  “Heading beyond Agfoye [sic] in the direction of the coastal town of Merka, there are more checkpoints... at Laanta Buur, I am surprised to see that people can travel safely without fear of being ambushed... at Laanta Buur checkpoint, al- Shabaab militia members search men one at a time...”
  
  Somalia has only one road leading from the southern coastal city of Merka toward Mogadishu.
  
  Following this road it was possible to quickly determine the location of al- Shabaab’s training camp at Laanta Buur approximately 40 kilometers south of Mogadishu, and within the vicinity of Afgooye.
  
  Laanta Buur contains several features that differentiate this space from the nearby towns and villages. Set back away from the primary road between Merka and Mogadishu by roughly 1⁄2 a kilometer, an airstrip runs parallel to the main road.
  
  The airstrip was once a functioning airport known as “K-50.” For many years, when use of the International Airport in Mogadishu was too dangerous, K-50 was a fully operational airport utilized by many aid agencies to transport supplies into the country. In 2008, al-Shabaab took over the K-50 airport and all flights were suspended.
  
  Laanta Buur Prison
  Adjacent to the southern side of the airstrip is a series of large concrete buildings in a Modernist style, surrounded by a trapezoidal wall. The wall has two points of entry, one at the northeastern corner, and one at the southeastern corner. Upon closer inspection, one can discern that the surrounding wall features three guard towers on the northwestern wall.
  
  This structure is one of the two infamous prisons constructed by Sayid Barre’s National Security Service (NSS). Constructed by East German engineers in the 1970s, this foreboding structure contains underground solitary confinement cells and was well known as a center of torture and abuse.81 The NSS utilized this prison as a “tool of intimidation, torture, and executions... the occupants of these centers, during this period, were mostly members of the political elite.”
  
  An Amnesty International Report in 1984 described the acts of torture by the NSS at Laanta Buur and the prison of Labaatan Jirow to have included beatings while bound in a contorted position, electric shocks, rape, simulated execution, and death threats. Many prisoners were held in prolonged solitary confinement, and some cells were permanently dark while others were permanently lit, resulting in hypertension and nervous breakdowns among prisoners.
  
  A personal account of time spent at Laanta Buur, Mahumud Yahya described it as a very lonely place, where political prisoners were separated from families, friends, and loved ones and were denied decent food and even reading materials. Each prisoner was left isolated in a large, filthy, rectangular room, empty except for a toilet. Yahya explains, however, that the one redeeming quality of the prison was the large courtyard, as prisoners at Laanta Buur were allowed to sometimes spend time there in the evening, whereas at the prison of Labaatan Jirow, located near Baidoa, prisoners were forced to spend the entirety of their incarceration in solitary confinement.
  
  Just as Laanta Buur prison was converted into an al-Shabaab training camp, Labaantan Jirow shared a similar history in the 1990s. According to a letter addressed to the UN Security Council in 1992, Labaantan Jirow was a point of operations for the Ethiopian military, which used it as a training camp and weapons storage location.
  
  Today, the prison appears to be abandoned, yet examination of the road to Baidoa that passes the prison suggests that it remains avoided as the adjacent roadway forks into an informal detour (with smaller fragmentary detours) to circumvent the prison. The additional time, effort, and challenge of driving through the bush would only be worthwhile if the driver had good reason, such as avoidance of an unseen checkpoint. It is also possible that the haunting memory of the site is enough to redirect traffic.
- Creative Problem Solving in #Kabul, #Afghanistan with #Technology and #Education
  
  Dec 12, 11
  
  Since arriving in Afghanistan in August, I've worked aggressively to launch a new project called the Innovation Lab. Available to select students at the American University of Afghanistan, the Innovation Lab, or (iN)Lab has been designed to extend education beyond the walls of the classroom and directly into the streets of Kabul. By teaching students to research and assess their own local environments, to work with limited resources and engage stakeholders while providing technological resources, I hope to see (iN)Lab fill a much needed gab in Afghanistan's local-scale development. Today registration opened, along with my own small marketing initiative to drive student enrollment. But now, just when things were starting to take off, I feel like I've hit a setback. Not a major one, but enough to be aggravated.
  
  Apparently Harvard University opened their own Innovation Lab (i-Lab) this week, dedicated to launching young entrepreneurs into the public. Consequently I'm disappointed by the news that their project shares the same name, a similar vision, and has the same timing as my own. The positive side is that I believe my project is very unique in its conception, as the program draws from my own inter-disciplianry education in art & design, urban planning, computer science and work experience in conflict zones. Arguably, I like to think that working with Afghan students to facilitate local community problem solving through such creative measures is far more innovative than providing privileged Harvard students with more tools to be financially successful.
  
  I strongly believe in the program I have crafted and I fully intend to see it through. Yet it very difficult to conduct such a program in Afghanistan. We have finite resources in terms of money and space, problems with security, aggressive traffic, power outages, poor internet service... the list goes on for a long, long time. Working with so many obstacles, I've aggressively sought partners to contribute to the program, and yet nearly 20 universities, nonprofits, or companies failed to respond or simply said it is too intimidating to get involved. However, there have been successes, and I am very lucky to have found the interests of spatial technology company Spatial Networks and the dynamic science journalist John Bohannon. With their support (and hopefully others), hard work, and student dedication, I am fully confident that our program will accomplish its goals. For now however, I'm left wondering if I should change the name.
- Deconstructing Kabul's Geography - #kabul, #afghanistan, #gis, #urbanplanning
  
  Sep 23, 11
  
  For the last few days my life has been a nonstop process of researching geospatial technologies and softwares. Since I was first introduced to GIS in grad school with ArcMap, its amazing how far these systems have come. Looking into an open source platform, I initially spent my days with GRASS and while impressed by all its toolset, I've been frustrated by its bulky user interface. Trying to construct informative maps with GRASS made me feel like I was stuck in a time warp, somehow using software from 20 years ago. I have found more functionality using QGIS, but I'm still just looking for seamless integration and multimedia capabilities.
  
  After my last post I received some emails about some new tools out there and later after a few email exchanges with Anthony Quartararo of Spatial Networks, he introduced me to some of the more exciting options out there an began to realize that a full-scale desktop GIS may not really be necessary. Thanks to tools like MapBox, IndieMaps, and Geocommons, it is possible construct interesting maps and have access to a wide variety of data.
  
  For example, by using Geocommons I was able to quickly construct a map of Kabul with the location of each school in the city - or at least the locations in 2004, I haven't located more recent data. I was then located the map into google earth. Check it out, its a great way to explore the city. If you can't see the image below, you can visit the site directly here.
  
  View map on GeoCommons
  
  While exploring my options for analysis and filtration, I also stumbled upon a site dedicated to 360 panoramic photos. There is a fantastic panoramic of Kabul as shot from the top of TV Mountain - the central mountain in Kabul covered with antennae and satellite dishes etc. Once again, if there is difficulty accessing the image, please click the link below.
  
  TV Hill in Afghanistan
- Finding #Kabul on a Map - The Challenge of Acquiring #GIS Data in #Afghanistan
  
  Sep 23, 11
  
  Lately I've been working hard to improve my skills with Geographic Information Systems. As a Planner, GIS is a critical tool for researching, deconstructing, and analyzing human settlements. I've been using GIS for several years, yet was never confident in my ability to utilize the software packages or the datasets. I could do the work, but it was never intuitive. Fortunately that is beginning to change. Recently, GIS has taken on a new role in my life as I've been using it to determine and model advance indicators of insecurity. While there are plenty of competing organizations and individuals out there hoping to find ways to asess the probability and locations of conflict before it happens, the truth is, all these systems are bulky, expensive, slow, and not feasible for an individual user. Yet there is a demand among individual users and so my goal is to create a reliable statistical tool for common individuals with basic internet access, not to reinvent the wheel of security and defense.
  
  Image via Spatial Networks
  Surprisingly, the biggest obstacle hasn't been acquiring real-time data. Thanks to recent developments in social media, it has been remarkably simple to acquire and filter information on recent events as they happen. When a problem takes place in Kabul, I have full details on that situation within seconds and after only a matter of minutes am able to fully assess its scale and location. Knowing when and where things are happening is the easiest part.
  
  Google Maps - Map of Kabul
  Instead, the biggest challenge has been the acquisition of a useful base map. In short, maps of Kabul are terrible. Take for example this map acquired from Google. You will notice that the streets outlined in yellow do not remotely correlate to the actual roads in the satellite image. Someone should be fired for this.
  
  WikiMapia - Map of Kabul
  Other typical map options are equally limited. In the past I've been a solid user of Wikimapia, as it allows individuals to upload information and draw vector-boundaries around areas of interest, so its useful for studying remote geographies. It has been of great value when studying Somalia, and it is clear from the example that Wikimapia is densely loaded with relevant information in Kabul as well. Clearly this is better than Google, yet it has one majore flaw, it does not allow one to export the maps into any useable format.
  
  Options do exist out there in the world to obtain high quality geographic data on Kabul, such as found through Spatial Networks, but if you are like me and must do the work with a limited budget, options are slim. Using ESRI's online ArcExplorer, I was able to pull up a collection of maps for comparison. Although they look suitable in the small examples to the right, once you actually begin to zoom inward, all feasibility of use at street-scale is lost. Bummer.
  
  Today I made the breakthrough and found the winner to be OpenStreeMap.org. It functions basically like google earth, allows one to customize the map like wikimaps, but best all, allows the user to export the map as an XML file. The result is that I can integrate this map with my datasets and an actually useful product is in the making. I'm excited about the prospects of this new tool and look forward to sharing updates on its development in the near future. If any other GIS users out there have insight on ways to obtain useful data and maps for less-documented places like Kabul, feel free to send me an email or something - I'm always looking for new information.
- Urban Planning in Kabul - Convention vs Demand; #Kabul, #Afghanistan, #engineering, #transportation
  
  Sep 16, 11
  
  Urban Planning is more than an attempt to solve existing problems. Urban Planning is about directly shaping the future and I would argue that a sense of vision is the greatest skill needed by Planners. Yet somehow there is a common disconnect within the discipline, where graduate programs encourage rich brainstorming and imaginative concepts, or individual architectural studios pursue elaborate renderings of the future - but in the end, the final projects are unimpressively droll.
  
  Frequently this disconnect is due to the over-reliance upon trends, conventions and buzzwords. In the last 10 years, thousands of Planners have pursued their work within the confines of new urbanism, transit-oriented development, and sustainability. The danger of course is that Planners can and do make decisions that dehabilitate future development in the name of social advancement, or they fail to account for pre-existing variables because those variables do not fall within the confines of the trend. An obvious example is the manner in which NYC planner Robert Moses frequently advocated the needs of automobiles over local communities - yet Moses was merely working within the conventions of the era. In his mind, automobiles and transportation were the most critical asset to urban health and it was impossible for him to assess the negative repercussions. How many planners today make the same poor decisions as Moses, but in the name of sustainability or economic growth?
  
  In Kabul, urban planning and development is subject to the same conceptual limitations although the city contains an seemingly more complex array of variables. I would argue however that the variables are no different than any other metropolis, but rather the organizational methods and logistics for implementation contain more obstacles. Regardless, various discipline-centric examples can be found for planning the future of Kabul. For example, within the proposed project, City of Light, great emphasis is placed upon developing a skyline to accentuate the mountainous horizon lines following the city. Other proposals focus on typical urban planning strategies such as sector-based zoning, green corridors, centralized business and historic districts and residential living.
  
  Yet why? Why should Kabul develop according to these guidelines? In fact, the city has remained in place for thousands of years, and while never emulating the mountains in its skyline, has managed to capture many hearts with its beauty. Likewise, while I appreciate the sense of vision, I also wonder why the planners simply ignored the most common and visible feature of Kabul - the hillside residential sprawl.
  
  As mentioned in an earlier post, the most obvious characteristic of Kabul is the verticality of its organization. The hillsides are covered with formally and informally constructed housing, stretching far up the mountains and on all sides. There are no paved roads up the mountains, rather residents must walk along narrow pathways and hand carved staircases. Running water is inconsistently distributed but many of the houses have electricity. To my understanding, the houses along the mountainsides are fairly new, all constructed sometime in the last 10 years. I was told that majority of these houses are the result of mass displacement in outlying provinces, as millions of people have sought safety and economic opportunities within Kabul. Unable to secure housing in the central valley, housing has been informally constructed from the bottom upward. This also implies that the communities are composed of mixed ethnic groups, potentially with a collection of diverse languages and cultural practices. In addition to localized sociocultural identities, they may also contain localized economic traits, and each community is the foundation for new identity constructions, in particular among the youth who must balance imported identity constructs with local Kabuli characteristics.
  
  The upward residential sprawl also reflects a spatial settlement structure consistent with an earlier time in western countries. The wealthy classes live in the middle of the town and the poor live in the difficult to access outskirts. As Kabul continues to stabilize and develop, this settlement pattern will change. In many ways, it already has begun to change. Just as large-scale housing and condominium developments have been constructed along the outskirts of Kabul, near the airport, attracting large segments of the population, the settlement structure between the mountains and the downtown neighborhoods will likely invert. When improved transportation and utility infrastructures are installed, the mountains will become a site for high-end housing. Some of the high quality housing will be a consequence of incremental consolidation among existing structures, where families will continue to expand and upgrade their own housing. Yet much new housing will also be constructed and as many of the existing legal structures lack a legal claim to the property, inevitable conflicts will emerge when wealthy developers acquire legal titles to property then raise existing settlements in the name of progress.
  
  Although seemingly separate, one must also recognize that one day a tunnel will be constructed through the mountains, most likely within the next 40 years. At this time, all transportation is bottlenecked as the city remains bisected by the mountains (illustrated in blue). Once a tunnel is constructed, the future urban morphology of Kabul will make a dramatic shift, reformulating itself according to new traffic patterns. New centers of business growth will take root while existing locations will deteriorate.
  
  If the city can become more integrated with regional developments, such as improved logistical pathways to China and Pakistan, perhaps there will be limited negative repercussions, otherwise one must assume that this aggressive and inevitable demand by the transportation infrastructure will harbor large-scale economic impact. It also suggests that most urban development plans will be rendered arbitrary, perhaps even harmful.
  
  So what does this all mean? It means that the most visionary planning will become impotent if the microstructures, points of existing demand, and regional connections are ignored. It means that the entire functionality of a city can change with a single project when that project is in aggressive demand. I would argue that within areas of conflict, that these singular interventions can provide the greatest degree of impact, and therefore large-scale planning is fairly limited in its applicability.
  
  Kabul's historic legacy is rooted in its location. It has always served as the point of intersection between India, China, Central Asia, and Western Europe. Ultimately, the success of the city has always been founded in its ability to connect disparate points of activity, serving as a critical intersection. While vision is essential to lead Kabul into the future, this vision cannot exist in a vacuum, and any feasible planning must build upon Kabul's geographic centrality. Today, urban growth patterns generated by conflict have resulted in a bifurcated city. In many ways, this division undermines its prospects for stability as the dehabilitated infrastructure supports systems of chaos and undermines the logistics of social order. Notably, solutions exist - the construction of a single mountain tunnel (high cost, but difficult to sabotage unlike rail transit, and short-term construction time unaffected by seasons) can redirect the entire urban assemblage. The upfront high-cost becomes proportionately low-cost given the generated value of financial revenue and increased stability.
- Academic Conferences on #Conflict, Reconstruction, #Architecture and Urban Planning 2011-2012
  
  Aug 26, 11
  Every time I look for a conference to present research on the intersection of Architecture, Conflict, and Urban Planning, all the best conferences just happened or I missed the call for papers. Of course one has to be flexible and try to find fitting venues, but it can be a challenge. Fortunately this week I found a large collection of upcoming conferences for 2011-2012. I definitely intend to attend at least one of these and I hope to see you there.
  
  Spaces and Flows 2011. Prato, Italy
  Conference: November 17-18, 2011. Call for Papers Deadline: September 22, 2011.
  This conference is dedicated to mapping the transformative interchange between the global north and south, attempting to map the dynamic power flows and interactions.
  
  Third International Conference in Communication and Media Studies: (Re)Making and Undoing of Peace/Conflict. Famagusta, Cyprus.
  Conference: April 11, 2012. Call for Papers Deadline September 23, 2011.
  This broad conference is focussed on issues ranging from globalization to war, peace and reconstruction, social transformation and collective healing through media and imagery.
  
  Borders and Borderlands: Contested Spaces. Berlin, Germany.
  Conference: March 28-31, 2012. Call for Papers Deadline: November 30 2011.
  Rooting the discussion in the context of the Berlin Wall, this conference examines how borderlands and contested spaces are not marginal phenomena, but rather contain complex layers of social, political, and urban interactions. Research grants available.
  
  Violence in Urban Spaces since the second half of the 20th Century: Comparative, Transnational and Entangled Perspectives. International Conference on Urban History. Prague, Czech Republic.
  Conference: August 29 - September 1, 2012. Call for Papers Deadline: October 1, 2011.
  Discussion of violence as a communicative form, embedded in the built environment and articulated through broader social processes.
- A Vertical Menagerie; #kabul,#afghanistan, #city
  
  Aug 23, 11
  
  As mentioned in my previous post, the most fascinating characteristic about Kabul is the way in which a single space can contain multiple layers of meaning and value. Social spaces are loaded with complex combinations of use, symbolism, risk, respite, and value. Yet another intriguing element about Kabul is the manner in which urban spaces are vertically stacked. This is of course true of all settlements, yet in Kabul, these spaces and their traffic extend arguably higher, far beyond the rooftops.
  All throughout the city are men digging drainage ditches alongside the streets. The nicest streets are paved with concrete and have drainage canals covered with steel grating along the side. The lowest order of streets consist of entirely of compacted dirt and rock with no drainage, and throughout the city are mixed combinations of both types.
  
  I know there are some underground sewage systems, but these are only in wealthier or new neighborhoods. For the most part, roadway drainage (about 2-3 feet deep and 1 foot wide) is the most prevalent form of subterranean infrastructure. Yet given the large quantity of local infrastructure projects, I can only think of the this space, the space below the ground, as an important part of the urban fabric.
  
  As you rise upward, the landscape shifts from the sewers to the streets, which vary tremendously in quality and traffic. Neighborhoods composed of international agencies and residents are lined with massive walls, hiding families away behind compounds while the average street is comparable to most throughout the world with shops, restaurants and markets. Dotted throughout the intersections are large defense posts, often adorned with light weaponry and dusty camouflage netting. Overhead is a tangle of power lines and cell phone towers, with mountains in the background. Political imagery and signage is typically visible, sometimes entangled with advertising and shop signs. Large posters of President Karzai, photos of political leaders and signs denoting signs of progress dot the roadways. The dust permeates all spaces and layers all structures with a thin velvet layer.
  
  My favorite time of day in Kabul is just a few minutes after sunset, when distances are suddenly squashed by the fuzzy ambiance of light and the hillsides begin to glitter with electricity. The massive dark mountains begin to flicker and move as all the houses, one by one, light up for the coming evening. The call to prayer goes out, mixing with the sounds of children and barking dogs floating upward from the streets. When the sun goes down, the hills abound with the humanity of family life.
  
  Yet during the day, the hills take on a different sensibility. Not because the houses, the families, or the people are different, but because in the light of day it is difficult to focus upward eyes upon anything but the large white reconnaissance balloons floating in the sky. The Eyes in the Sky, large white zeppelin-like balloons called aerostats hover above the city, collecting information from conversations, watching people on the street, and attempting to determine sources of threat from normal social behavior. Part of me wonders if the data from these balloons is integrated in the DOD's project, Nexus 7, in which complex computational tools attempt to measure common social behavior and extract outlying incidents as a means to predict conflict.
  
  When not focussing attention upon the aerostats, then my vision is often distracted by the helicopter traffic. Always traveling in pairs, I've quickly learned to distinguish helicopter typologies, and more often, learned that when the sound of chopper interrupts conversation to wait until the second passes before resuming.
  
  I've never been anywhere in which I felt the airspace was as much a part of the general urban space as I have found in Kabul. So often the energy of a community ends mid-way up the tallest buildings, and yet here it seems to just go onward into the clouds.
- Welcome to Kabul: #Kabul, #Afghanistan,
  
  Aug 23, 11
  
  First impressions are always a little complicated. Sometimes they are perfectly accurate and sometimes they are completely off-base. In a place like Kabul, it can be far more difficult to know if such impressions are remotely accurate. (Unfortunately I lost my camera or it was stolen from my luggage, so I cannot supply any photos at this time. However I will certainly add more later).
  
  The only thing I can say about Kabul is that each space is loaded with inconsistencies. A street corner might contain children playing, old men talking, a successful business, an armed security guard, goats on the street and a new glass building. The greatest danger is that it generally doesn't feel dangerous, yet war manages to permeate the landscape. Not through obvious means - the buildings are not riddled by bullets etc., but rather, each building is so heavily fortified and the pretense of security dominates. The sense of risk and aggression is 'omni-present' rather than 'ever-present,' whereas war saturates all things merely as atmosphere and does not otherwise obstruct or become manifest in daily reality.
  
  There were some explosions today and one was audible from my house, yet it didn't actually change anything. Life carries forward for all those who do not take part in the conflict, which is ultimately the majority. Consequently, the greatest threat I believe one could have is to become complacent and become lulled into a sense of safety and thus be arrive at the wrong place at the wrong time. After all, safety is not a feeling, it is a condition and the best determination of security is not to measure one's feelings, but rather to vigilantly assess and monitor the surrounding environment. Even more so, to pay attention to where one is located and how one interacts in that environment is critical, because there are always ways to adjust personal behavior to mitigate threats before they happen and to reduce the potential for threats to become actions.
  
  As time goes by, all such things will be in flux, and so will my understanding of this city. Yet based on the last 24 hours, if I have one goal, it is to always remain vigilant and objective as long as I continue to make this my home.
- Stability Planning amidst Global Conflict and Chaos: #London, #riotinlondon, #
  
  Aug 12, 11
  
  Poverty and Riot Clusters UK
  Massive riots in the UK.
  
  Uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.
  
  Conflict and famine in the Horn of Africa.
  
  Poverty and conflict in South/Central Asia.
  
  Riot Activity Distribution UK
  The situations listed are all unique, with individual drivers, contexts, and actors. Yet there remain consistent trends among these situations. It is easy to quickly fall into a Marxist critique of all situations, wherein the conflict is described by class battles, especially considering how insecurity and poverty are strongly correlated. One can see from a map of wealth distribution in London (the bluer the richer, the more red is the most poor) that the riots are most concentrated in low-income neighborhoods. Yet as riot participants are mobile, it is difficult to determine from afar who is participating etc. A broader picture of riot-related activity may reveal that the mobility of its participants and the broad distribution of activity negates the viability any land-use/gis analysis.
  
  The UK is generally considered to have a stable and accessible government with a low corruption index and is considered one of the most developed nations in the world. Consequently, one can only assume that the the riots are grounded in stresses between internal social structures, and is likely based on a socio-economic dilemma. All nations suffer from such conditions, but in general, the international community would become distraught if the UK government attempts to suppress the riots through aggressive or military intervention, as has been the approach to suppressing protests and social upheaval in Syria, Libya, Iran, and so on. Consequently the government has been left to explore other stabilization options, such as technology-based solutions and an expanded police presence. It is reasonable that the government would implement a large body of force to secure the city of London from future disruption, but then what? How do things change so that it stays pacified and such events don't happen in the future?
  
  Theorists and practitioners always want to determine and address root causes. The greatest difficulty is that is it nearly impossible to determine why the riots are taking place. If one were to ask 100,000 rioters why they are participating, there would be 100,000 responses. Responses could vary from deeply rooted experiences of social strife and racism, or for many, they could simply be youth looking for a good time who want to steal a television or get a new ipod. Consumerism and "first world problems" concerning cultural identity and alienation could be a major undercurrent. Regardless of the reasons underlying the riots, the question emerges, is there an alternative way to pacify and avoid future riots?
  
  An urban planning approach would advocate the fusion of participatory processes with local community institutions to create pathways for social mobility, community cohesion, and economic growth. The difficulty however is the determination and mobilization of viable institutions. Many classic institutions - such as churches, schools, and local government - simply lack the capacity to facilitate any real change. With the constant slashing of institutional budgets offset by raising demands in services, one could argue that the riots taking place in the UK are not the consequence of poverty, rather that the riots are the consequence of incapable local institutions. Such institutions are not inept, but in contrast are merely unable to accommodate demands.
  
  One could change this situation in a variety of ways. There could be an effort to return classic institutions to function on par with demand. One could also work to create new institutions altogether, although this often requires new infrastructure such as sports facilities, buildings for meetings and administration, recreational spaces. Even if consumerism were a driver of conflict, are there shopping centers and jobs for youth to indulge themselves?
  
  Unfortunately no matter the approach, it requires resources to be injected into the community. To measure the amount of resources injected in relation to the rate of absorption and local re-production reveals that any viable solution will also require a sufficient body of time. Ultimately the only way to offset that time-demand is to quickly allocate and facilitate the already functioning nodes of production (churches with successful youth groups, community outreach programs, amateur sports leagues). Of course this is easier said than done, and it still requires a vast supply of resources. But in the end, good governance is not enough, as a community needs not only a shelter over its head, it needs to stand on a strong foundation.
- Analysis of #alShabaab withdrawal from #Mogadishu; #Dadaab pushed to the Edge
  
  Aug 09, 11
  
  Quite a bit has taken place within Dadaab and Somalia in the last few weeks and it is difficult to summarize everything. The Dadaab camps have received a great deal of media attention while the regional draught rages. Somalia has a long history of internal strife, yet arguably the current draught is far more damaging than past instances as the country no longer contains sufficient infrastructure for aid agencies to deliver services. The inadequacy of infrastructure prompts dramatic repercussions, not only in terms famine relief but also through the inability to provide broader public health support. With the surge of displacement, many have been refused admission to the camps, as there are not enough resources available. The constant influx of refugees also continues to place great strain on the local communities.
  
  Within Somalia there have been a variety of reports on al Shabaab preventing the delivery of aid. In addition to reports of fake NGOs attempting to take advantage of the incoming aid money, Shabaab has also listed several agencies to be banned with the area for attempting to do more than deliver basic assistance.
  
  Most notably, al Shabaab has withdrawn from Mogadishu. There are still reports of fighting, yet the group publicly announced its withdrawal, citing a change in tactics and to save civilian lives. The city is not yet safe for return as the group has established checkpoints outside of the city, intercepting returnees for money and recruitment. It is suspected Shabaab has been heavily affected by the drought and cannot sustain combat within the capital city while some analysts argue that Shabaab suffers from divided leadership. This is similar to the 2009 when the group withdrew from Kismayo, abandoning training camps and strategic points.
  
  I suspect the withdrawal may be a true change in tactics rather than a sign of loss or weakness. Considering that Shabaab fighters have ambushed AMISOM soldiers sweeping into newly vacated areas, taking advantage of the urban terrain, this may be a legitimate attempt to maximize available resources and keep AMISOM forces off-balance.
  
  Shabaab's quick acquisition of power within Somalia was possible because Shabaab groups concentrated their forces in urban areas where they could utilize transportation and communication resources, tap into ports and markets, and tax local populations. As the Somalia conflict developed and became more binary between Shabaab and the TFG, Shabaab's approach to conflict became less networked and more one-dimensional.
  
  Since the TFG is a major supplier of arms to non-state groups within Somalia and that unpaid soldiers often sell ammunition for goods, there is a sufficient flow of arms and ammunition throughout the region for Shabaab to continue its military objective yet there must be an adaptation to the changing geography. Somalia presently has 5 major cell phone providers, populations have shifted from the urban core to the corridors between towns and scattered among IDP camps and Mogadishu only contains a small fraction of its original population.
  
  al Shabaab Supply Trench in Mogadishu, Somalia
  Amid the geography transformation, Shabaab has grown and annexed territory yet not adapted to the changing resources. Simultaneously, the conflict has slowly become more symmetric, with Shabaab and the AMISOM forces fighting along a frontline in Mogadishu, utilizing a mixed combat method of hit-and-run tactics and trench warfare. AMISOM has been working to cover the trenches before any future return by Shabaab troops.
  
  The sudden withdrawal may be a sign of weakness. Yet it may also be an indicator that the conflict is about to change abruptly, to become something far more unorthodox and challenging than the TFG is equipped to confront.
  
  **Update: Just a few hours after posting this reports have rolled in that multiple attacks have taken place in Mogadishu with al Shabaab utilizing hit and run tactics and hidden explosive devices.
- #Dadaab Research and Information, #Somalia #Refugees, and #Architecture
  
  Jul 19, 11
  
  Events within the Dadaab refugee camps have reached a fever-pitch in the last few weeks. Or more accurately, there has been a surge of interest in the Dadaab camps, as circumstances have always been dire. I have lately received many emails from those interested in working at the camps, designing solutions, or basic requests for information.
  
  At the moment I am traveling and have limited access to a computer so I apologize for the delayed responses. However this week I added a new page The Humanitarian Space, specifically compiling some resources and information about Dadaab. The resources are drawn from my own work or is work on which I am quite familiar and can answer questions.
  
  In the next few days I will provide a more thorough background on recent events, information about refugee camp design, and answer some of the most recent questions.