7 ms·

They call it Canaan: How 200K Haitians built a city on their own

78 points by hownottowrite 9y ago

Ericson2314 9y ago
So many NGOs, so few multi-story buildings.
scribu 9y ago
Reading about how people cope after being displaced by a natural disaster felt so different than reading about people voluntarily abandoning their homes to form communes. The latter shuns authority, while the former actively seeks it. Found Canaan on OpenStreetMap [1], as described in the article. It shows up on satelite images on Google Maps too [2]. [1] https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/18.6540/-72.2634 https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/18.6540/-72.2634 [2] https://goo.gl/maps/8w257Q5mC4y https://goo.gl/maps/8w257Q5mC4y
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Don't confuse authority with organization.
sbierwagen 9y ago
Kushner describes it as a "city", but with no power, water grid, sewage system or stormwater management,[1] it's more of a squatter camp with roads than a city. They want to build infrastructure, but since nobody owns the land they're squatting on, there's no way to raise money via land taxes. The technocrat answer to that would be individual septic tanks and solar panels, but because there's no land ownership and no law enforcement, you'd have to be nuts to invest any serious money in building a house, because a gang would just take it from you. Classic development trap. Jonathan Katz talked about Corail/Cannan in The Big Truck That Went By, and he wasn't positive. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OZN6GM/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OZN6GM/ Published in 2013, but it doesn't sound like much has changed. 1: Port-au-Prince gets about twice as much rain as Seattle per year, and is routinely hit by hurricanes. If you don't manage the stormwater, it washes your house downhill. Sewage systems have also become important, since UN peacekeepers brought cholera with them after the earthquake.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  'technocrat' means something other than the way you're using it here, FYI - it's evidence-based institutional governance, not lifehacking.
  - dinkumthinkum 9y ago
    Well, actually if you are going for pedantic, I think you are wrong as well. A technocracy is system in which leaders are chosen based on technical skills in various disciplines, not exactly evidence-based institutional governance. In fact, I think the parent's meaning is a little closer to "correct" than you suggest. I think you charitably say "a technocrat would suggest institution of a solar panel program" or such like that.
  - sbierwagen 9y ago
    I was using "technocrat" in the pejorative sense-- suggesting technological fixes to political problems. The political problem here is weak rule of law, which results in various physical problems. (No clean water, no electricity, etc) NGO technocrats frequently suggest ineffective technical solutions (water filters, solar panels) that don't address the root problem, which is either intractable or politically sensitive.
    - barry-cotter 9y ago
      Given Haiti's history over the last 50 years the chances of fixing Haitian politics are ~0. What can people do when government does not work and has not worked in the living memory of a majority of the population? The best way to improve the lives of Haitians is obviously to help them emigrate but they're quite, quite motivated to do that already.
      - pleeze 9y ago
        The best way to help a nation is not to help the population flee their otherwise workable location. As others have stated, it's not politically correct to state the obvious: local rule has utterly failed. British or American occupation has always been the best option based on factual national statistics.
erentz 9y ago
This kind of looks like just another continuation of the man made ecological disaster in Haiti. But in lieu of real solutions, people are going to do what they need to.
dmix 9y ago
'Built a city on their own' Aren't all cities built by people... on their own? Almost all cities formed spontaneously via market forces or geographical incentives, then eventually organize a more local government system - largely by the same families who founded the village/town. What exactly are we praising them for?
- alphabettsy 9y ago
  Just looking to be a dick today? They built a city by hand without heavy equipment or government because they had no choice. Recognizing their resolve doesn't have to be praise.
- pjc50 9y ago
  Most cities are built in some sort of social and governmental framework.
  - dmix 9y ago
    That's how towns/cities are eventually organized upon reaching a certain scale, yes... but that is not how they are initially formed in the vast majority of cases. There is no central planning which brings a large group of people to an area. The rare attempts to start cities in that fashion in China failed spectacularly. It's quite obvious which part is the egg and which the chicken. People are drawn to areas for a variety of reasons. A more localized government is merely a rational reaction to the needs of a large community, a form of organization after the fact (or merely a result of following established standards and practices, rather than rational need). What is distinct in this story seems to be the absence of government following the initial growth phase. Maybe due to a lack of stable functioning economic systems which incentivize the organization of municipal governments. But the cities and infrastructure which we live in are very much the result of people who were initially just 'doing it on their own' before formalizing systems of organization. I know it's trendy to dismiss pioneers and frontiersmen who built western society but this seems like praising a step backwards.
    - dinkumthinkum 9y ago
permadefroster 9y ago
Poorly constructed dwellings got lots of people killed during the 2010 earthquake. It might be bad news to see recovery take shape as structures built without paying attention to safety codes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake
- mnm1 9y ago
  I'd rather take the risk of dying inside a poorly constructed dwelling in an earthquake than the countless risks of being homeless, and I'm sure most Haitians and people in general would too. Brings up the question of whether safety codes and other such nonsense even have a place when the alternative is homelessness. Clearly the US seems to think so, but I certainly wouldn't follow our lead on this issue considering how poorly we've dealt with our own homeless problem while keeping vast quantities of real estate empty or not even built.
  - dinkumthinkum 9y ago
    Safety code nonsense? Surely you jest? You cite homelessness as an argument against safety codes? Sure, we all want to decimate the scourge of homelessness but do you have a sense of how small a percentage of the US is actually homeless? You would have us give up on safety codes for .... what? A shanty for everyone?
swampthinker 9y ago
Would Haiti be a good source of cheap manufacturing labor?
- leroy_masochist 9y ago
  Yes. There are a lot of textile operations there and they are starting to manufacture electronics as well. Significant investment into this infrastructure (industrial parks, etc) went in after the earthquake.
  - Vaskerville 9y ago
    There was significant investment and most of that has lead to very little. There are efforts recently trying to do more complicated textile manufacturing but I have heard that factory owners aren't interested in doing more than simple things. Probably for a variety of reasons including lack of skilled workers, training, etc. The only electronics I have heard about (I live in Haiti) is Surtab (http://surtab.com/ http://surtab.com/).

78 points by hownottowrite 9y ago

So many NGOs, so few multi-story buildings.

Reading about how people cope after being displaced by a natural disaster felt so different than reading about people voluntarily abandoning their homes to form communes. The latter shuns authority, while the former actively seeks it. Found Canaan on OpenStreetMap [1], as described in the article. It shows up on satelite images on Google Maps too [2]. [1] https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/18.6540/-72.2634 https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/18.6540/-72.2634 [2] https://goo.gl/maps/8w257Q5mC4y https://goo.gl/maps/8w257Q5mC4y

anigbrowl 9y ago
Don't confuse authority with organization.

sbierwagen 9y ago

Kushner describes it as a "city", but with no power, water grid, sewage system or stormwater management,[1] it's more of a squatter camp with roads than a city. They want to build infrastructure, but since nobody owns the land they're squatting on, there's no way to raise money via land taxes. The technocrat answer to that would be individual septic tanks and solar panels, but because there's no land ownership and no law enforcement, you'd have to be nuts to invest any serious money in building a house, because a gang would just take it from you. Classic development trap. Jonathan Katz talked about Corail/Cannan in The Big Truck That Went By, and he wasn't positive. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OZN6GM/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OZN6GM/ Published in 2013, but it doesn't sound like much has changed. 1: Port-au-Prince gets about twice as much rain as Seattle per year, and is routinely hit by hurricanes. If you don't manage the stormwater, it washes your house downhill. Sewage systems have also become important, since UN peacekeepers brought cholera with them after the earthquake.

anigbrowl 9y ago
'technocrat' means something other than the way you're using it here, FYI - it's evidence-based institutional governance, not lifehacking.
- dinkumthinkum 9y ago
  Well, actually if you are going for pedantic, I think you are wrong as well. A technocracy is system in which leaders are chosen based on technical skills in various disciplines, not exactly evidence-based institutional governance. In fact, I think the parent's meaning is a little closer to "correct" than you suggest. I think you charitably say "a technocrat would suggest institution of a solar panel program" or such like that.
- sbierwagen 9y ago
  I was using "technocrat" in the pejorative sense-- suggesting technological fixes to political problems. The political problem here is weak rule of law, which results in various physical problems. (No clean water, no electricity, etc) NGO technocrats frequently suggest ineffective technical solutions (water filters, solar panels) that don't address the root problem, which is either intractable or politically sensitive.
  - barry-cotter 9y ago
    Given Haiti's history over the last 50 years the chances of fixing Haitian politics are ~0. What can people do when government does not work and has not worked in the living memory of a majority of the population? The best way to improve the lives of Haitians is obviously to help them emigrate but they're quite, quite motivated to do that already.
    - pleeze 9y ago
      The best way to help a nation is not to help the population flee their otherwise workable location. As others have stated, it's not politically correct to state the obvious: local rule has utterly failed. British or American occupation has always been the best option based on factual national statistics.

erentz 9y ago

This kind of looks like just another continuation of the man made ecological disaster in Haiti. But in lieu of real solutions, people are going to do what they need to.

dmix 9y ago

'Built a city on their own' Aren't all cities built by people... on their own? Almost all cities formed spontaneously via market forces or geographical incentives, then eventually organize a more local government system - largely by the same families who founded the village/town. What exactly are we praising them for?

alphabettsy 9y ago
Just looking to be a dick today? They built a city by hand without heavy equipment or government because they had no choice. Recognizing their resolve doesn't have to be praise.
pjc50 9y ago
Most cities are built in some sort of social and governmental framework.
- dmix 9y ago
  That's how towns/cities are eventually organized upon reaching a certain scale, yes... but that is not how they are initially formed in the vast majority of cases. There is no central planning which brings a large group of people to an area. The rare attempts to start cities in that fashion in China failed spectacularly. It's quite obvious which part is the egg and which the chicken. People are drawn to areas for a variety of reasons. A more localized government is merely a rational reaction to the needs of a large community, a form of organization after the fact (or merely a result of following established standards and practices, rather than rational need). What is distinct in this story seems to be the absence of government following the initial growth phase. Maybe due to a lack of stable functioning economic systems which incentivize the organization of municipal governments. But the cities and infrastructure which we live in are very much the result of people who were initially just 'doing it on their own' before formalizing systems of organization. I know it's trendy to dismiss pioneers and frontiersmen who built western society but this seems like praising a step backwards.
  - dinkumthinkum 9y ago

permadefroster 9y ago

Poorly constructed dwellings got lots of people killed during the 2010 earthquake. It might be bad news to see recovery take shape as structures built without paying attention to safety codes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake

mnm1 9y ago
I'd rather take the risk of dying inside a poorly constructed dwelling in an earthquake than the countless risks of being homeless, and I'm sure most Haitians and people in general would too. Brings up the question of whether safety codes and other such nonsense even have a place when the alternative is homelessness. Clearly the US seems to think so, but I certainly wouldn't follow our lead on this issue considering how poorly we've dealt with our own homeless problem while keeping vast quantities of real estate empty or not even built.
- dinkumthinkum 9y ago
  Safety code nonsense? Surely you jest? You cite homelessness as an argument against safety codes? Sure, we all want to decimate the scourge of homelessness but do you have a sense of how small a percentage of the US is actually homeless? You would have us give up on safety codes for .... what? A shanty for everyone?

swampthinker 9y ago

Would Haiti be a good source of cheap manufacturing labor?

leroy_masochist 9y ago
Yes. There are a lot of textile operations there and they are starting to manufacture electronics as well. Significant investment into this infrastructure (industrial parks, etc) went in after the earthquake.
- Vaskerville 9y ago
  There was significant investment and most of that has lead to very little. There are efforts recently trying to do more complicated textile manufacturing but I have heard that factory owners aren't interested in doing more than simple things. Probably for a variety of reasons including lack of skilled workers, training, etc. The only electronics I have heard about (I live in Haiti) is Surtab (http://surtab.com/ http://surtab.com/).