Christ-Roi: A Planning Scheme for a More Accessible, Healthier and More Attractive Neighborhood

The scheme was produced between February and September 2013 for the integrated reconstruction, urban planning and economic development project that Solidarités International ran in Christ-Roi under the PARAQ. It follows the CIAT guide for neighborhood rehabilitation of May 2013, builds on the participatory diagnostic made by SI, and was drawn up with residents in more than 30 workshops, with mapping, a hydrological and geotechnical study and a steering committee that included the public works ministry and the housing unit UCLBP.

The diagnostic chapter describes insufficient sanitation, services that are hard to reach, difficult roads and movement, a lively local economy and neighborhood life, a housing problem that persists more than three years after the earthquake, and risks that residents see differently from the technical studies. The report estimates that more than half of the buildings were affected by the earthquake and that 65 percent of the houses along the ravine were rated red.

The strategy chosen is built on consensus in the neighborhood around sanitation and accessibility, with three orientations: make the neighborhood more accessible, improve its sanitation, and strengthen its attractiveness. Tools include a zoning map and a risk prevention plan. The projects chapter lists 27 projects and picks 3 trigger projects with several effects, among them the redevelopment of the ravine, and a last chapter gives recommendations for corridors and drainage, the ravine, roads, public spaces, trade and housing rehabilitation.