Humanitarian architecture: As a strategy to overcome scarcities in urban areas

Throughout history, humanity has witnessed various challenges ranging from natural disasters to human-induced crises. The increasing frequency and impact of these disasters are associated with factors such as environmental neglect, diseases, political conflicts, and industrial accidents. These circumstances lead to massive human movements, exposing individuals to various scarcities when they relocate or reside in different places. At this point, the concept of scarcity is not limited solely to material absence or lack of access to resources, contrary to popular belief; it also indicates the absence of all phenomena and services that humans require. Among these scarcities are notable physical privations such as housing problems, informal settlements, lack of green spaces, limited access to public services, the disappearance of productive lands, and employment issues. Alongside these tangible hardships, there exist intangible aspects like spatial perception loss, a sense of lack of belonging, and negative alterations in societal memory. Although the concept of scarcity is primarily recognized as the main focus of studies in disciplines such as economics and finance, the manifestations and duplicable expressions of scarcity clearly demonstrate its existence within the discipline of architecture. The influence of the scarcity concept on cities and thereby on individuals amplifies the grievances experienced in urban areas. While well-intentioned efforts to address the opportunities that cities fail to provide due to these deficiencies are temporary and urgent, they cannot entirely eradicate the presence of scarcity in urban areas. It should be acknowledged that the solution to this phenomenon, fundamentally affecting nature, habitats, cities, and the flow of daily life, lies within humanity itself as an integral part of nature. Separating humans from nature is impossible; hence, the chaotic relationship between humans and scarcity will persist in both problem-solving and resolution stages. Therefore, this thesis aims to explore Humanitarian Architecture, a relatively new approach that embraces elevating humanity and seeing humans as collaborators, to offer healing suggestions for scarcities that directly or indirectly affect humans and their living spaces. Humanitarian Architecture is an approach that not only focuses on humans but also collaborates with them. By involving humans in the working environment, it aims to preserve values and culture while responding to the needs of society and individuals. In this context, the scope of this study is to concentrate on understanding the place and effects of the concept of scarcity within the discipline of architecture and to propose solutions to these issues identified as problems through the collective effort of the Humanitarian Architecture approach. The study aims to highlight how this approach's humane perspective, both in theoretical and practical contexts, can serve as a pioneering model for broader adoption within the discipline of architecture in addressing contemporary urban scarcities. The thesis examines the sensitive approach of Humanitarian Architecture in presenting unifying and restorative contributions in architecture, along with its advocates. Keywords: Scarcity, Urbanization, Humanitarian Architecture, Community Awareness, Livable Cities