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2015.01
The newsletter of FUSE International
FUSE International is the collaboration of the design firms of Architects Hawaii
Ltd., Looney & Associates, The Planning Studio, Selva Partners, and Tongg, Clarke
& McCelvey. It is an international design alliance focused on the areas of master
planning, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, sustainability,
infrastructure, and development feasibility analysis. With a diverse portfolio, FUSE
specializes in hospitality, leisure, entertainment, retail, residential high-rise and
low-rise, healthcare, commercial, educational, and institutional projects. Firms
within this alliance possess more than six decades of global expertise and honored
with more than 200 awards.
www.fuseisdesign.com
COASTAL
TOURISM AND
RESILIENCE
inFUSE masthead.d1-3
Resiliency is the ability to recover from
an event and improve one’s ability to
better withstand future potential stresses
through preparedness.
In many regions around the world, including
the Middle East, tourism is an essential
part of the local and regional economy,
employing a wide range of people, bringing
money from around the world to the
local economy, inspiring infrastructure
and creating quality-of-life improvements
throughout the local economy.
Coastal tourism and hospitality are particularly
vulnerable to natural disasters, tropical storms
and tsunamis. While disasters have been
relatively rare events and generally random, no
destination is immune from their occurrence.
Consumer confidence, reputation and
experience are the foundation of the
successful tourism industry. A destination
cannot afford to be associated with
the perception of increased risk from
natural disasters.
Resilience is the ability to decrease these
risks, be pro-active, and plan in order
to minimize effects of disaster for people,
facilities and infrastructure. Resilience is the
ability of a location to bounce back quickly,
for quick reopening of access and facilities,
for quick staff return, and to send a clear
message that, “We are in business, and all is
safe, clean and ready to welcome you back.”
Resilience in
the Arab Region
Based on the findings of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the
Arab Forum for Environment and Development
(AFED), the Arab countries are in many
ways among the most vulnerable in the world
to the potential impacts of climate change,
the most significant of which are increased
average temperatures, less and more erratic
precipitation, and sea level rise (SLR). Most
of the region’s major cities and economic
activity are located in the coastal zones.
Popular tourist activities depend on marine
and coastal assets, like coral reefs and
associated fauna. This pattern of development
and geographic vulnerability creates the
imperative to plan and learn from other
coastal tourism areas that have already
been impacted by natural disasters or
changing conditions.
EXAMPLE OF IMPACT
ON COASTAL TOURISM:
THAILAND AND THE
TSUNAMI
A stunning example of a natural disaster’s
devastating coastal tourism is the December
26, 2004 Tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and
notably in Phuket, Thailand. The tsunami
killed at least 250 people in Phuket and
5400 overall in Thailand. While the physical
response from local and Thai authorities was
fast and relatively well coordinated, the media
coverage and customer perceptions did
not keep up with reality. Tourists shunned
Thailand for years after the disaster and the
tsunami triggered a tourism crisis for the
popular coastal centers of southern Thailand.
While staggeringly tragic, the tsunami inspired
changes in zoning, community coordination,
safety standards and infrastructure design.
The complex systems of which tourist
developments are a part can be much better
coordinated, planned and implemented.
Post-disaster changes to zoning plans
require all future developments to be at least
100 m from the foreshore with an intervening
landscaped parkland area to form a natural
barrier between the ocean and buildings.
Any facilities and infrastructure erected must
conform further to minimum construction
and safety standards.
One of Phuket’s strongest lessons for the
rest of the world is to integrate all aspects of
planning for resilience in anticipation of natural
disasters. Communication systems, social
and economic integration throughout the
community, smart codes and thorough
enforcement, ecological barrier planning
and robust infrastructure design all must be
implemented together. This comprehensive
and holistic approach to planning and
operations in the tourism industry is currently
not standard, but in the face of increased
severity and frequency of natural disasters,
it needs to be.
TO BE PREPARED AND MORE RESILIENT
Planning across complex
systems is essential
to minimize the negative
effects of inevitable
natural disasters, and
for swift recovery.
To address these threats, designers need
to incorporate the findings from Phuket
and other disaster sites into the physical
planning of existing and future coastal
projects. Essential strategies include:
• Risk assessment and analysis that
identifies potential threats and
disasters, and priorities relative to
probability of occurrence — real, likely
and historical threats.
• Assessment and planning of
infrastructure in areas in which buildings,
roads, and other infrastructure are
neither built nor reinforced to code;
these infrastructure elements are likely
to suffer damage such as impassable
roads, bridges, and collapsed building,
and need to be improved.
TRENDING NEWS
Walgreens Ke‘eaumoku
Walgreens Flagship Store
— Redefining Retail
The recently completed Walgreens flagship
store is a key element to the Ala Moana
area in Honolulu on the island of O‘ahu
in Hawai‘i. This project is melds local
influence and traditions with a unique
design applications. The building uses
transparent “origami” metal cladding and
glass curtain walls to incorporate views
and create a dynamic sense of place.
Graphic elements capture local traditions
and expanded services create unique
dining and consumer options.
Symphony Honolulu
• Ecological features that may serve to
buffer a project from the impacts of
future sea level rise, coastal flooding or
storm surge such as forested buffers,
dunes, and wetlands should be
incorporated into projects.
• Resilience is a community effort;
cooperation among all stakeholders
breaks down barriers and paradigms in
order to develop strong synergies for
crisis times. This collaboration includes
everyone from government to private
business to social institutions.
• For effective resilience, everything
from an effective communication plan
to building codes and zoning require
integrated, holistic action.
After an event happens, it is too late:
we need to be forward-thinking now.
Sources and articles of interest:
1. Phuket, Thailand, 10 years after the tsunami: Paradise as usual, Traveller.com.au, Dec 26 2014
2. Yetta K. Gurtner, Phuket: Tsunami and Tourism – a Preliminary Investigation, in Crisis Management in Tourism, 2007
3. Sandra Sydnor-Bousso, Kathryn Stafford, Michael Tews, Howard Adler, Toward a Resilience Model for the Hospitality & Tourism Industry, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 2011.
4. Bill Faulkner, Tourism Disasters: Towards a Generic Model, CRC for Sustainable Tourism, 1999.
5. Huma Irfan, Impact of Climate Change on The Arabian Gulf Region, Kuwait: A Case Study, UCL Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, 2010.
6. M.C. Simpson, S. Gossling, D. Scott, C.M. Hall, E. Gladin, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Tourism Sector: Frameworks, Tools and Practices, United Nations Environment Program,
University of Oxford, 2008.
7. Climate Change and Cost Smart Construction Infrastructure Siting and Design Guidelines, State of Maryland, Department of Natural Resources, 2014
8. Mohamed El Raey, Impact of Sea Level Rise on the Arab Region, University of Alexandria, and Regional Center for Disaster Risk Reduction, Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, 2010.
9. Resilience Strategies for Communities at Risk, Urban Resilience Program White Paper Series, Urban Land Institute, 2014
Symphony Honolulu
Under Construction
Symphony Honolulu is 388 private
condominium residences atop of
a three-story world class exotic car
showroom and service center called
Velocity. Velocity will feature retail, dining
and entertainment space to create
an upscale venue. This project is due
to be completed in 2016 on the island
of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i.