Irresponsible construction comes with a human and environmental cost: time for transformation

The February 2023 earthquake in Syria and Turkey has exposed yet again how cost-cutting in construction – for private gain – comes with a high human cost. Multiple reports have highlighted the fact that unnecessary lives were lost given building structures that were not up to code.

Last year IHRB held a session called “Transforming the Way We Build”. It brought together people from tenants’ organizations, workers’ unions, city networks, industry and finance to think about what needs to change in the way the built environment is produced and maintained.

The session had that name for a reason: recognizing that it is only by transforming the economic practices and processes that underpin the built environment that we will begin to see the necessary changes in outcomes. A Financial Times piece in response to the Turkey-Syria disaster, “Building homes for an Earthquake”, recognizes this too, saying:

“Perhaps the biggest problem is the way we build, the ingrained conventions.”

First it’s important to recognize the outcomes that are set in motion by the current dominant economic model in the built environment. These outcomes include disproportionate financial benefits from building and infrastructure projects being siphoned off by investors and owners (the Odebrecht scandal being just the most high-profile example), which leads to physical structures that put lives at risk, rental structures that put adequate and affordable housing out or reach for many, and labour structures that lead to low or stolen wages, and health and safety risks for workers.

Outcomes of the current model also include the over-extraction of materials, and missed opportunities to maximize energy efficiency or switch away from fossil fuels as buildings’ source of power. Buildings and construction account for 37 percent of global energy- and process-related carbon emissions, as well as almost half of raw materials use.?Re-thinking the underlying approach to building is all the more important given that dramatic changes in old and new infrastructure will be a key component of decarbonising economies.

Too often, solutions try to tackle one of these issues at a time. They might focus on emissions reductions, or housing rights, or workers’ rights. That’s understandable. With real estate accounting for two thirds of the World’s assets, and with the built environment characterized by complexity, opacity, and competing interests, shifting its economic underpinnings seems daunting at best. But with every earthquake, building collapse or fire in which lives are lost unnecessarily, with every new story about cities that will soon be underwater it becomes harder to claim that piecemeal approaches will lead us where we need to go.?

The good news is that there is growing recognition from all sectors and regions of the need for innovation and transformation in the way building happens. Investors are exploring new approaches to value. Cities and regions are thinking about how to align planning and building practices – and the financing that underpins them - more closely with their social and environmental goals. Advocates are bringing more transparency and accountability to flows of real estate finance. Communities are expanding collective ownership models. And construction workers are building partnerships with others to push for more responsible construction.??

Over the coming year It’s Material and IHRB will create a global map of examples of organizations and people who are shifting economic decision-making in the built environment. Elevating the transformation that is underway and strengthening connections between pockets of change can start to shift the narrative, expand the space and momentum for action, and reduce the space for business-as-usual. Nothing less than our collective future is at stake.

Related resources:

• Dignity by Design: Human Rights and the Built Environment Lifecycle (see particularly page 44 on anti-corruption)
• Podcast conversation with Chrik Poortman and Maria da Graca Prado of CoST on corruption in infrastructure
• Building for Today and the Future: Advancing a Just Transition in the Built Environment
• Recommendations for policy-makers and investors: Inclusive decarbonization of buildings
• Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment: Blueprint for integrating human rights in built environment decision-making
• Cities: A Growing and Necessary Target for Human Rights Advocacy
• How can cities drive a shift to rights-based and circular construction?