Unintended Social and Economic Consequences Resulting from the Implementation of New Construction Technologies in the Developing World

Abstract

Unintended Social and Economic Consequences Resulting from the Implementation of New Construction Technologies in the Developing World Andrew South School of Technology Master of Science One of the key components of international development is to provide adequate shelter for citizens of developing countries. This is often accomplished by governmental, nongovernmental, and private organizations that seek to lower the cost, increase the quality, and expand the availability of safe, sustainable housing through the use of innovative technologies. These new technologies can affect the social and/or economic structure within communities. This paper is a case study resulting from the construction of a seventy-one-home village, including infrastructure, near Yogyakarta, Indonesia by a foreign, aid-based non-governmental organization (NGO). The village was relocated less than two kilometers from its original site after a massive landslide, triggered by the 2006 earthquakes of Central Java, virtually destroyed the entire community. Four years after construction the researcher took an inductive inquiry approach through interviews with residents of the community and residents of neighboring communities to understand the social and economic impacts. The research project explored the unintended consequences to the community resulting from the NGO’s use of innovative housing technologies (steel reinforced concrete domes and planned community development) without a thorough understanding of underlying community culture and interactions.