Disturbanism in the South Pacific: Disturbance Ecology as a Basis for Urban Resilience in Small Island States

Abstract

This chapter describes a disturbance ecology approach to urban planning and design in the South Pacific. It suggests that a self-organizing model for Pacific island settlement design – based on the process of biotic colonization – provides for greater urban resilience than current settlement planning models, particularly with respect to the constant problem of recovery after cyclonic damage. We argue that the importation of architectural and urbanization practices from countries that are not subject to the cataclysmic instabilities of cyclonic ecologies are inappropriate for the small urban systems of the Pacific. Drawing on the natural history of South Pacific islands we propose a nonlinear, ecosystem – led urban design strategy for tropical island urbanism by working with the limit conditions imposed by environmental and historical parameters rather than against them.