OPENING REMARKS BY SYLVANUS O’CONNOR, PRESIDENT OF THE LIBERIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS AT THE LIA CONVENTION, 2018. ___________________________________________________________________ As the LIA continues to advance its aim to become a truly professional body it is very mindful that this goal embraces the need for the principles and objectives by which the institution exists become and remain relevant to this society at all times and in every aspect. This we are committed to doing, partly through the conventions we hold periodically as platforms to inform, raise awareness, educate, share knowledge, exchange information, and most of all influence decision making, hopefully at the highest decision making levels. Making decisions that improve our lives as a people and nation is imperative. The theme of LIA Convention 2018 is a heavily loaded one. It has been purposefully crafted with the aim of contributing to the unfolding narrative that is being built around an idea seen and considered to be of necessity for Liberia’s development based on an approach founded on a principle that seeks to be all-inclusive and enabling in addressing the individual and collective needs of the nation. At the end of the day the LIA hopes that the thoughts and ideas that emanate from this Convention will contribute to the national dialogue on how to position Liberia firmly on the path of durable and sustainable development. The theme, by virtue of its operative words and construction sets out the framework for the message, through presentations, that the LIA hopes to send out in this convention and the post-convention discussions that will follow. The core thrust of this convention is built around the utilization of architecture (engineering and planning) as inseparable development tools which when properly applied are capable of bringing immense value to this society’s quality of life and the assets it creates as the means to that end. The presentations that will be made by our honored foreign guests and local presenters will allude to the syntax and operative words of the Convention’s theme: architecture and sustainability; sustainability and progress; progress and pro-poor strategy; architecture and sustainable progress; and architecture in the realm of pro-poor strategy are all potentially thought provoking topics each loaded with insights that can be used to enrich our national consciousness as we seek to grapple with implementing the pro-poor agenda. The need for a pro-poor development agenda for Liberia cannot be overstated, by any means. Like most of Africa the prognosis for Liberia’s development success is closely tied to its ability to cope with a rapidly growing population (that is significantly youthful); high rate of urban migration; unmatched civil infrastructure and utility services, poor and inadequate housing conditions and high unemployment. These conditions lead to and sustain poverty closely followed by acute environmental degradation. The much publicized projection from this trend that in the near future most Africans will reside in cities and towns than in the countryside is therefore justifiably alarming, especially where appropriate actions are not taken with deliberate anticipation. That said, cities and towns do continue to provide the platform that drives the pursuit of human advancement. From that standpoint, it is imperative that utmost attention is paid to ensuring that our cities and towns are humane, functionally geared to enhancing our life sustaining activities as well as the social and cultural interactions that take place within them and help to maintain harmony. No doubt, where many people from diverse backgrounds, origins, beliefs and aspirations must live within a shared common space the issue of conflicting interests will abound. In such instances our willingness, ability and capacity to manage and govern with the goal of equity in mind will be severely tasked. Architecture’s relevance to the endeavor to find solutions in the realm of development begins with its preoccupation with conditioning and managing space in relation to the diverse needs of humans. Combined with space planning and engineering, the prudent engagement of architecture and the rules by which it is practiced will not only lead to our towns and cities being organized, healthy, and pleasant places of value to live in, they will become functionally relevant to a spatial system of interconnected parts woven into the nation’s economic master plan. As this convention’s aim unravels over the next three days it will heighten the already being felt need to incorporate more and better architecture, engineering and planning into details being worked out for implementing the pro-poor agenda. Indeed, much has been said and recorded on the subject of Liberia’s past development strategies having been less than successful at establishing inseparable linkages between spatial planning and economic development planning: the endemic lack of civil infrastructure and other physical facilities testify to this fact. In advocating for architecture the convention’s activities demonstrate the Liberia Institute of Architects’ desire to have the pro-poor agenda embraced and implemented from the standpoint of architecture and planning all-inclusive. In doing so the Convention seeks to build consensus; open up avenues for dialogue; educate and share experiences, through the following: 1. Encourage participation of the younger generation engaged in acquiring skills in architecture related disciplines, as well as other groups that are consciously aware of the need for broad based participation in tackling the issues associated with addressing poverty; 2. Public media communication; 3. Presentations followed by discussions on topical subjects/issues having relevance to the task of finding solutions; and 4. Sharing experiences with the view to learning from others. In concluding, the LIA hopes that through the experiences of this Convention avenues for cooperation would be found and established between technical institutions in the private sector and key agencies of the government with direct responsibilities in the infrastructure and urban governance sector. We hope to engage follow up activities in this regard in the near future. Thank you for being here and hope your attendance will be a rewarding one.
THE STATE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING PRACTICES IN LIBERIA: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE LIBERIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS (LIA) CONVENTION 2018.
As a nation, Liberia is caught in an atmosphere of intense expectations. The young, few of whom are well travelled and educated but most of whom are well informed and connected via the internet yearn for an improved quality of life and a brighter future they feel deprived of. The old, hope to live the rest of their rapidly expiring last days in relative peace and prosperity, even as they ponder over questions of how things could have gone so sadly wrong. What did they do or did not do? Undoubtedly, such scenario lays bare the perfect platform for blame trading: if it’s not the government, it’s the people in general or perhaps the parents who after all had the God given obligation, armed with the homely gavel of authority to groom succeeding generations. Perhaps it could well be ‘the people’ themselves, who only empowered to do so little, expect so much, even as they seem reluctant to at least grasp the idea of obeying the law as a way of life.
Arguably, there is also willing ignorance, which is convincingly manifested in the Liberian context as a partnership between two lethal behavioral conditions: on the one hand, is the perception that transfer of accumulated knowledge as a potent tool for societal transformation is being rejected by the young. On the other hand, is an apparent deliberate failure on the part of the old to impart structured knowledge to succeeding generations, as an obligation and in addition a necessary tool for ensuring continuity. The latter may well be the cause of the former, or vice versa. However, the fact that these two conditions exist in Liberia to the extent they do testifies to the fact that our communication system for ensuring continuity in national developmental pursuits may be flawed. When these two mind sets coexist in an unintended state of marriage the risk of total failure becomes inevitable. A result of this is that education as a tool for underpinning society’s ability to undergo life’s transformative processes is undermined. For Liberia, the occurrence of protracted civil strife played no small part in the grounding of this undesired situation.
Regardless, playing the blame game is certainly not going to make the challenges go away. In the scheme of things, we are in Liberia, and in most African countries surrounded and continuously being impacted upon by the dynamics of change, and change itself, when it does occur. Only concerted organized actions will shield us from being negatively overpowered by this occurrence, and ensure that our quality of life is redirected towards the upward trajectory we yearn for. The context for such action must be built on honesty, open mindedness and a strong spirit of community that is based on the realization that sustained conditioning of our physical life support systems in the face of a constantly changing natural and human environment calls for a certain cultured mindset that thrives on discipline, organization and a clear sense of purpose. The kind that believes in the ideals of a shared goal based on a spirit of cohesiveness that keeps a nation united toward uniform hopes and aspirations. The preparedness to be inward looking in mustering the resources and resolve to achieve this overarching national goal strengthens the drive toward sustainable development[n1] . The same can be said for the architecture and architectural development of Liberia. Regardless of the current blame game on whose fault is it that architecture in Liberia is not sustainably conditioning of our physical life support systems in the face of constantly changing natural and human environment, there is the overwhelming need for a certain cultured mindset that thrives on discipline, organization and a clear sense of purpose.
Architecture and the practice of it are firmly grounded in the drive to achieve sustainability in living condition. This reasoning gave birth to the LIA’s decision to pursue action aimed at positioning architects, engineers, contractors and other technical service providers at the center of the quest to craft a national agenda that seeks to transition Liberians and the government over the threshold of post war rehabilitation into a purposeful and progressive development path. If the past was wrong then rehabilitating it regardless of the hopes and aspirations of all for the future, is erroneous.
The Liberia Institute of Architects Convention, “LIA Convention 2018” held over a period of three days ended November 10, 2018. Its theme “ARCHITECTURE & SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PRO-POOR AGENDA” was crafted by the body after sober reflection on how architecture can be made more interactively relevant to Liberia’s development process, particularly from the standpoint of architecture’s growing international image as an endowed tool for uplifting the quality of life at the individual and community levels, as well as project the economic, political and image status of nations. Architecture is the most visible result of every nation’s aspiration for improved quality of life. The Convention was a resounding success, even if key public sector agencies of the infrastructure sector failed to attend or demonstrate interest otherwise. This could be interpreted as a missed opportunity to initiate one of the Convention’s key targeted objectives. The opportunity to open up possible avenues for initiating a debate surrounding deeper understanding of the societal role of architecture, perceived or actual, particularly in regard to the potential it holds when properly harnessed as a tool for enabling sustained assault on poverty alleviation has been lacking.
Never the less, the enthusiastic participation of institutions of higher learning climaxed by the University of Liberia and Stella Maris Polytechnic was particularly encouraging. The lively discussions and question and answer sessions that followed the delivery of presentations (on topics indicated below) by local architects, experts and the LIA’s international guests provided significant food for thought, as to the lingering problems that challenge Liberia’s ability to respond appropriately to the glaring need for appropriate urban planning and the related managerial regime that will ensure concerted and structured delivery of life sustaining infrastructure, in the wake of the negative outcomes of urbanization that have plagued the nation since the mid-1970:
Plotting the path for indigenizing design and construction processes: the context for architecture as a sustainable development tool for Liberia.
Access to credit and finance for housing and real estate development: facilitating private sector participation.
The proliferation of spontaneous, poorly developed and physically disorganized squatter (informal) settlements within and around urban settlements; unresponsive strategies for municipal governance and creation of empowerment/enabling tools for the poor (such as access to credit, secure land title, infrastructure and utility services) even as population grew rapidly in urban and semi-urban areas have characterized the challenges the Liberian urban planning and management landscape faces.
Rationalizing the Regulatory Framework for practicing Architecture in Liberia.
The key note speaker’s presentation on day 3 was riveting. The decision to invite the Secretary General of the Africa Union of Architects (AUA), a prominent practicing architect based in Mauritius to deliver a presentation aimed at stimulating thoughts for creating a vision for transforming Liberia’s villages, towns and cities was deliberate and appropriate. Mauritius is an African success story; a tiny island with a population of 1.27 million persons; and with a history that resonates with that of Liberia. Lacking in comparative natural resources, its transformation nevertheless from an agriculture based economy to that of manufacture and financial services is almost miraculous. For us architects, the prominence given architecture and planning in that endeavor, evidenced by the visual presence of order, structure and discipline in their built environment is educational, in terms of how physical planning and the development planning process could be organized, armed and incorporated within the governance system. The presentation also painted a clear picture of the role architecture, engineering and planning will play in strengthening the pathway to further refinement of the Mauritius economy toward achieving higher levels of determined progress. The mobilization of private capital for investment towards this goal is directly linked to the potential role that structured infrastructure development will play in asserting the visual image and overall capability status of Mauritius as an investment destination. In all, the presentation presents the picture of a deployed development policy framework that deliberately engages infrastructure development through sound architecture, engineering and physical planning practices.
For a country small in size and population to have over 120 fully qualified and registered architects (most of whom are locally trained) testifies to the Government of Mauritius’ realization of the importance of planned infrastructure to the socioeconomic and physical development of the nation. The topic and content of the presentation were meant to climax the event in asserting the LIA’s conviction of the need for engagement and dialogue on matters of urban governance and management, particularly in relation to infrastructure development and investment, physical planning, and municipal management. It did so, and in the process emphasized a salient aspect of the LIA’s vision to perpetuate architecture’s role/function in the Liberian society, as a matter for the nation’s collective aspiration to create wealth, value, reduce poverty, and improve living standards and productivity levels. The aim is that ultimately the Liberian leadership machinery will adopt an economic and social development planning approach that takes on urban and other community dwelling spaces and infrastructure planning as potent tools for facilitating the development process, and at the same time the demonstration of clear and measurable outputs of that process.
How could this aim be achieved in Liberia? At the core of an ensuing debate following an attempt to make a case for the latter will be questions surrounding what architecture and urban space planning are. The issue of perception plays a significant part here, in that there are major differences between who or what architects believe they are and the societal functions they ought to perform by virtue of their skills acquired through training and that of who/what society and its administrators assign to them by virtue of the capabilities they see or believe, led to believe, or assume architects are best suited to perform. Should this difference in perception matter? Contextually, yes. For instance, after realizing persistent failures in achieving its development goals over decades Liberia is now in search of a new paradigm for development. The current government has hinged its development agenda and approach on a strategy that aims to stimulate development by enabling broad based participation across all levels of the population, but with the focus of attention being on the poor, disadvantage and vulnerable sections of the population, who are the majority. The driver for this strategy is said to be improved infrastructure, which incorporates, buildings and civil structures, utilities, and services. Sound governance policies at the national and local levels relating to infrastructure planning, development and management must be the cornerstone of the principal enabling factors for realizing the pro-poor agenda. The memberships of professional organizations operating in the infrastructure sector have come to this realization, and for it to be the minimum expression of political will needed to signal the readiness needed to nurture a genuine relationship of partnership between the government and infrastructure professionals.
Through this publication, the LIA intends to stimulate a dialogue among the three key actors in the infrastructure sector: infrastructure service delivery professionals, government (central and local) and the public. To begin with, the expectation is for the dialogue to be focused on examining past and present narratives on the performance track record of the three actors. The ultimate aim of this introspective approach is to enable honest engagement on the subject of what must be done for the pro-poor agenda to become a successful tool for achieving the goal of sustainable development. Irrespective of the outcome of such dialogue, its projection into the future from the present will intuitively reveal that creating, strengthening and utilizing local professionals and other trained personnel will effectively and sustainably backstop implementation of the pro-poor agenda toward achieving the goal of sustainable infrastructure delivery. At the helm of the call for this action is the acute need for professionals and professional bodies with key functions in the infrastructure and urban development sector to be consulted as key players in any and every policy formulation effort of government and international development partners on matters pertaining to infrastructure development.
If[n2] the government and its foreign development partners on the one hand, and local infrastructure professionals and professional bodies (such as the LIA and EoSL) on the other fail to formulate and put into effect a participatory infrastructure development framework capable of effectively backstopping implementation of the pro-poor agenda the goal of sustainable infrastructure delivery and development in Liberia will remain elusive, well into the future. If this becomes the case, the younger generation caught up in an atmosphere of intense expectation for an improved quality of life and brighter future will feel deprived by the old of the nurturing needed for a successful progressive transition to the next generation.
Against this background the LIA is convinced and has engaged the following key actions from a strategic development planning standpoint:
[n1]This can be considered closing to this paragraph and the lead or the opening of the next paragraph……..The same can be said for the architecture and architectural development of Liberia; regardless of the current blame game on whose fault is it that architecture in Liberia is not sustainably conditioning of our physical life support systems in the face of constantly changing natural and human environment calls for a certain cultured mindset that thrives on discipline, organization and a clear sense of purpose.
[n2]Can be consider a closing statement in support of the opening paragraph or purpose of the paper
