Survival Neighbourhood: Climate-Resilient Housing for 450,000 Inhabitants After Cyclone Idai

The Brief

How do you rebuild housing for 450,000 people after a cyclone destroys their neighbourhoods?

Survival Neighbourhood is an urban recovery project for Beira, Mozambique, the country's second-largest city, following Cyclone Idai in March 2019. Beira's existing neighbourhoods were built on swamp land below sea level. Developed at Politecnico di Torino, the project redesigns residential clusters to withstand future floods and cyclones while supporting displaced communities through flood-resilient typologies.

The Approach

Urban Design for Climate Resilience

The project developed residential cluster configurations that respond to flooding, wind direction, and community density. Two residential typologies sit elevated above the flood plain, each with integrated water-management infrastructure built into the building base.

Between the residential blocks, the master plan embeds community infrastructure (workshops, schools, and gardening market spaces) and shaded public passages that reduce heat gain and support community life between flood events.

Outcome

The Result

The result is a climate-resilient master plan for 450,000 inhabitants: two elevated flood-resilient typologies, integrated underground water tanks, rooftop rainwater collection, and community facilities including workshops, schools, and gardening market spaces. Every building is designed for flood resilience, with elevated construction, water storage beneath, and shaded public passages between blocks.