A group project to help rebuild Mayotte after the storm Chido

Sciences Po's Urban School is committed to indirectly contributing to Mayotte's reconstruction efforts following storm Chido by offering a group project to four students in the Master Governing the Large Metropolis (GLM). This project is being carried out in partnership with Sciences Po's Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), with the support of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP).

Comparison as a lever for the region and its players

In the "post-Chido" context, the reconstruction of Mayotte should be an opportunity to rethink local development models, integrating sustainability principles, resilience and social equity. The aim is to provide local players with sources of inspiration and courses of action based on similar case studies from around the world.
The challenges facing Mayotte - precarious housing, exposure to natural hazards, management of limited resources and sometimes fragmented governance - are echoed in other regions of the world, notably in Latin America and South-East Asia. This project therefore proposes a comparative analysis to identify relevant courses of actions, useful to local players in charge of reconstruction.

Precarious housing in high-risk areas: challenges and opportunities

Over a 6-month period, students will aim to:

• Carry out a comparative analysis of strategies implemented in similar contexts, notably in informal settlements in Latin America or areas rebuilt after disasters in Asia.
• Identify innovative construction, planning and risk management practices.
• Suggest concrete courses of action and reflect on how they can be adapted to the context of Mauritania.

Project governance

The Partner’s Committee is composed of: 

• Vanille Guichard - Director of Development and Urban Renewal, City of Koungou
• Mathilde Rouvillois - Former Master GLM student and consultant at EGIS
• Fayçoil Zoubert - Responsible for setting up a mission administration for reconstruction at the Mayotte Departmental Council

The project is supervised by Amalle Gualleze, Architect, ENSA Paris-Belleville.

Lastly, a scientific committee of researchers and experts occasionally enriches and guides the group's work.

This group project represents a unique opportunity for Urban School students to engage in a research-action approach and contribute, at their own level, to reflections on Mayotte's future.