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The Next Generation of Disaster Relief

No matter how many technological advances we make as a society, we are painfully aware that mankind will always be at the mercy of nature. At least one natural disaster will strike our planet each year, and they usually occur in developing countries, in which the means of disaster recovery are woefully inadequate. Just as the world is changing, the ways in which nations come together to provide aid for developing and emerging countries must also change. The need for sustainable development has never been greater – and the team behind the disaster relief units at My Space Pod are fully aware of this.

Many providers of aid to the third world, or any country torn apart by disaster for that matter, still exist in the dark ages. It is, of course, simply not enough to throw money at a problem in the vague hope that it will go away. As the old saying goes, give a man and a fish and you’ll feed him for a day, but give him a rod (or in this case, a pod) and you’ll feed him for a lifetime. This ethos of sustainable development, looking ahead to the long term benefits of disaster relief, is exactly how any provider of aid-related products should operate.

Take the modular systems at My Space Pod, for example. Whereas many units of housing providing temporary disaster relief are costly and time-consuming to build, My Space Pod units are developed with sustainable, eco-friendly technology. The minimalistic, straightforward design, developed by the critically acclaimed architect Will Alsop, facilitates construction. Their life begins as shipping containers, which are then adapted to take upon green, renewable energy sources. They are therefore not only cost-efficient, but also space-efficient and can easily be slotted together to form small complexes of pods. Such aspects are particularly important for any units destined to be used in third world countries such as the Sudan, as they can benefit the local area for years, as opposed to months.

Another benefit of the My Space Pod unit is flexibility. The modular systems can be customized at the client’s convenience to include storage, care or simply accommodation facilities. They can form temporary housing for refugees or those who have lost homes in a natural disaster, but can also be relied upon to store aid supplies safely and securely. A My Space Pod can be exactly what you want it to be, and in the protean and sometimes chaotic world of disaster relief, this is a particularly sought-after characteristic.

The future of effective disaster relief does not lie in funding alone. With the help of modular systems such as those at My Space Pod, we can work together as nations to provide storage and housing that will not only stand the elements, but the ravages of time. Even now, the pods could be put to excellent use in countries as close to home as America, to assist those rendered homeless by the hurricane Katrina disaster. Once again, don’t just throw money at those suffering in countries rent apart by disaster. Give them a pod instead, and watch as they grow through economically and ecologically sustainable development.

View the Disaster Relief pod 3D view and image gallery >>


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My Space Pod™ - custom built accommodation made from recycled shipping containers