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PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
The following are among the surveys principal findings:
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There is a critical lack of capacity in a number of Commonwealth countries, many of which are rapidly urbanising and are among the most vulnerable. While no definitive benchmarks exist against which to assess the number of architects required19, figures from OECD20 countries including Australia (0.53), Canada (0.26), New Zealand (0.39) and the United Kingdom (0.58) suggest a ratio of between 0.26-0.58 (average 0.44) architects per 1,000 head of population. Survey results provide clear evidence of a critical lack of capacity is many parts of the Commonwealth, with ratios of 0.02 in Ghana and Bangladesh, 0.03 in Pakistan, 0.04 in Botswana, 0.05 in Sri Lanka, 0.06 in Malaysia and 0.07 in South Africa, ie indicating a significant shortfall in many countries of the Commonwealth which are also urbanising most rapidly. The situation in Uganda is even more acute, with only 178 registered architects in a country of over 42 million population, urbanising at a rate of over 5% per annum (ie 0.004 architects per 1,000 head of population). Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that there may be no more than 1,600 architects in the whole of East Africa (ie Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania) with a combined population of over 150 million. While the Indian Institute of Architects is not currently a member of the CAA, information from the Council of Architecture (COA), the national registration body, suggests a total of 59,949 members in a country of circa 1.324 billion population, ie a ratio of 0.045. The COA’s website also provides data for cities having more than 500 architects and this data notes cities such as Mumbai with 5,855 architects, ie a ratio 0.028 for a population of 20.7 million.
19 The Architects Council of Europe’s 2016 Sector Study has established a figure of 1 architects/1,000 head of population but this is somewhat distorted by Italy, with 2.6 architects/1,000 head of population: https://www.ace-cae.eu/ fileadmin/New_Upload/7._Publications/Sector_Study/2016_ V2/2016_EN_Full_021017.pdf 20 http://www.oecd.org/ 21 https://www.coa.gov.in/index1. php?lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=32&lid=45
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Planning for Rapid Urbanisation