Core Housing Strategy for Improved Urban Low-Cost Public Housing Delivery in Anambra State, Nigeria

Anambra state of Nigeria experiences acute housing shortage for urban low-income population owing to inefficient public housing delivery system principled on conventional full-provision house types. Insufficiency of funds for housing development is a major cause. Increased rate and scale of housing production and volume of housing stock have been stalled. Low-income households are adversely affected, being priced out of the limited stock. Core housing, a partial-provision strategy believed to require less financial resources has been neglected. This research focused on the potentials of core housing strategy in financial cost-saving and other aspects of public housing products’ performance. Components of public housing products’ performance and the measuring variables were first outlined; followed by a review of the relationship between core housing and the variables, which was apt and revealing. This study has widened knowledge and prepared grounds for empirical studies of core housing performance in Anambra State public housing sector.

Dispersed privatization of council housing: Some structural effects in the municipal housing stock in Olsztyn, Poland

Council (public) housing privatization, as the basic instrument for transforming housing systems, has significantly affected the tenure structure and created millions of new owners across Europe. In Poland, the concept of the dispersed privatization was adopted and implemented in the long term primarily through preferential sales of council dwellings from the municipal housing stock to sitting tenants. The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of the dispersed privatization of municipal dwellings in the spatial and ownership structure of the municipal housing stock of the city of Olsztyn in Poland. The results showed that poorly controlled processes of the dispersed privatization of municipal housing caused unfavorable structural effects in the surveyed housing stock. The stock has shrunk significantly, losing buildings in better locations and conditions and the undesired fragmentation of municipal ownership and its mixing with private ownership has increased. The results and proposals are important to other cities and countries facing the challenge of slow privatization of public housing.

Make Yourself At Home: Can architecture enable a sense of home in Kuala Lumpur’s public housing?

<p>Public housing in Kuala Lumpur was introduced by the government as a means of replacing informal settlements and providing housing for the lower income. Government subsidies often cover some of the costs of public housing to help keep it affordable and at the lower end of house prices. To help meet the low cost agenda, public house designs are often kept to a minimal standard in Malaysia, removing low income Malay dwellers from their ideal image of home. In the long run, signs of neglect in the public houses are reflected in the lack of care and maintenance from dwellers, vandalism and more. This thesis proposes that good, homely architectural design practices suited to the dweller can help encourage emotional ties between dwellers (low income families) and the dwelling (public houses). Its aim is to investigate potential architectural design approaches to tackle such problems in future Kuala Lumpur public houses. This raises the question of which homely architectural design strategies might be best utilised in the Kuala Lumpur public housing environment. The thesis begins by exploring the meaning of home in relation to both dwellers and dwelling before then identifying ‘homely’ architectural design practices suited to the Malay community. In the context of public houses, this research investigation identifies privacy, environmental comfort, security and safety as homely aspects that are most often lacking in public housing design, contributing to a less homely environment. To enhance the homely attributes of public houses, the thesis proposes ways to restore homely qualities of spaces in the public house, drawing from these three aspects in order to arrive at design opportunities best suited to the lifestyle of its dwellers.</p>

Make Yourself At Home: Can architecture enable a sense of home in Kuala Lumpur’s public housing?

<p>Public housing in Kuala Lumpur was introduced by the government as a means of replacing informal settlements and providing housing for the lower income. Government subsidies often cover some of the costs of public housing to help keep it affordable and at the lower end of house prices. To help meet the low cost agenda, public house designs are often kept to a minimal standard in Malaysia, removing low income Malay dwellers from their ideal image of home. In the long run, signs of neglect in the public houses are reflected in the lack of care and maintenance from dwellers, vandalism and more. This thesis proposes that good, homely architectural design practices suited to the dweller can help encourage emotional ties between dwellers (low income families) and the dwelling (public houses). Its aim is to investigate potential architectural design approaches to tackle such problems in future Kuala Lumpur public houses. This raises the question of which homely architectural design strategies might be best utilised in the Kuala Lumpur public housing environment. The thesis begins by exploring the meaning of home in relation to both dwellers and dwelling before then identifying ‘homely’ architectural design practices suited to the Malay community. In the context of public houses, this research investigation identifies privacy, environmental comfort, security and safety as homely aspects that are most often lacking in public housing design, contributing to a less homely environment. To enhance the homely attributes of public houses, the thesis proposes ways to restore homely qualities of spaces in the public house, drawing from these three aspects in order to arrive at design opportunities best suited to the lifestyle of its dwellers.</p>

Building performance evaluation of public housing in Harare, Zimbabwe

This study sought to evaluate the performance of residential building spaces in public housing in Harare, Zimbabwe. It specifically measured building performance indicators determined by the building’s characteristics and the physical, locational and service attributes of buildings. A quantitative research design was adopted, in which questionnaires and observations were used in data collection. A two-stage sampling technique was used, because the population could be subdivided into clusters. From residents in three clusters, which include Highfield-Venice Flats, Avenues Flats and Mbare Flats, 263 respondents were conveniently chosen. Results from the independent t-test that was conducted showed that, at 95% confidence level, there exist significant differences in residential satisfaction among residents of Highfield-Venice Flats and those of Avenues Flats (t = 2.159, p-value= 0.035>0.05). Overall, residents are dissatisfied with the attributes of the buildings in which they live and the general residential situation. There is a general dissatisfaction with the buildings, suggesting that the building performance is not meeting their needs and expectations. Housing attribute preferences, privacy, dwelling proximity, and neighbourhood attachment showed a significant and positive impact on general residential satisfaction. Hence, there is a need to improve housing attribute preferences such as improving the quality of air and lighting as well as noise levels, since respondents expressed dissatisfaction with these attributes. Housing ceilings can be installed to reduce noise levels. More so, the quality of air and lighting can be improved by inserting more air ventilations and wider windowpanes. Privacy should be improved by ensuring that the residential structures have boundary walls that may be needed by the residents. More so, dwelling proximity ought to be improved. The Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities and other public housing institutions can consider developing structures such as shopping centres, public schools as well as roads and social amenities such as parks, pools and workout facilities before they build residential houses.