|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 31 December 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
High rise housing for the poor : is it a failure? Lessons to learn in housing the poor Archwatch (Daily News/SLIA Building and Housing Advisory Forum) at its meeting last week, chaired by Forum's vice-chairman Architect Veranjan Kurukulasuriya who is also the Deputy Director Architecture of the Department of Town and Country Planning decided to devote the main article to an account of the Sahaspura housing scheme for the poor appearing in the SLIA journal Vol. 104 - the latest issue, as it touches on many aspects to consider in planning for housing the poor. The article which has been written by Architects Dylan Holsinger Sadev Wittachy and Rohan Fernando states: "The suitability of housing low income families in high rise apartment blocks should be looked into very carefully. Has the human sociological impact of such a change been looked into properly? On lessons to be learnt and reactive architecture: They state "A very good example of reactive architecture can be seen in the 'Sahaspura' high rise development. This article does not attempt to promote any idea of housing but focuses on the actual development which has been built to find whether there could be valuable lessons that can be learnt as regards to housing the poor. Forum by Archt. Dylan Holsinger, Archt. Sadev Wittachy The title of this article is something that has triggered much argument and debate. The following article gives some food for thought as to whether this question of failure is a 'myth' or a 'fact'. Although the findings presented in this article are not based on a structured research of a number of housing projects of this nature, the writers of this article selected the recently implemented 'Sahaspura' project as a case study.
There have also been many programmes that have not worked and ended up as failures. It is an accepted fact that poverty is the primary cause of urban migration and the establishment of substandard housing, which we call slums or shanties. Poverty diminishes the ability to pay for proper housing and more importantly reduces access to develop the ability to pay. This is a vicious circle that keeps the poor, poor. What needs to be done is to articulate the future direction of housing with the country's needs, as opposed to just looking at countries like Singapore or Hong Kong where housing needs are not the same. Successive governments in the past have adopted various approaches in order to increase the availability of housing for the urban poor, but have not come up with a concrete solution. In the process of finding a solution for the above the Ministry of Housing and Plantation Infrastructure conceived the "Sustainable Township Program" in 1999. Under this program, Real Estate Exchange (Private) Limited or REEL which is the management arm of the sustainable townships program embarked on securing a concrete solution with an innovative strategy "Homes for People and Lands for Development" which is a market driven, economically attractive and self-financing mechanism. In essence, the program was to provide the deprived shanty dweller or the urban poor with a housing unit comprising of modern conveniences and comforts including free hold to the property and liberating the land occupied by the former to the free market for economic development. The cost incurred on the provision of dwelling units is recovered by the liberated land. Reflecting on the lessons learned from the past practices, it is the common understanding that there ought to be a multidisciplinary approach at the stages of project planning and implementation. The success of a project of this nature requires the involvement and consultation of urban planners, sociologists, etc... as well as architects. In such a context how significant are the voices of architects when it comes to housing policies of this country? Should not architects become more pro-active in the decision making as regards the built environment of this country? The suitability of housing low income families in high rise apartment blocks should be looked into very carefully. Has the human sociological impact of such a change been looked into properly? A very good example of reactive architecture can be seen in the 'Sahaspura' high rise development. This article does not attempt to promote any one idea of housing but focuses on the actual development which has been built to find whether there could be valuable lessons that can be learnt as regards to housing the poor. Architect Rohan Fernando's interpretation... Architect Rohan Fernando was the Consultant for the project. He spent much time researching the background of the shanty dwellers. He studied their environments, their lifestyle, the manner in which they interacted with the neighbours, and the community at large. He found they were a close-knit community of neighbours. They had convenient facilities, such as a 'kade' round the corner, helped each other and watched out for each other. They played on the street. Rohan also studied the several housing projects in other countries: Hong Kong, Singapore and in Europe. He was greatly influenced by Le Corbusier's - 'Unite Habite' Marseilles which is considered one of the most successful housing projects in existence. Architect Rohan attempted to incorporate the unity and cohesion of the community he was dealing with in his design. He decided to re-create 'streets', 'roads', and 'junctions' and provided verandahs, for each apartment facing the road. He was very sensitive to how the shanty dwellers so firmly planted at ground level would react when relocated 'up in the sky'. To avoid alienation and discrimination he grouped them in clusters, created common bathing areas so the flat dwellers could meet each other at the tap; just like old times, the way they did at ground level! It was intended not to isolate them once they locked themselves into their flats, as happens in most upper income apartment condominium housing. He wanted to create opportunities for them to interact with each other, so the transition would be a pleasant experience. However, when the apartment allocation was done, the authorities were not able to place a ground cluster together. And the 'neighbourhood' concept he encouraged at the outset did not quite happen. Architect Rohan observed that the problems which arose during the construction period were due to red tape of government officials, and due to the then politicians trying to use this project as a 'political pawn' for the elections. Be above politics He expressed the view that housing for the poor low-income sector should be dealt with at national level and be above politics. Fifty per cent in slums Almost 50 per cent of the population of the city of Colombo inhabit slums and shanties totally unfit for human habitation. These human habitations which are called "under served settlements" in the form of squatter slums and shanties stretch out over nearly 1,000 acres of prime city lands of which approximately 86% is owned by the State. Over 50% of these comprise of structures which are more than 50 years old while 80% of them do not have the basic facilities such as individual sanitary facilities and access to main water supply. These settlements are highly susceptible to health hazards and also contribute to the degradation of the environment. These under served settlements are also called a "watte" as they bear a single assessment number. It has been found through research that, the Sri Lankan shanty dweller cannot exist as individual family units without depending on the support and assistance of the other members of the community both young and the old in their day-to-day activities. Architects have also found through research and analysis that the day-to-day life of the shanty dweller when away from his place of work, mostly take place on the road side or the community space where each member is known to the other and interact with each other as members of one large family. Feeling of neighbourhood At "Sahaspura", it can be observed that the re-location programme has been carried out giving maximum emphasis on re-creating a feeling of neighbourhood or community by the Architects. From the initial stage of the project, it is notable to see that the participation of the people directly involved has been sought, extending even to the process of selecting the design proposals. While the construction was in progress. REEL has carried out social development programmes to introduce high-rise living, and condition the people directly affected. Looking at the complex itself, it can be observed that the spaces have been created to give a community feeling. The complex comprises of a ground floor containing commercial areas, community facilities such as pre-school, community hall and recreational spaces while 13 upper levels accommodate dwelling units and secondary commercial and community spaces. The upper floors have been conceived as a network of "Main Roads", "Junctions" and "Streets" linked to each other. The vertical circulation shafts direct people to the "Main Road", which is a wide corridor with views towards the exterior and where shops and boutiques for commercial activity are located. The road corridor This "Road" or the corridor is wide enough to facilitate even children's play and act as community spaces which people gather and chat and resemble the "Roads" where the occupants in their earlier settlements were quite familiar with. On either end of this main corridor or "Road" are the "Junctions" from which the "Streets" commence. The dwelling units are planned along these "Streets' with each dwelling unit being provided with a private verandah. Advantages Each of these verandahs seem to be used to the advantage of the occupants for their purpose, be if for gardening, drying of clothes or even slightly modifying as a way-side boutique where little items required by the community are sold, creating self-employment. Provision to mingle and interact At the end of each of these "Streets" spaces are provided for communal/public bathing resembling the "road side tap". These spaces seem to have been planned to facilitate occupants to mingle and interact with each other while attending to their washing of clothes, bathing, etc. Gradual change It is interesting to observe that when moved into better surroundings, the lifestyles of the occupants began to change gradually. An important addition to these dwellings are their own toilets which make for another interesting observation, which was how the occupants now shun the "road side tap" and prefer to do all their washing and bathing in their own apartments. The occupants feel that they don't have to go back to doing the same things they did when they were in their former habitats. They now perceive themselves as being at different social strata. No more do they want to mingle and interact with their neighbours in the way they used to. The inter-dependence within these communities which existed seems to be changing. This goes to show that proper housing can help to change a person's mindset either positively or otherwise and duplicating what happens on the ground does not always work. A socio-economic survey carried out by REEL reveals that the occupants are satisfied with the new environment and do not feel uneasy thinking that they are living in high rise housing. This challenges the common "myth" that high rise housing is always a failure when re-locating shanty dwellers, and opens up completely new vistas for thought for future developments in and outside the country. With proper legal ownership of their dwelling unit and feeling more socially acceptable, the occupant can look forward to a more secure and a better lifestyle and become useful and responsible citizens to the country. #################### Architectural walk through Jaffna Continued from Dec. 17 He says that rather than simply an adjunct to the territory that armies were attempting to gain control of in Bosnia, architecture was understood by the parties involved in the war as a clear sign of historical ownership of those territories.
A recent conference in Mostar examining the architectural implications of war in Bosnia revealed the powerful ideological assaults, which have been articulated through architecture as a supplement to the war efforts. Cultural monuments, cities and settlements are major elements that record and retain historical ownerships and are therefore subject to erasure and destruction to claim historical territorial ownerships. As Andrew Hersher shows, neologisms have been coined during the Bosnian war to describe the assaults on cultural monuments, such as "warchitecture," the deliberate destruction of architecture, and "urbicide", the deliberate destruction of cities. These terms define what is essentially the architectural counterpart to ethnic cleansing: the destruction of the architectural and urban settings within the landscapes of Conflict. Apart from destruction however, it promotes building for the dead: and for the use of those engaged in killing!: The former "Buildings for Memory" of the dead and the latter "Buildings for Defence" of those who are still not dead. The impact of the wars on architecture is all the more visible in Asia and Africa where 20th century wars have erupted at an alarming scale. For a long long time, Vietnam was fighting with an invading army, while Cambodia was battling their own people as enemies of ideology. Pakistan and India have been at war over Kashmir while Afghanistan fought the Russians first and their own war lords later on, only to confront the largest army of the contemporary world. Sri Lanka swiftly joined the list with its 19 year ethnic war, and now it seems that Indonesia may be knocking on the door. The African continent has of course been worse than Asia in that many of the African countries have been at war with either each other or within themselves all the time. Wars in Algeria, Angola, Siera Leone, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, and Zaire have devastated their traditional landscapes, architecture and their communities. The continent has been in a state of turmoil, with a dozen armed conflicts in progress, ranging from small local skirmishes to modern warfare. The vast majority of the 30 or so wars fought on the continent since 1970 have been intra-state in origin and have accounted for more than half of all war-related deaths worldwide resulting in more than eight million refugees and displaced persons. Until deadly 1994 conflict, Rwanda was the most densely populated country in Africa and had the highest fertility rate. Architecture was flourishing and many new buildings were being built. While the war has claimed millions of lives, the chaos has also destroyed the infrastructure, housing, and complete cities and towns. In the 1980s, agrarian communities in Ethiopia were nearly destroyed when all the farmers went off to fight its civil war and today, the country still depends on foreign food imports for its survival and its many villages and buildings are in ruins. According to a 1991 report by the World Bank. Most Africans are unable to rebuild their houses and the cities look like ghost towns with dilapidated and damaged buildings, which amply demonstrate the unavoidable damage caused to the environments by man made disasters. Indeed, civil conflicts and wars have also led to significant ecological damage and biodiversity losses in and outside protected areas, as well as to the marginalization of environmental management institutions and conservation programmes. By 1991, the wildlife populations of national parks and reserves in Angola had been reduced by civil war to only 10 percent of their 1975 levels. Similarly, two decades of war and unrest in Cambodia have destroyed 35% of its forest cover. In Vietnam, bombs alone are estimated to have consumed over 2 million acres of land. And in Afghanistan, one quarter of the forests were destroyed, leading to the conclusion that "the damage to the forests may be the greatest environmental catastrophe that occurred in Afghanistan during the war". (To be continued) #################### Engonona's family commends arthictect V. N. C. Gunasekera In a letter written to this page in Sinhala, Sri Lanka's oldest living centenarian's (115-year-old O. T. Engonona of Talpe, Galle) family members want to record their appreciation and thanks to Architect V. N. C. Gunasekera, a past president of the SLIA for the initiative he took in getting their mother (Engonona) a poor uneducated woman living in a hut, honoured for her exceptional living achievement, by the OPA (Organisation of Professional Association) the highest professionals body in the country. She was invited as an honoured guest at its annual sessions held in September 2002, when he was the session's organising committee chairman. Engonona's youngest daughter Podinona in her letter on behalf of the family, states that her mother who is in very poor health now often recalls her visit to the BMICH and how she was seated in the front row with the distinguished professionals, and was honoured thus paying the highest respect and regard for human life. Podinona states that Architect Gunasekera's term of office in the OPA as its president for 2003 will be ending today (December 31, 2003) therefore she thought it is appropriate to write this letter to the Archwatch and publicly acknowledge this service which he had done to Engonona in a broader sense to the human community. She also wishes to extend her appreciation and thanks to the following in this connection Daily News, Prof. Colvin Gooneratna and the Centenarian Study Team. M. de Silva of Galle, Durdans Hospitals Management and its former head in the Cardiology Unit, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Basaz, Raja Sinnathurai, and M. A. Farih Fauz of Speedy Trade. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
This article contains some significant insights based on an open-ended
research carried out through interviewing some of the significant
stakeholders of this project. A country should have a consistent policy
and vision for housing the poor, which should not change with successive
governments. Many studies and experiments have been done to house low
income families in cities.
Thus, Bosnian Serbs and Croats attempted not only to capture territory
by vanquishing the Bosnian Muslim army that defended it, but also to
legitimize their conquests by eliminating the evidence that called their
claims into question: Muslim communities and the architectural
environments they inhabited. Ethnic wars no doubt employ architecture as a
powerful tool to claim, and to manipulate ownership of territory.
