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Housing: Spatial Distribution and Impact of Housing on the environment and…
Housing: Spatial Distribution and Impact of Housing on the environment and people.
Definition: Housing is ...
structures or buildings to shelter people from the weather elements
a basic need that everyone should have access to.
either built in a planned or unplanned fashion using a variety of materials.
either permanent or temporary
Example of permanent housing is...
Example of temporary housing is...
traditionally developed by small communities
Housing can be classified by density and height of buildings
High rise and high density housing comprises of apartments and shared facilities such as playgrounds etc. Think about living in a HDB or condo.
Low-rise and low density housing comprises of detached houses, semi-detached and shophouses. Think about Joo Chiat or parts of Katong.
How do we study sustainable development of cities?
Must first understand if houses are legally or illegally built. This will help determine why certain type of housing is more sustainable than the other. Which one will save the environment and which one doesn't
Formal housing
provided for by government and private developers
What does that tell you about the access to basic services, facilities and amenities in formal housing?
What does that tell you about the location of formal housing
Formal housing occupies zones and ares that are designated for housing development. Most of the formal housing developed by private developers are located in sites that are commercially viable as the developers want profit. Most of the formal housing developed by the government tends to consider what people need more than profits.
What does that tell you about the quality of materials used to build formal housing?
Informal housing
Built by individuals what are unable to access formal housing
What does that tell you about the quality of materials used to build informal housing?
What does that tell you about the location of informal housing?
Informal housing tends to disregard land-use planning guidelines. It tends to occupy locations near to large housing or industrial developments to benefit from existing infrastructures such as piped water, electricity or roads.
What does that tell you about the access to basic services, facilities and amenities in informal housing?
Comparison between Informal and Formal [Housing](
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZK-MFaxsF5vLHl8Cr7dUYhP7oV_nFpPp/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106488647207697064977&rtpof=true&sd=true
How does urbanisation and the growth of cities affect the natural environment?
Cities extract natural resources in order to fulfill the needs of people living in the cities.
Forests are cleared to create land for housing. Forests are also cleared to create land for agriculture in order to produce food to feed the people living in the cities. As cities grow MORE housing, MORE food, MORE water will be needed to provide for the people. Thus more forest are cleared. Page 64 mentioned about other natural resources used too. Such as petroleum to fuel our cars, gas to cook.
Do you know how much of the forests is cleared in one year?
Besides forests, water is the next resource to be extracted. Large cities generally consumed about 504 billion litres in a day. Most of the water are surface water. Some of the sources of the water come from sources that are as far as 30000 km away. Thus cities have a large impact on the natural environment
Cities also pollute the natural environment.
Pollution is the introduction of substances that do not normally belong in the environment. These substances if they are in greater concentration can become harmful to plants, animals and humans.
Land pollution can be defined as soil contamination. These are waste from factory chemicals or sewage and other wastewater.
Land pollution can also mean garbage and industrial waste from mining and other forms of industry. Some cities handle the disposal of waste by building landfills. Others incinerate the waste but there is a need to dispose of the leftover material after incineration in order to avoid pollution
The problem with urbanization is that more people are concentrated in one area. As a result, the waste is also concentrated in one area. As such disposing of the waste, especially sewage can create water and land pollution.
Water pollution is also common in cities. Surface run-off from the streets carries oil, rubber, heavy metals and other contaminants from vehicles. See page 68-69.
Untreated or poorly treated sewage can be low in oxygen and high in pollutants such as faecal coliform, other bacteria and chemicals. Treated sewage is high in nitrates.
Ground water and surface water can be contaminated from garbage dumps
Remember the various sources of water pollution.
Air pollution is also prevalent in cities. Human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity or use it in the cars can pollute the air we breathe.
Reducing air pollution levels in cities will reduce incidences of asthma and other respiratory illnesses that come with breathing in air pollutants.
As cities grow, housing can also affect people. This is because the quality of housing affects the physical health and mental health of the people living in them.
The health of the people depends on whether they have access to amenities and communities.
Access to clinics, supermarkets (for food), schools, transportation are all going to have a positive impact on people's health.
Belonging to one community is also important to emotional well being of people. Having a sense of belonging is important. This can promote trust and security instead of fear and unease.
Cities need to provide for sanitation. Providing sanitation will reduce outbreak of diseases and improve people's well being and overall health. Access to clean water also means people will not consume contaminated water and will not fall sick easily. Besides water, there is a need for electricity.
Half of world's population lives in urban areas. 2/3s live in cities. Many in slums. 800 million don't have clean water. 100 million defecate openly. This is extremely dangerous and exposes people to health risks like frequent cholera outbreaks.
Fishing village in India changed when PM of India extended sanitation coverage to all poor households. Village was transformed and inspired investments in sewers and treatment and reuse of waste water.
People living in formal housing also need access to amenities and other services.
Amenities are useful features of a place that make life easier for its residents.
Access to food (supermarkets, wet markets, grocey shops, hawker centres) is convenient. Medical services like clinics are important, hospitals nearby. Other goods and services like a mall with post office etc.
For mental health of people living in cities, it is important to create spaces to meet the social needs of the people. Spaces like playgrounds, coffee corners, community clubs are important for people and neighbours to come together and seek companionship.
The interaction and community spirit fostered can lead to a sense of belonging...like kampong spirit.
Managing housing sustainably requires integrated land-use planning and inclusiveness
Integrated landuse involves different stakeholders (planning authorities, commercial business, property developers, industries. They come together to make decisions on how the city should be developed and managed and to coordinate their activities in a sustainable fashion.
Different groups have different demands on how to use the land. Ideally housing should be built away from other city functions (entertainment and industries). Transport and other infrastructures need to be built within or surrounding housing areas.
Singapore HDB is a good example. The HDBs are self contained towns. They have housing, amenities, retail, education, industries, healthcare and recreation services. Think Bedok or Tampines.
Needs a lot of coordination from different stakeholders. Not all countries can do it.
Inclusive housing is to provide a range of housing for different groups. Residents who prefer smaller apartments or large apartments and prefer to stay in the community may be able to do so.
Inclusiveness also means housing developments can cater to the people of all ages and physical conditions. People of all ages feel at ease in their housing estates.
Check out page 83 for inclusive features.
Environmental features in buildings. Incorporating friendly technologies into the construction of our homes also promote sustainability.
Use of solar panels to reduce electricity consumption, get water efficient fittings to minimize water consumption, use of green roofs and walls to reduce temperatures help to keep the environment greener and cleaner.
Favela slum transformed because the conditions improved. Occupants are motivated to invest in their own home and make improvements to community infrastructures. Check page 85-86 of textbook.