Building regulations are a barrier to affordable housing in Indian cities: the case of Ahmedabad

Cities in developing countries seldom consider the cost increases that regulations impose on development. To build legal housing, developers must meet a high minimum cost threshold established by mandatory standards. Many standards impose costs on building construction, make them less affordable to low-income households, deprive them access to legally built housing, and fuel the formation of slums. This study analyses the impact of relaxing a few mandatory building and site planning regulations on the cost of small two-room homes in Ahmedabad by developing two alternative layouts for the same site, one in accordance with prevalent regulations, and another after modifying a few regulations. It shows that rationalizing regulations can reduce housing cost by 34% and increase supply by as much as 75% without significantly lowering quality or compromising safety. It also shows that for a large portion of poor households, the costs imposed by mandatory standards are not trivial and have a high impact on the affordability of legally built housing. It recommends that if municipal authorities are interested in tackling the rapid growth of slums by expanding the supply of affordable housing, they should critically examine their building regulations and modify them to address the housing needs of their low-income residents.     

经济适用房建设问题的研究

根据目前实际情况，通过对经济适用房的分析，提出了一些建设性意见，以求解决经济适用房建设中存在的问题，完善经济适用房制度，对促进房地产健康发展发挥了巨大作用。     

The impacts of affordable housing development on host neighbourhoods: two Australian case studies

Proposals for the development of affordable housing are frequently opposed by local community members due to concerns about the potential deleterious impacts on host neighbourhoods. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, this paper considers whether there is any empirical basis for this opposition in the Australian context. First, a hedonic regression analysis is used to examine the impacts of 17 affordable housing developments on local property sales values in Brisbane. Second, the qualitative impacts of affordable housing development on neighbours are assessed through a doorstep survey conducted with 141 householders in Sydney. The results of both the hedonic analysis and doorstep survey indicate that the impacts of affordable housing development on host neighbourhoods are likely to be slight in the majority of cases. We found that affordable housing development can have positive or negative impacts on property sales values, but that these impacts are minimal where they exist. Our doorstep survey findings revealed that 78% of people had experienced no negative impacts as a result of affordable housing development in their area. The paper concludes by considering the practical implications of our findings.     

New housing patterns and spatial fragmentation in Gulf cities

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the rapid growth of Gulf cities has led to a transformation of local settlement structures. The key objective of this paper is to deliver an overview of new housing patterns and how they impact spatial fragmentation. To identify the spatial distribution of new housing typologies and to explore the recent transformation of urban fabrics, GIS analyses were carried out and Space Syntax models were developed in the case of Qatar’s capital, Doha. This is coupled with an analysis of the travel routes of 130 residents which were assessed to investigate key aspects related to fragmentation. The outcomes include both new insights into the understanding of urban development tendencies in Gulf cities and the introduction of a methodological approach to establish responsive strategies in fast-growing and car-dependent cities.     

Meeting the demand for affordable housing: State intervention in Massachusetts

This paper examines the response of Massachusetts to problems of housing affordability during the 1980s. State and local government historically has not played a major role in housing provision within the United States of America, constrained by fiscal dependence upon the federal government and by a lack of control over the more significant determinants of housing market performance. In the face of intensified problems of housing affordability and cutbacks in federal expenditures on low income housing programmes, the majority of US states increased their intervention in housing markets during the 1980s. Massachusetts more than doubled in real terms expenditures on housing and community development over the decade, initiating a variety of innovative programmes aimed at alleviating housing stress and stimulating the construction of affordable housing. The paper examines the impacts of these housing programmes upon problems of housing affordability, and assesses their likely durability in the context of the slow‐down in the Massachusetts economy in the 1990s. The increase in Massachusetts housing expenditures was a response to a local political economy of growth, rather than any fundamental dilution of the political and economic relations that limit the ability of states to shape housing market dynamics in the United States.     

Residential satisfaction in affordable housing: A mixed method study

Despite the importance of residential satisfaction among low-income families, some residential complexes have been constructed without the consideration of factors determining residential satisfaction. One of these projects is Mehr housing – a mass affordable housing in Iran that caused various problems after implementation. Thus, this study has two notable purposes. First, it attempts to identify the satisfaction factors of 221 residents of Mehr housing projects in Gonbad Kavoos, Iran. Secondly, it examines planning policies, design principles and interaction with neighbors as determinants of residential satisfaction (DRS). The study used mixed method research. First, it adopted an exploratory and qualitative approach to identify the satisfaction factors based on semi-structured interviews and then it undertook a quantitative approach along with structured questionnaires. The data analysis was conducted with Framework analysis and SmartPLS software. The structural model proved the effect of DRS on residential satisfaction. Also, results revealed that ethnicity moderates the relationship between interaction with neighbors and residential satisfaction. So that, among non-Persians, residential satisfaction through interaction with neighbors was more than that of Persians.     

晋城市经济适用住房方案设计构思

阐述了晋城市经济适用住房的项目概况,提出了该经济适用住房的规划设计理念,从规划设计、道路交通、功能空间布局、竖向规划和绿化景观规划等方面对规划设计方案进行了介绍,分析了该住房的平面、立面设计,从而保证建筑与环境的和谐共生。     

基于混居理念的保障性住房建设研究——以厦门洋塘居住区为例

保障房建设要注意避免低收入群体过度集聚、与其他社会群体隔离而引发的各种社会矛盾。通过对洋塘居住区的建设采用"混居"组合方式的研究,探索各种阶层的人群在社区内混合居住、资源共享、和谐相处,同时每个小区又有各自的定位从而适合不同阶层的居民。这种基于混居理念的建设方式可以改善保障性住房的居住人群与社会隔离现象,从而促进社会的整体和谐发展。     

Corporatist implementation and legitimacy: The case of privatisation in Swedish public housing

‘Corporatist implementation’ plays an important role throughout the Swedish rental sector. It is based on close ideological affiliations and adherence to common policy objectives among the Social Democratic government and the organised interests in the public rental sector. In this article, I describe how it works in rent policy as well in the programme for widened tenant influence over housing management and renewal In the mid‐1980s, however, the public landlord association invited a private company to manage and renew problem estates in public housing. The methods used by that company are examined and found to be in conflict with the objectives hitherto shared by Social Democratic governments and the ‘recognised’ interests in the public rental sector. I then go on to discuss the implications for the legitimacy of the existing ‘corporatist implementation’ structure, suggesting that a ‘de‐legitimisation’ of that structure would prove too costly and difficult for government Once such a structure is established, the sector's governability may increase, but politicians will find their range of options for change substantially limited.     

浅谈经济适用房政策的完善及建筑设计

本文提出了经济适用房制度的进一步完善，介绍了经济适用房规划建筑设计的特点，并进行了规划设计创新一些有益的探索，从而创造出一个具有经济性与实用性兼备的经济适用房社区。     

谈保障房住宅小区景观营造

针对南京现有保障房小区的景观现状,探讨了保障房的典型景观设计,提出应进行集中式的景观空间布局,通过合理的前期规划,在景观中尽量保留原有地貌,注重空间布局的主次,避免使用水景以及景观材料的选择等方面进行低成本景观设计。     

以公租房为例谈郑州市绿色保障房设计

在总结我国绿色保障房设计建设情况的基础上,以郑州市主城区的公租房为例,从规划设计和建筑设计的层面总结了郑州公租房的设计特点,结合《评价标准》针对郑州市公租房的绿色节能设计情况进行了实地调研和分析,以此提出选址要依据基础设施规划进行、合理布局降低干扰等有关绿色保障房的设计建议。     

宿迁市保障性住房居民出行特征研究

以宿迁市保障性住房居民出行为研究对象,通过问卷调查,统计、分析了居民出行相关的特征,并提出相应的居民出行优化对策与建议,为城市交通规划设计与管理提供基础依据。     

保障性安居工程监管工作存在的问题及解决方法

分析了保障性安居工程质量监管面临的形势,总结了保障性安居工程存在的主要问题,并提出了完善该类工程质量监管模式的措施,具有积极的理论价值和实践意义。     

The challenge of conceptualizing affordable housing: definitions and their underlying agendas in Israel

While critical work has focused on revealing underpinning motives of affordable housing strategy, there has been lesser attention given to how factors beyond affordability undergird affordable housing definition. The cultural embeddedness of affordable housing in Israel enables the concept to exist without formal definition, thus, laying bare the agendas and causal narratives and providing an effective laboratory to explore affordable housing’s varied interpretations. This research is based on 60 interviews, analysis of legislation, policy documents and newspaper articles. We use the framework of problem definition and social construction to explain how affordable housing can be manipulated by various institutions and actors to promote interests or agendas that may have little to do with affordability. The findings reveal that Israel’s affordable housing definition, or lack thereof, reflect both various demographic, fiscal, social and political interests and a perpetuation of an ideological shift from the social welfare state to a neoliberal regime.     

Performing calculative practices: residual valuation,the residential development process and affordable housing

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which post-social and relational theories have the potential to add to our understanding of housing issues. Drawing on the work of the sociologist Michel Callon and the geographer Susan Smith, it examines the ways in which housing markets are made. In particular, focusing on calculative practices it examines how the performative nature of residual valuation calculations has profound implications for the operation of housing markets and ultimately challenges the capacity of the development sector to produce affordable housing. In addition, using the example of planning practice in England, it examines the ways in which potentially transgressive adaptations of ‘locked-in’ calculative practices are resisted. It is argued that a research focus on calculative practices challenges ‘externalized’ understandings of housing markets and has the potential to render the performative nature of calculations visible.     

The spatial spillover effect of local fiscal expenditure in regional housing market: the case of Taiwan

Journal of Housing and the Built Environment - To effectively distribute resources and formulate policies, governments and enterprises usually need to obtain accurate geographical information about...     

Preservation from the bottom-up: affordable housing,redevelopment, and negotiation in Washington,DC

Previous iterations of large-scale redevelopment were been marked by displacement of the residents whose homes stood in the way of perceived progress. Now these neighborhoods face a new kind of urban renewal. A city with significant vacancy and city government ownership, Washington, DC, is in the process of rapid infill redevelopment. As property values surrounding city-backed developments that were once affordable increase, residents struggle to afford housing. DC has developed significant tools for the preservation of affordable housing, including an existing stock of subsidized housing, legal and financial resources, and a network of organizers and advocates that have given many residents in changing neighborhoods the opportunity to remain. This paper uses the example of Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC to examine potential strategies to preserve affordable housing in rapidly changing housing markets.     

Incentive mechanism design of access management policy in affordable housing and analysis

Affordable housing is of much importance for Chinese subsidized housing. However, the implementation of the affordable housing policy is facing several problems. One crucial problem is that the current policy cannot effectively identify high-income applicants who are not qualified to apply for affordable housing. Based on the theory of incentive mechanism design, this paper reveals that the current allocation institution has no incentive compatibility. To remedy this shortcoming, a new model for the management of affordable housing is established. Finally, an example is given to show how the proposed model can help improve the overall process of managing the allocation of affordable housing in China.