Extending themselves [[electronic resource] ] : user-initiated transformations of government-built housing in developing countries / / Graham Tipple

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910782252503321
• Autore: Tipple A. Graham
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Liverpool : , : Liverpool University Press, , 2000
• ISBN: 1-78138-650-1; 1-84631-309-0
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (x, 358 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Disciplina: 363.5/8
• Soggetti: Public housing - Management - Tenant participation; Housing rehabilitation; Public housing; Public welfare
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 11 Aug 2017).
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Title Page; Contents; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. The housing squeeze; 3. More than just a dwelling; 4. The financial element: transformation as an investment; 5. Sustainability issues; 6. The transformation process; 7. The case for transformations; 8. Policies for enabling transformations; Appendix 1. Transformations in Bangladesh; Appendix 2. Transformations in Egypt; Appendix 3. Transformations in Ghana; Appendix 4. Transformations in Zimbabwe; Appendix 5. An assessment of the decision to transform; References; Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Many countries have large stocks of government-built housing which, for various reasons, are in poor physical conditions and/or do not conform to the expectations of occupants. The occupants of such housing frequently make unauthorised but quite considerable changes and extensions (transformations) to their dwellings. This book examines user-initiated transformations to government-built housing in Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana and Zimbabwe, surveyed in a research programme sponsored by the UK Department for International Development. The 1600 dwellings surveyed show how relatively low-; income households are capable of supplying new rooms and services both to improve their own housing conditions and to supply rental rooms or accommodation for family members living rent-free. The new construction is often of at least as good quality as the original structures and sometime envelopes the original in a new skin. It is clear that transformation adds accommodation and services to existing housing, upgrades the housing stock, and creates variety out of uniformity. The study leads to policy suggestions to encourage transformations for the renewal of government housing. These include the provision of loan finance; the encouragement of co-operation between neighbours, especially in multi-storey housing; and the planned colonisation of open space next to the dwellings where plots are not provided. For new housing, it is clear that designs for new areas are only the beginning of an on-going development process rather than a blueprint for once-for-all development.