Metropolitan Housing Development in Urban Fringe Areas-A Case Study of Three Metropolitan Cities of South Africa: Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane

Purpose:The metropolitan cities of Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane play an important role in the economy of the Gauteng province in South Africa.The region constitutes to 22.4 percent of the total population of South Africa and has a strong presence and contributes in areas of manufacturing sector,financial and business services,retail and wholesale trade,etc.The rapid urban population,increase in the informal settlements and socio-economic opportunities has resulted in considerable urban sprawl in and around the urban fringe areas of these metropolitan cities.The urban fringe areas of these metros often come under the influence of rapid urbanization process and pressures.Coupled with the economical and potential land dynamics and lack of priority of spatial development guidelines,these areas attract rapid and haphazard development from communities and developers.Research Design/Methodology:This research is based on a qualitative approach through a comprehensive literature review that included content analysis of key documents on housing sector such as IDPs(Integrated Development Plans),Municipal Annual Reports,Growth Development Strategies,and among other sectoral documents on housing sector.Some of the key priority issues considered in the housing sector included:eradication of housing backlogs,spatial restructuring of housing,provision of choice in terms of location,tenure and housing typology.Findings:The current paper discusses the approaches of metropolitan housing development processes in three metropolitan cities of South Africa from Gauteng region,namely:Johannesburg,Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.The paper discusses the existing housing sectoral scenario along with the fringe areas in three cities with focus on:formal and informal settlements,housing segregation and the backlogs,current institutional arrangements,role of public private participation,and scope for alternate mechanisms.The paper concludes in discussion on sustainable development options for housing development in urban fringe areas.

Barrier-free Design of Public Rental Housing

With the aging of society,special groups have had increasing needs of integrating into social life,and higher requirements on life quality,and the society has attached increasing importance to barrier-free design.Taking public rental housing for example,both circulation space and furniture design have to fully consider needs of special groups such as the seniors and the disabled.Barrier-free design in living spaces can help improve their ability of self-care,reduce their dependence on family members,fully demonstrate the"human-centered"design concept of public rental housing,and show the designers’sense of social responsibility.

On Applicability of Public Rental Housing

Applicability of public rental housing was analyzed from the perspectives of site selection, tenant and indoor environment. Special needs of seniors and the physically disabled, in particular, were taken into consideration, indoor barrier-free designs were analyzed to further improve applicability of public rental housing.

Life Satisfaction among Elderly Households in Public Rental Housing in Singapore

We set out to investigate how satisfied the poor elderly Singaporean households in social housing are with their lives, especially in relation to their housing, in an attempt to find measures to improve, where possible, the life satisfaction of this group of elderly Singaporeans. We use archival and empirical research for our investigation. The results from 403 respondents to our survey are analyzed through logistic regression and factor analysis. We find that the life satisfaction of the elderly residents of social housing is very low. Furthermore we find that home modification that meets the requirements of the respondents will substantially improve their life satisfaction. Given that these elderly households neither have the right nor financial means to modify their housing units and precincts, it is incumbent upon the government, through the relevant authorities such as HDB, Town Councils and BCA to effect the necessary home modifications to create a more elderly-friendly physical environment to improve the life satisfaction of the elderly households in social housing in Singapore. This arguably is a social imperative which should not be subjugated to economic niceties as social housing is not a luxurious housing choice but the last safety net for basic shelter.

Impact of Urban Public Service Facilities on Distribution Pattern of Housing Price

The impact of different public service facilities is obtained by investigating the infl uence of public service facilities on distribution pattern of housing price in 25 cities.According to the survey results,public education service facilities have the highest weight and the greatest impact,which also refl ects the root of“school district housing fever”from the side.Public sports service facilities have the lowest score when compared with other options.This is not because public sports service facilities are not important,but is determined by actual situation of social development and actual living standard of residents in China.From the improvement and enhancement of urban public service facilities,the construction of public service facilities should be convenient for people’s education,health,culture and entertainment.

Probabilistic Pre-requisites Contributing to Successful Housing Association Partnering

The necessity to achieve value for money(VFM)has been paramount during the current economic climate,with reductions in investment inducing Housing Associations(HAs)to minimise waste and pursue the maximisation of value.Differing characteristics between HAs and private sector clients have a bearing on the pre-requisites associated with a successful partnering outcome.The purpose of this paper is to assist HAs maximise VFM by increasing the likelihood of a successful partnering outcome through gaining an understanding of the most important pre-requisites to be implemented into the arrangement from a HA perspective.A quantitative analysis was adopted to identify the level of importance placed by HA on the probabilistic pre-requisites that contribute to a successful partnering outcome.The results highlight the most important probabilistic pre-requisites from a HA perspective.The research concluded that the three most importantly ranked pre-requisites that contribute to a successful partnering arrangement,perceived exclusively by HAs,were mutual trust between parties;stakeholder commitment and mutual objectives.The plethora of construction partnering research is predominantly based on the construction industry generally.This research focuses on the specific needs of HAs.The findings therefore enable HAs to differentiate between the most and least important pre-requisites identified within the literature.This will increase the probability of a successful partnering arrangement through the unveiling of the pre-requisites that HAs should focus on implementing.Subsequently,the research will assist HAs maximise VFM during the challenging economic period where investment into social housing has been reduced.

An evaluation system for suitability of urban public rental housing construction in Chongqing

A social problem that low-income people are unable to purchase houses in urban areas has been focused in recent years and the housing security system has also become an important part of the social security system. In recent years, public rental houses appeared as a new type of affordable houses. The national government took the construction of public rental houses to the national strategic level. Currently, there are many problems in the public rental house construction. For example, policy mechanisms are inadequate, the use of funding is not in an efficient way, the location of public rental houses is far away from the downtown, the plot ratio is too high, and facilities are incomplete. There are no appropriate indicators to comprehensively evaluate the public rental house construction. Based on the livable evaluation system in Chongqing, we selected four aspects of relevant indicators as the economic suitability, environmental suitability, social suitability, and life suitability to establish the public rental house construction suitability evaluation system.

Open Building as a Design Approach for Adaptability in Chinese Public Housing

Surveys on public housing in Northern China indicated that the common aim of Chinese public housing, which is to provide affordable housing, had been mostly satisfied. However, more than one fourth (29.9%) of the public housing units that were investigated were structurally modified by their occupiers for different layouts. This situation indicated that a fixed plan could not fulfill housing occupiers’ various requirements on spacing layout, and critical awareness had been shown that the adaptability of the public housing units was always ignored. Open Building is well organized and implemented in the field of residential area to increase adaptability and sustainability of dwellings. This paper reviewed the development of residential Open Building and attempted to reveal solutions for the design of adaptability in Chinese public housing. Based on the dwelling unit types, dwelling spaces, living modes and demographic conditions of the public housing units were investigated;and concerning the actual carried out adaptations in the public housing units, this research explored two levels of design and control methods: prototyping unit for possible layouts and flexible partitions for space-function reconfiguration. By adding design values of adaptability in public housing, key aspects showing?the potentials and challenges for the design of public housing were summarized for future reference.

Convenience Analysis of Public Service Facilities in the Walking Circle of Urban Housing Estates

A walkable urban built environment with convenient facilities is the key to improve the living quality of urban residents and build a livable city in the new era.Taking each urban housing estate as the center and based on walking accessibility,the walking circle of housing estates was constructed.Taking the six functional systems of convenient shopping,catering service,fi nancial service,scientifi c research and education,leisure and entertainment,and medical service as evaluation factors,and considering the actual frequency of residents’use of various public service facilities and the reduction of walking,the convenience evaluation system of public service facilities was established.Taking the urban built environment within the Second Ring Road of Shijiazhuang City,Hebei Province as an example,it is found that the convenience of public service facilities in the walking circle of housing estates within the Second Ring Road presented a circular layer distribution of“low outside and high inside”.This study will provide the reference for urban renewal and renovation and improvement of facilities.

Research on public housing based on the utilities of living

This paper applies the residence utility principles to the study of public housing rent and regards that the average utility of a household determines the public housing rent level. It also suggests that the government use multi-level public housing rent to substitute for single-level in order to make the policies for public housing rent more just, equitable and effective.

Public-Private Partnership Arrangement in <i>In-Situ</i>Housing for Slum Rehabilitation in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The provision of decent accommodation is a major challenge to government in the developing nations. It is a common phenomenon in the urban centres of the developing nations where most houses are in deplorable conditions. The houses are overcrowded with little or no air space between them. There is no basic sanitation in the urban centres as they lack flush toilet, some of the few available flush toilets are piped into seasonal streams, most houses lack defined kitchen areas and healthy sewage disposal method. The cities lack good access roads and functional drainage system with a common practice of environmentally-unfriendly solid waste management methods that create various health challenges to urban dwellers. The aim of the study is to show how in-situ Housing method of slum rehabilitation can be applied through Public/Private Partnership to upgrade houses within a major slum area in Yenagoa. This shall be done with an agreement between the property owners, Real Estate investors and the state government. Basic Research Methodology was applied using questionnaire, direct observation and personal interview techniques to collect data. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were applied to analyse data through the use of tables and charts. The findings in the study showed that poor housing condition seriously degrade the environmental quality of the study area. The standard of living in the area is very poor as the people lack access to decent accommodation, basic sanitation and social amenities.

基于“城市针灸”方法的存量公房活化模式研究——以广州市为例

在存量时代发展要求下,公房的管理使用成为广州实施城市更新过程中必须面对的挑战。文章回顾了国内外公房更新改造实践经验和“城市针灸”研究进展,结合广州实际情况选取老城区6个较具代表性的公房集聚区开展田野调查与深度访谈,探讨存量公房如何实现有效活化利用的更新难题。结果表明:1)公房对租户的住房保障作用至关重要,尽管面临诸多现实困难,租户仍表现出强烈的社区归属感和邻里信任感,且认可公房的使用价值。2)在系统总结了翻新出售、功能转换和民生保障3种活化模式的基础上,提出广州的公房活化利用“以民生保障为主,其次是功能转换,最后才是翻新出售”。3)在实证基础上,文章回归关注“城市的人”,在人本主义视角、地理学范畴内进一步总结提炼基于“城市针灸”方法的存量公房活化模式分析框架,提出存量公房分类评价综合评估模型,用于判别公房的活化模式类型,并探讨了活化利用实施路径的4个步骤:查找问题,精准诊断;以人为本,点出“穴位”;“穴位”活化,以点带面;良性互动,循环渐进。

代际支持背景下老年人社区服务设施需求特征研究——以深圳公共住房为例

深圳市老年人非户籍人口占比大,提供代际支持的随迁老年人构成了常住老龄人口主力。立足于深圳公共住房建设现状及老年人特征,通过问卷调研多维度探析老年人设施使用需求;采用活动日志调研探析老年人日常社区服务设施使用的时间规律及行为链特征;结合典型案例定点行为观察,探析老年人时间-行为-设施使用场景。研究结果表明老年人社区活动设施需求显著,农贸菜市场及连锁超市的需求较大,教育设施成为老年人使用的重要设施,社康中心需求大于综合医院,养老设施需求较低等特征;各类社区服务设施使用的时间规律及设施组合使用规律明显等。研究结果可为深圳公共住房社区服务设施适老性优化提供有益的参考。

开街 近代广州西关空间史笔记

西关地区是传统时代晚期广州城近郊最发达的地区,民国时期被纳入城市行政区。西关的变迁具有传统城市近代化与传统空间城市化的双重转型特征,也是民国广州通过马路街道建设实现城市空间转型的集中代表地区。文章以街道为主角,以空间权属内涵及其开发营造方式为切入点,围绕“开街”在形塑近代城市中的作用,提出了近代西关空间演变的阐释路径,显示了一种融合不同尺度,贯通形态、功能、习俗、制度与观念的空间史研究风格。文章同时也尝试对城市形态学与建筑类型学的研究方法、里坊制与街巷制问题、传统空间的公共性问题等若干宏观议题给出探索性的思考和评论。

社区化发展和空间实践——转化中组屋公共空间的启示

新加坡高密度组屋公共空间在不断转化中逐渐探索社区化发展和公共生活的激活,空间发展在空间实践中和更深层次的文化秩序相联系。文章梳理了新加坡组屋及其公共空间建设发展概况,分析组屋公共空间转化过程中重要的空间实践,对转化过程中的空间异质性探索和挑战进行解析。在我国居住区发展背景与“社区化”发展需求下,进一步提出从转化中组屋公共空间得到的启示,为我国社区建设和地域特色复兴提供借鉴。