HOUSING BY DR. AIMAN ASLAM

INTRODUCTION Housing means the physical structure providing shelter, the immediate surroundings and the related community services and facilities. Housing has become a part of the concept of human settlement which is defined as ‘ all places in which a group of people reside and pursue their life goals.’

SOCIAL GOALS OF HOUSING The goals of housing includes : Shelter : The house should provide a sanitary shelter which is a basic need.

contd. 2. Family life : The house should provide the adequate space for family life and related activities.

contd. 3. Access to community facilities : A third element of housing is accessibility to community services, school, shopping areas, places of worship etc.

CONTD. 4. Family participation in community life : Family is a part of wider community. Communities are able to pool their efforts and improve their living condition.

contd. 5. Economic stability : Housing is a form of investment of personal savings. It provides for economic stability and well being of the family.

CRITERIA OF HEALTHFUL HOUSING An expert committee of WHO recommended the following criteria for healthful housing : Healthful housing provides physical protection and shelter. Provides adequately for cooking, eating, washing and excretory functions. Is designed, constructed, maintained and used in a manner such as to prevent the spread of communicable disease.

CONTD. 4. Provide for protection from hazards of exposure to noise and pollution. 5. Is free from unsafe physical arrangements due to construction or maintenance and from toxic or harmful materials. 6. Encourages personal and community development, promotes social relationship, reflects a regard for ecological principles, and means promotes mental health.

HOUSING STANDARDS These include the following : a) SITE : The site should be elevated from its surroundings so that it is not subject to flooding during rains. It should be away from the breeding places of mosquitoes and flies. It should be away from nuisances such as dust smoke, smell, excessive noise and traffic. The soil should be dry and safe for founding the structure and should be well drained.

b) SET BACK For proper lightening and ventilation , there should be an open space all around the house, this is called the ‘set back’. In rural areas it is recommended that built-up area should not exceed one third of the total area; in urban areas where the land is costly, the built-up area may be upto two thirds.

c) FLOOR The floor should satisfy the following criteria: It should be impermeable so that it can be easily washed and kept clean and dry. The floor must be smooth and free from cracks and crevices to prevent the breeding of insects and harbourage of dust. The floor should be damp-proof The height of the plinth should be 2 to 3 feet.

d) WALLS The walls should be : Reasonably strong Should have low heat capacity Weather resistant Unsuitable for the harbourage of rats Not easily damaged Smooth

e) ROOF The height of roof should not be less than 10 feet in the absence of air conditioning for comfort. The roof should have a low heat transmittance coefficient.

f) ROOMS The number of living rooms should not be less than two, at least one of them is closed for security. The other may be open on one side if that side is a private courtyard. The number and areas of rooms should be increased according to size of family so that recommended floor space per person may be made available.

g) FLOOR AREA The floor area of a living room should be atleast 120 sq.ft. for occupancy by more than one person and atleast 100 sq.ft. for occupancy by a single person. The floor area available in living rooms per person should not be less than 50 sq.ft. the optimum is 100 sq.ft.

h)CUBIC SPACE Unless means are provided for mechanical replacement of air the height of rooms should be such as to give an air space of at least 500 c.ft. per capito. Preferably 1000 c.ft.

i) WINDOWS Unless mechanical ventilation and artificial lightening are provided, every living room should be provided with atleast 2 windows and atleast one of them open directly on to an open space. The windows should be planned at the height of not more than 3 feet above the ground. The window area should be 1/5th of the floor area.

j) KITCHEN Every dwelling house must have a separate kitchen. The kitchen be protected against dust and smoke; adequately lighted provided with arrangements of storing food, fuel and provisions. The floor of the kitchen must be impervious.

k) GARBAGE AND REFUSE These should be removed from the dwelling at least daily and disposed of in a sanitary manner. l) WATER SUPPLY: The house should have a safe and adequate water supply available at all times.

HOUSING AND HEALTH Poor housing have following effects on life: RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS: Common cold Tuberculosis Influenza Diphtheria Bronchitis measles

Contd. 2. SKIN INFECTIONS: Scabies Ringworm Impetigo Leprosy 3. RAT INFESTATION: Plague

Contd. 4. ARTHROPODS: Houseflies Mosquitoes Fleas Bugs 5. ACCIDENTS: A substantial amount of house accidents are caused by some defects in the home and environment.

Contd. 6. MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY: High morbidity and mortality rates are observed where housing conditions are sub- standards. 7. PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS: The sense of isolation by person living in the upper floors of high buildings is now well known to have harmful effects.

OVERCROWDING Overcrowding refers to the situation in which more people are living within dwelling than there is space for, so that movement is restricted. Overcrowding is a health problem in human dwellings. It may promote the spread of respiratory infections such as tuberculosis, influenza and diphtheria.

The accepted standards for overcrowding No. of rooms No of person 1 room 2 persons 2 rooms 3 persons 3 rooms 5 persons 4 rooms 7 persons 5 or more rooms 10 persons

FLOOR SPACING The accepted standards are: 110 sq.ft or more --- 2 persons. 90-100 sq.ft ---1 ½ persons. 70-90 sq.ft ---1 person. 50-70 sq.ft. --- ½ person. Under 50 sq.ft --- nil.

INDICATORS OF HOUSING The indicators of housing are classified as: PHYSICAL: These are based on floor space, cubic space, room height, person per room, rooms per dwelling, environmental quality. ECONOMIC INDICATORS: These are cost of the building, rental levels, taxes, expenditure on housing etc.

3. SOCIAL INDICATORS The following were proposed at art inter- regional seminar on the social aspects of housing by UN in 1975. INDICATORS RELATED TO THE PREVENTION OF ILLNESS: Frequency of illness to adequate sewage and garbage collection. Frequency of illness associates with contaminated water source.

Contd. Frequency on insect borne diseases. Frequency of illness due to overcrowding Frequency of illness due to accidents. Frequency of illness due to proximity to animals. Access to medical facilities.

b) INDICATORS RELATED TO COMFORT Thermal comfort Acoustic comfort Visual comfort Spatial comfort c) INDICATORS RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELL BEING Frequency of suicides in neighborhood

Contd. Neglected and abandoned youth in the neighborhood Drug abuse in the neighborhood.