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UNIT-2/ SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS/ 10 Hours

Social economic factors influencing housing affordability – equity in housing development
sites and services/-slum upgradation community participation – Rajiv Awas Yojana Crime
prevention, Health principles in Housing.

SOCIAL FACTORS:

 Various systems followed in a community like jooint family system, caste system,
religious customs, etc.

 Factors related to agricultural industry, trade, commerce, etc changes radically the
face of housing in a community.

 Ex: A community with agricultural background has a diffeernt type of housing

need compared to an industrial or business family.

Joint family:

 It is a group of people who generally live under one roof, who eat food cooked at
one hearth, mwho hold property in common and who participate in common
worship and are related to each other.
 In the ancient roman society, the supreme authority rested is the eldest male
member of the family who had the responsinbility of administering the family affairs.
The people began to live a settled life by tilling the soi, constructing the house which
gave rise to joint family system.

 Joint family system became a complex organization catering to the spiritual and
economic needs of the large family groups.

Characteristics of Joint family system:

 Large size

 Joint property

 Common residence

 Cooperative organization

 Common religion

 Productive unit
  Mutual rights & obligations
Merits & demerits of Joint Family
System

[Link] MERITS DEMERITS

1. Ensures economic progress Home or idlers

2. Secures advantages of division of labour Hindrance in the development of

personality
3. Secures economy of expenditure Encourages litigation

4. Oppurtunity for leisure Leads to quarrel

5. Social insurance Privacy denied

6. Avoids fragmentation of holdings Unfavorable to accumulation of capital

7. Socialism Uncontrolled procreation

 Came into existence since the society changed from the agricultural stage of
economic development.

 Prevails strongly in villages among agricultural families.

 It is true that the system once considered the pillar of stability is finding it
difficult to withstand the dizzying pace of social mobility & the transformation
of values.

Affordability

Affordabilty has been brought about in India by the concept "low cost housing". A stigma lies
that low cost housing means physically and structurally unsound houses. Actually it means cost
reduction
without sacrificing quality, reliability & durability.

Affrodabilty (or) Adjusted to abilty of residents to pay is the level of services, Housing and Facilities.

Objectives of cost reduction:

The basic objective is to enable the state to help large number of families with the available
resources, which are limited.

Methods of cost reduction:

1. Cost reduction of all components in housing

 Like construction, labor, etc.

 By avoiding wastage of materials.

 By innovation on traditional and local materials & method of construction.

2. Cost reduction through beneficiary & community participation

 50% of total cost goes towards labor

 In kerala state housing board where the community itself built houses for EWS. Beneficiary
participation can help achieve cost reduction.
3. Attempts to thwart cost of construction

 All agencies like those of architects, contractors, etc are paid on the basis of
construction cost.

 As a result there are fewer architects who undertake genuine low cost construction.

4. Need for extension work

 Demonstrating and teaching people about effectiveness of new method techniques and to
win their confidence.

 By demonstration projects.

 Priority for loan asistance

 Supply of levy cement

5. Building centers and technology

 Ex: Building center movement - Kerala

 Centers are not only able to invent but also reach out to common man. Its main task is
effective transfer to technology from land to land.

 There are 150 centers at district level at country called Nimriti Kendra

o skill upgradation of laborers

o building materials, manufacturing and outlet centers

o training centers for right type of work force fo rhousing & building delivery system

o ensuring credibility for new technologies

ECONOMIC FACTORS:

Housing constitutes the major investment to contribute to the upgradation of the level of the
living of the people. The multiple roles played by housing sectornare:

 Creating employment facilities: Employment facilities during off season for farmers
& fishermen in the rural areas.

 Accelerating economic growth: A great role in improving Gross National Income

(Malaysia, Japan, Brazil,etc)

 Maintaining socual stability: Antisocial activities will breed & gorw in slums & squattered
settlements if adequate housing facilities are not available.

 Maintaining health: Upward trend in expectation of life improvement in health leads to leser
incidents of diseases - lesser natinal expenditure on medical facilities. An increase in
efficiency of healthy workers gives better productions & profits.

 Improving & augmenting the national economy:

o Contribution made by housing sector to the national economy is 4%

 o Housing construction indusrty is highly labour intensive. Most of the employment
generated benefits the low & lower income groups.

o More hosuing activities will need more building materials, thus encouraging small
scale industries.

o Generates income for the State & Local authorities.

Other factors to be considered:

 Type of building, standard, technology, dependency of imports, etc affect the quantity &
unit price of materials and components.

 Wages & productivity of building labor are affected by the technology used, degree of
mechanization, skill, social, overheads, etc.

 The contractor overheads and profits that are generally affected by their efficiency
by the market conditions or in the case of centrally planned economics by national or
local norms.

 Taxation and finance are conditioned by government policies market conditions.

Social Aspects:

Human Values don't change as rapidly as technology, many values remain unchanged.

 The desire to live with dignity.

 The need for privacy, safety, accessibility and convenience.
 The need to maintain individual identity and define personal territory.
 The need to live with sunlight, plants, fresh air and water.
The socio economic analysis of the housing can be organised into sequential parts essentially
starts with the analysis of determinants of housing quality and suitability.

The basic quality and suitability of the housing for a given site must emerge from an expression of
the socio-cultural background of the the potential and limitations of the e and the material
users, sit
and the technological resources of the
region.

Basic human needs cannot be compromised. The house must establish an equilibrium between
function and amenity without being wasteful.

1. 'HUMAN NEEDS' AS DETERMINANTS OF HOUSING QUALITY AND SUITABILITY

The following are the human needs identified based on contemporary behavioural studies on the
subject.
 a. Territory
b. Orientation
c. Privacy
d. Identity
e. Convenience
f. Accessibility
g. Safety

a. Territory: We predict our territory and judge whether it is being violated through our senses of
sight, hearing, smell, etc.

Definition - Territory is primarily a private outdoor space, clearly belonging to the family. Eg:
Can be a garden, balcony, terrace, etc.

Identification - Usually territory is defined by fencing a plant screen, change of level , partly
compound wall or the house forms themselves. It is very difficult to control noise
violation of territory like noise from aircrafts, parking trucks and trains, etc.

b. Orientation:

Shading Devices - Due to the monsoon type of climate in which the summer months are
hot and dry, we orient the building with the longer side facing North-South i.e., away from
the sun, because of the excessive thermal built up inside the building,we use shade tress,
screens, roof overhangs,
sunshades, etc.

Daylighting - Daylighting is another basic human need. Adequate amount of daylight should be
brought into interiors of the building.

Wind Direction - In hot humid climates air movement in the form of wind or breeze bring
relief and ensure comfort. Hence the building could be oriented towards the prevailing
wind direction in the summer months.

View - The amenity of view can also be almost important in determining the orientation. The view is
both qualitative and scalar. The view into ones private garden is intimate, while the
view of the horizon is distant and shared by others.

[Link]: In housing, privacy is created by shared barriers such as walls, floors, ceiling, fences,
shrubbery, etc. Internal planning is accomplished by constructing room having doors and
windows that cannot be easily looked into. The external privacy is the privacy on entering and
leaving ones house, privacy in ones garden, terrace or balcony - it is difficult to achieve.

d. Identity: Our choice of housing and the way we maintain it, is an important means of expressing
our identity. We tend to maintain the identity through selection of house style. Also we plan
the house to accommodate our lifestyle and reflect our status in the society.

e. Convenience: Convenience is the degree of physical ease or lack of difficulty encountered in

conducting daily household activities. Convenience is in the eye of the beholder. One woman
may prefer a compact kitchen and the other may find it necessary to have a large open
kitchen.

f. Accessibility: Accessibility to all parts of the housing environment by all the members of the
family may be considered as a basic human need, but there are many conditions whereas
we want to restrict accessibility - shelves to children, study room to children and terrace
accessibility.
g. Safety: Safety is a sense of security in ones house, garden, day and night, year after
year. This means protection from many things that threatens human safety and cause
property damage.

h: Natural calamities: People experience security problems through vandalism, assault, theft,
etc which are manmade or by natural force like earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, cyclones,
forest
fires, etc. The way the houses are cited, its configuration and access the enclosed open spaces
can produce a design in security feeling.

i. Open spaces: Include all land not occupied for building roads, walks, parks, garden, private
garden. Open space accommodate the visual amenities like trees, grass, shrubs, etc.

Open spaces can be discussed based on the following aspects:

 Size - large to small spaces
 Hierarchy - a system of spaces
 Ownership - a responsibility of use & maintenance.

Based on ownership spaces are classified as: Public, semi-public and private.

Public spaces - owned by everyone, maintained by public expert & usable by all parks,
playgrounds, roads & sidewalks.

Semi-public spaces - owned by residents & set aside for communal use. Non-resident use is limited
to guests with general. Public base - cluster courts, play areas, garden, etc.

Private space - All dwelling units should have some private outdoor space, whether a yard, balcony
or terrace with adequate community recreation space for active play, private with equipments
and general outdoor enjoyments.

2. 'SITE POTENTIALS & LIMITATIONS' AS DETERMINANTS OF HOUSING QUALITY & SUITABILITY

What characteristics of the site directly influence the quality and suitability of the house?

How can the house be designed to enhance the natural amenities of the site?

The organisation of interior spaces and exterior spaces such as decks, gardens and terraces
depends on the basic characteristics listed below.

Natural factors:

 Water
 Physiography
 Orientation
 Vegetation
 View
 Climate
Manmade factors:

 Location
 Cultural attraction
 Utilities
 Services
 Buildings
 Roads, etc.
3. 'MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY' AS DETERMINANTS OF HOUSE QUALITY AND

SUITABILITY Construction Method:

[Link] - Construction takes more time but yields greater design flexibility and adaptability
to site configuration. Onsite assembly of pre-fabricated components is moderately flexible and
fairly rapid
and efficient.

[Link] on-site installation - The onsite installation of factory built dwelling units is extremely
rapid, not very flexible and potentially disruptive in that heavy equipment's are needed to
place the units
in position.

c. Choice of building materials - The building materials must be visually compatible with
natural
onsite materials. Indigenous building materials fit well with the surroundings and durable material
may be chosen to reinforce the house form with the landform. A house cluster once
wooded, site may be more compatible if sided with woods.

Construction cost:

Cost is the most important determinant of house quality, the choice of the material, the
configuration of the house form and the degree of craftsmanship as related.

House hold type:

The description of each type of family is based on the following determinants:

 Members who constitute the household. Young couple, couples with children, couple with
teenage children, couple with grown up, elderly couple , elderly single.
 Socio cultural and economic background of the members.
 Physical conditions of the members.

But generally in the early town planning phase, the identification of the household type
is by Family
size & income level.
SLUMS

Definitions:

A. A building, a group of buildings or an area characterized by overcrowding, deterioration,

unsanitary conditions or absent of facilities or amenities, because of these conditions
or all of them endanger the health, safety or morale of its inhabitants of its
community - JN report on urban land policy.

B. A street, alleyed court, etc, situated in a crowded district of a town or city & inhabited
by streets 7 courts forming a thickly populated neighborhood of a squalid & wretched
character
- Oxford Dictionary.

C. Those parts of the city considered unfit for human habitation either bacuse of the
structures there(old, dilapidated, grossly congested & out of repairs) or because it is
impossible to preserve sanitation, drainage, water supply, etc because of the sites
by themselves are unhealthy - Bharat sevak samaj.
 Characteristics of a slum:

1. Overcrowding & congestion.

 Overcrowded with buildings or buildings over crowded with people or both.

 Leads to loss of privacy that affects impersonal relations.

2. Poor neighborhood facilities

 Poor housing & community facilities

 Chaotically occupied, unsystematically developed, neglected, structures

insufficiently equipped with proper communications & physiacl comforts.

 Inadequate services & welfare agencies to deal with social & social consequences of
physical
& social environment.

3. Culture of slum

 Low income group people, but not all low income group people are slum dwellers.

 It is a symbol of the cultuer of the lower class

 Possess own culture passed from generation to generation.

4. Apathy & social condition

 Lack effective communication with outside world.

 In any respect unfit for human habitation.

5. Housing condition

 Poorly arranged structures

 Inadequate light & circulation

 Poor design

 Lack of sanitary facilities

 Overcrowding

 Inadequate maintenance
SQUATTING

An unauthorized power attached to a place.

Reasons for squatting:

 No financial background

 Cost of building material & rent is high

 No one to support him when he migrates

 Technology of construction where he arrives is different.

  Street sleeping is the initial form.

Types of Squatting:

 Squatter owner - Own the land not by law but by force

 Squatter landlord - Owns illegaly large parts of land & rents

 Squatter tenant - Squats after paying rent to squatter owner

 Squatter holder - Forcibly takes the squatter owner

 Squatter spectator - squatters in land for future benefit

 Semi squatter - he squats permanently & found in groups

 Store squatter - squats mainly for business purpose

HISTORY OF SLUM CLEARANCE:

 Official programme to slum clearance in the form of City Improvement Trust was stared in
Mumbai as early as 1896.

 In 1958, with the help of Ford Foundation Aid & also under Urban Community
developmennt Programme, Delhi pilot project was launched.

 Designed to stimulate citizen participation, self help activities, preventing further

deterioration & develop a sense of civic consciousness.
SLUM CLEARANCE

First Five Year Plan

 Improving by providing basic infrastructure facilities

 Main principle: minimum dislocation of slum dwellers & rehousing them as far as
possible at same place, providing minimum standards of hygiene.

 Madras Corporation built 2000 tenements between 1908 & 1950 under various schemes.

 There were about 200 slums which reached 306 by 1954.

 City improvement trust came in being for the purpose of improving the city by relaying
roads, removing the congestion, provision of parks & playgrounds, open spaces.

Second Five Year Plan

 Problems: High cost of acquisition of slums, unwillingness of slum dwellers to move away,
new housing activities incurred heavy finance.

 With regard to expenditure, central government proposed to meet 25% of cost as subsidy &
50% by way of loan repayable in 30 years & state government was asked to raise 25% from
their revenue.

Third Five Year Plan

 Provided 29 crores for slum clearance & improvement

  Provided skeletal housing & open developed plots for those whop could not afford
to pay rents.

 Slum dwellers were at liberty to build their own huts on a self help basis.

 Hindrances in acquiring slum areas, non availabilty & high cost of alternative sites near
existing places of work, inability of people to pay even subsidized rent & their
rent & reluctances to move to areas selected for clearance were some of the
bottlenecks.

Fourth Five Year Plan

 Provision of new houses on a large scale.

 An intensive programme of slum improvement was undertaken in slum areas.

 A target of 26 lakhs & 42 lakhs houses in urban & rural areas respectively.

Fifth Five Year Plan

 Minimum needs programme was continued

 extended to towns with a population of 3 lakhs & above and town with lesser population.

 13 crores was earmarked to this purpose.

Sixth Five Year Pan

 Rs. 72.5 crores have been included in the project plan for the period 1974-1984

 Approximately 95,000 houses were to be constructed.

Other Schemes:

a. Buckingham Canal Scheme - Prposed to clear all the slums by rehabilitating slum
dwellers in
pucca tenements.

b. HUDCO scheme - 16 schemes on construction of tenements for slum dwellers

c. Relocation Programme - For families living in Cooum & Adyar river beds.

d. Remunerative Enterprises scheme - To reduce heavy financial strain of Slum Clearance

Board.

e. World Bank Scheme - World bank aid to slum clearance board.

f. Environmental improvement schemes for slums - To enhance environment in

293 slums in Chennai city.

g. Accelerated slum improvement scheme - Bestowed basic amenities like 1 toilet for 10
families, 1 water tap for 20 families, a light for 150 to 200 families.
SLUM UPGRADATION

A. Reasons for growth of slums:

 unwanted products of industrialization

 rapid urbanization

 lack of planning
B. Formation of slums:

 large scale growth of population in cities due to migration

 breakdown in amenities especially housing

 encroachment on unused developed land owned by government or local body

 Occupied by casual workers, labourers, scavengers, etc.

C. Conditions in a slum:

 house lack proper lighting & ventilation

 unsanitary & filthy environment affects the health of inhabitants

 water facilities & other infrastructure are not available

 Results in disappoinment, dissatisfaction & malpractices within the society & impact on
the stability of the city.

[Link] measures:

 Growth of unauthorized settlements should be prevented through enforcement of rules &

regulations.

 Laborers camp at construction site - taken care by the respective agencies of construction

 High congestion & high densities - common problems in slums(not desirable to shift slums to
far away places, improve the quality of life by providing infrastructure, creating open spaces,
etc)

 Education & training slum dwellers (social organization, political parties)

 Program for health education (wean away unsanitary habits, lead a clean & health habits)

 Avoid addition of big industries or large government offices in already congested

town dispersal.

 Creation of new housing neighborhoods & satellite towns.

 Future growth of the town based on the master plan.

 More number of families nust be satisfied with available resources - minimum housing
standards are to be framed.

E. Solving the problems in a slum:

Slums are large areas of blight which have very poor hygiene condition, infrastructure are
hazardous and detrimental to others. Solving the problem of slums requires the co operation
at all levels from
grass roots to the highest political level.

F. Solutions:

 Decentralizing industry(will reduce migration to the city)

 Control of migration
  Slum clearance - the development authorities must be given enough power to clear slums as
soon as they crop up before they settle down.

 Lack of political pressure(political protection for slums to be reduced so that slum

clearance is easier)

 Redevelopmet programme

 Provide finance for slum clearance & rehabilitation must be made a priority.

 Use of low cost techniques.

 Housing should reach the target people

 Rent to be controlled

 Give more land, finances & power to slum clearance & redevelopment boards.

G. Low cost Construction:

 Material - use of indigenous material & inexpensive material - hollow concrete blocks, fly
ash bricks, reinforced mud construction - brick lintels & slabs, use of lime mortar, use of
country wood & wood substitutes for doors, windows, etc.

 Construction techniques - use of arches & corbels instead of lintels, use of filler slabs,
use of
rat trap bond.

 Labour techniques - by using locally available labour. The target group can also be
used for construction purpose to save the cost.

 By planning techniques - avoiding wastages spaces & making maximum utilization of

space. Providing for maximum spaces without affecting circulation. Reducing cost by
built up area.

 Mass construction - of houses & use of prefabricated elements.

 Maintenance - should be low.

[Link] cost techniques:

 Foundation level - bamboo reinforced foundation

 Walls- bricks, mud bricks, locally available material, gly ash, hollow concrete blocks, rat trap
bond construction.

 Exposed brick work cheaper than plastering, use of lime mortar.

 Lintel level - corbels & arches, brick lintel

 Roof level - mangalore tiles, filler slabs, curved roofs with chicken mesh reinforcement,
precast slabs, etc.
EQUITY IN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT - SITES & SERVICES SCHEME:

Site and services is an approach to bringing shelter within the economic reach of the poor.
"Sites- and-Services" schemes are the provision of plots of land, either on ownership or land
lease tenure,
along with a bare minimum of essential infrastructure needed for habitation.
Overview:

It is becoming more and more difficult to provide satisfactory housing to the poor
especially the urban poor.

Because they are poor, it is envitable to provide them the cheapest dwelling with a satisfactory
environment.

A standard type dwelling will continue to be beyond the reach of the poor for many years to come.

Slums & squatter settlements are mainly created problem to be tackled by migrants flocking
from the country side to the cities.

Overcrowding & environmental depresion are the real problems in these areas.

Site & services scheme allows people to buy a plot with sewer, electricity & water
connections at a minimal cost.

A. Introduction:

Rapid growth of urban areas in most developing countries in the last few decades has led to
shortfall in many sectors, primarily housing. The proliferation of slums and squatter
settlements has been a result of this scenario. The intention of improving the environmental
quality of squatter settlements and provide it with the basic necessary infrastructure, one
such innovative schemes which has received wide acknowledgement and following has been
"sites-and-services" schemes.

The realization that providing a "complete" serviced house by government agencies is not
possible or simply cannot be afforded by most low-income families prompted a shift in focus
from supplying a fully serviced house to that of providing only serviced land. The key
characteristic of the approach the use of the beneficiaries' "sweat equity" and other
internal resources (community, financial and so on) in the actual construction and
development of the houses.

Sites-and-services schemes became the byword for solving the problem of squatter settlements.
Squatter settlements were and has always been considered illegal and in order to relocate
and rehabilitate the squatters (as a function of "slum clearance"), plots of land (or sites) with
infrastructure on it (or services) were provided, and the beneficiaries had to, in most of the
projects, build their own houses on such land. There are a wide variety of sites-and-services
schemes, ranging from the subdivided plot only to a serviced plot of land with a "core" house
built on it.

B. Historical Development Of The Concept

The genesis behind Sites-and-services schemes is not new: low-income people have always
been housing themselves, albeit "illegally", in most urban areas of the developing world. The
key departure from earlier housing schemes, like low-cost housing or subsidized high-rise
housing units, is that it recognized the ability of the low-income households to build their own
house, provided an opportunity was given.

Particularly in face of the failure of the conventional housing approaches, coupled with a
number of studies that pointed out the ingenuity and perseverance of squatters to house
themselves, providing sites and services only was touted as a answer to the problems of
housing the poor in developing cities. Many countries in South America, Asia and Africa took
up this concept, and with the World Bank strongly advocating this approach and providing key
finance for a number of projects, the idea received widespread approval.
Sites-and-services schemes have also faced considerable opposition and failure in a number of
projects, primarily due to a series of assumptions and misconceptions on the way in which low-
income families house themselves.

C. Sites-And-Services: The Basic Principles

The key components of a housing scheme are the plot of land, infrastructure (like roads,
water supply, drainage, electricity or a sanitary network), and the house itself. Various inputs
that go into them include finance, building materials/technology, and labour. Thus, the sites-
and-services approach advocated the role of government agencies only in the preparation of
land parcels or plots with certain basic infrastructure, which was to be sold or leased to the
intended beneficiaries. The next step of actual house building was left to the beneficiaries
themselves to use their own resources, such as informal finance or family labour and
various other types of community participation modes to build their house. The beneficiaries
could also build the house at their own phase, depending on the availability of financial and
other resources. This adopted the basic principle of the development of a squatter
settlement but without the "squatting" aspect.

[Link] In Sites-And-Services Schemes

Depending on the investment made, resources available, the implementing agency or

degree of organization of the beneficiaries, sites-and-services schemes were activated in a
number of differing ways. This variation was a result of the attempt to strike a balance
between minimum "acceptable" housing conditions and affordability of the beneficiaries.
While following the basic rule of a plot of land (sites) and essential infrastructure (services),
the degree of participation and inputs of the implementing agency on one hand, and the
beneficiaries on the other, varied greatly. They ranged from an empty plot of land and some
services (like water, electricity and sanitation connections) to the provision of a "core" house
(consisting of a toilet and kitchen only) on the plot of land with attached services.
Some of the variations attempted in sites-and-services projects include:

 Utility wall: A "utility" wall is built on the plot which contains the connections for
water, drainage, sewerage and electricity. The beneficiaries had to build the house
around this wall, and utilize the connections from it. Some projects provided this utility
wall in the form of a sanitary core consisting of a bathroom/toilet, and/or a kitchen.

 Latrine: Due to its critical waste disposal problem, many project provide a basic
latrine (bathroom and/or toilet) in each plot.

 Roof frame/ shell house, core house: The roof is the costliest component of a house
and requires skilled labour to build. Therefore, some projects provide the roof
structure on posts, and the beneficiaries have to build the walls according to their
requirements. Conversely, a plinth is sometimes built by the implementing agency, which
forms a base over which the beneficiaries can build their house. Other variations to
this are the shell house (which is an incomplete house consisting of a roof and two
side walls, but without front or rear walls) and a core house (consisting of one
complete room).

E. Actors And Actions In Sites-And-Services Schemes

The two key actors in a sites-and-services project are the intended beneficiaries and the
implementing agency. In most cases, the intended beneficiaries of the project belong to the
lower income group of an urban area - for example, squatters who have been relocated from
their original
illegal settlement. They are characterized by low incomes, informal sector jobs or irregular
employment and lack the necessary assets to enable them to afford a "formal" sector house.
With basic skills in construction, many are in a position to build their own house (there are
however exceptions to these features - which have resulted in the failure of many sites-and-
services schemes).

The other principle actor in the sites-and-services schemes is the implementing agency. In
most cases, this is a government department or similar body, like the Housing Boards.
Operating from goals and objectives on a city-wide scale and for all income groups, such
agencies initiate sites-and- services schemes both for the provision of housing of low-income
families as well as removing "eyesores" that squatter settlements depict.

The basic division of the stages of implementation between these two principle actors determines
the type of scheme being proposed. Several other actors play essentially supportive roles,
including various government agencies responsible for provision of infrastructure, non-
governmental or voluntary organizations and so on.

F. Shortcomings Of The Sites-And Services Approach

With several assumptions and misconceptions regarding low-income families, sites-and-services

projects have been subject to many shortcomings in its conception, identification of beneficiaries,
implementation and cost recovery. Thus sites-and-services schemes have often been rendered
unaffordable or inaccessible for the lowest-income groups by bureaucratic procedures,
institutional requirements and political problems. Some of the constraints have been:

 Location: With high land costs in urban areas, most sites-and-services schemes are
location on the fringe where such costs are not very high. This however causes two
problems: one, the large distance between the site and existing delivery networks,
off-site and on-site provision of infrastructure is high and construction can be delayed.
Two, the extra distances that the beneficiaries have to travel (and the consequent
extra costs) to the employment centres would discourage many beneficiaries to take
advantage of such schemes.

 Bureaucratic Procedures: Selection procedures, designed to ascertain that applicants

meet eligibility criteria, tend to be cumbersome, time-consuming and full of bureaucratic
pitfalls, and provide opportunities for corruption. Besides, for many low-income
families, the eligibility criteria are impossible to meet due to informal sector jobs or
low/irregular incomes.

 Delay in provision of Services: Due to a lack of coordination between the various

implementation agencies and a "spread" of responsibility of providing the infrastructure
and services, there is considerable delay in the final provision the services, even
after the land has been allocated to the beneficiaries.

 Standards: High standards of construction and building quality is set by the

implementing agencies making such schemes unaffordable to the target beneficiaries.
Some sites-and- services schemes, for example, prohibit income generating activities
on residential plots, including rental of rooms: they, thereby, limit the opportunities
of residents to earn an (additional) income to pay for their plot and their house.

 Cost Recovery: Most sites-and-services schemes are plagued by poor cost recovery.
One reason is the high costs that beneficiaries have to bear shortly after moving into the
scheme. They have to pay for the plot as well as construction of the house, while they
might be facing
 loss of income due to the move to the new scheme. Transport, water and electricity
costs add to the burden which they might not have had before. But some of the main
reasons for poor recovery has been delay in provision of services, inadequate collection
methods, lack of sanctions for non-payment and absence of political will to enforce
payment.

G. Phases Of Sites & Services Scheme:

 Phase 1: Formulating eligibility criteria

 Phase 2: Recruitment of beneficiaries
 Phase 3: Planning the settlement
 Phase 4: Project budgeting
 Phase 5: Site development
 Phase 6: Plot allocation
 Phase 7: Planning the dwelling
 Phase 8: Financial plot development
 Phase 9: Construction of the dwelling
 Phase 10: Repayment of loans and payment of service charges.
[Link] study: Arumbakkam, Chennai

History - The approach first appeared on a large scale in Madras (now Chennai) in 1972
when the World Bank engaged Christopher Charles Benninger to advise the Madras
Metropolitan
Development Authority (MMDA) on their housing sector investments. The approach links the
user group's ability to pay with land prices and the costs of rudimentary and upgradable
infrastructure. The fundamental idea is to market plots with essential infrastructure at market
prices, to avoid the resale of subsidized housing, directed at low-income groups. The first major
scheme planned by Benninger, at Arumbakkam in Chennai, created about 7,000 shelter
units, within the paying capacity of the urban poor. Within five years the MMDA created
more than 20,000 units and the approach became a major strategy of the World Bank to tackle a
variety of shelter problems globally.

In Arumbakkam - Chennai:

 2400 sites was developed & allotted to encroachers of river banks & road sites &
other slum dwellers within the city.

 About 55% of the sites are allotted to households below the poverty line.

 Pricing of plots for the weaker sections were highly subsidized to bring them
within the affordable limits of the target groups.

 The range for plot subdivision, i.e., ratio between width & depth followed in the layout
is 1:2 to 1:5.

 Pricing of MIg, Hig & non residential plots excluding those for community facilities
were fixed t market price facilitating cross subsidization.

 Water supply was arranged from the Corporation mains.

 Sewers were newly constructed & connected to the Koyambedu Sewage Treatment Plant.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Community participation represents a voluntary action carried out by community members

who participate with each other in different kinds of work to achieve desired goals. Participation
includes people's involvement in decision-making, in implementing programs, sharing in the
benefits of development programs and their involvement in efforts to evaluate such
programs. (Cohen and Uphoff, 1977).

In rural areas people are accustomed to plan and build their houses and neighborhoods in
conformity with their tradition, culture and their living environment, and it is affected by
religious
beliefs, ethnic and cultural backgrounds as well as laws, political environment and economic
situation. While in urban areas peoples' participation depends on different factors such as cultural
backgrounds, economic situation, social relations, history and age of the neighborhood.

Participation of beneficiaries:

 Main priority of the people moving into project area is to construct houses or complete the
skeletal houses.

 The allottees should have clear information to enable them to take cost effective solutions.

 The ideas of self help community action, core housing development stages, etc are
parts of this new strategy.

 This strategy has marked a major breakthrough in the supply of low income & EWS urban
houses.

 However, this strategy is inaccessible to the bottom 25% to 30% of the urban population.

Example: Aranya Township

Place: Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Architect: [Link]
 Aranya - means "forest" is an innovative exercise undertaken by Indore Development
Authority. Planned for 40,000 people.

 Objective: To create an integrated human habitat suited to the lifestyle & cultural
background of the people.

 Qualitative improvement of the built environment in a manner which takes into account the
corresponding physical, functional, technological & financial constraints.

 Retains unique & distinct identity of its own within various social & economic
activities can flourish.

 Non-residential activities at the township level are grouped together to create a focus.
 The built form of the town centre is raised above that of the other structures to
accentuate its visual impact as a node.

 The linear town centre consisting of 4 clusters of shopping, residential & office
complexes, is located such that it is within a 10 minute walking distance from the
remotest part of the site.

 The road is staggered at two places to break the continuity & discourage fast &
through traffic.

 The road network & the system of open spaces is organized so as to converge at the
centre & highlight the concept of spatial planning.

 All the facilities are evenly distributed throughout the settlement, but organized in
such a manner so as to maintain a strong link with the town centre.

 The open spaces at the township level consist of a formal playground & public spaces along
the bazaar.

 At the sector level the open areas are organized in the middle of each neighbourhood
as a continuous space.

 To avoid strict segregation of various income groups, plots are arranged in concentric rings
of diminishing sizes.

 Building bylaws & standards used for the organization of spaces, materials & construction
techniques are a hangover of the conventional concept of housing as a product rather than a
process.

 Huge pockets of site & services projects reserved for EWS families can create
undesirable residential segregation in a city.
RAJIV AWAS YOJANA CRIME PREVENTION

Overview:

Encouraged by the popularity of JnNURM, Rajiv Awas Yojana was launched in 2009 with the
vision of a 'slum free India' that aims at encouraging States/Union Territories to progress and
tackle the problem of slums holistically. The ministry will provide support to State
Governments/ Urban local bodies for slum survey, GIS mapping of slums, and for capacity
creation at city and state levels, etc.

[Link]:

Rajiv Awas Yojana envisages a ‘Slum-free India’ with inclusive and equitable cities in which
every citizen has access to basic civic and social services and decent shelter. It aims to
achieve this vision by encouraging States/Union Territories to tackle the problem of slums in a
definitive manner, by a multi-pronged approach focusing on:

1. bringing all existing slums, notified or non-notified within the formal system and enabling
them to avail of the same level of basic amenities as the rest of the town;

2. redressing the failures of the formal system that lie behind the creation of slums; and

3. tackling the shortages of urban land and housing that keep shelter out of reach of the
urban poor and force them to resort to extra-legal solutions in a bid to retain their sources of
livelihood and employment.

2. Duration of RAY:

The duration of Rajiv Awas Yojana will be in two phases: Phase-I, for a period of two years
from the date of approval of the scheme and Phase-II which will cover the remaining period
of the Twelfth Five Year Plan 2013-17 RAY will be run in a Mission Mode.

3. Scope:

RAY will provide the support to enable states to redevelop all existing slums in a holistic and
integrated way and to create new affordable housing stock. The existing schemes of
Affordable Housing in Partnership, and Interest Subsidy for Housing the Urban Poor
(ISHUP), would be dovetailed into this scheme. However, projects sanctioned under the two
schemes will continue to receive Central assistance as per the sanctions and the existing
provision of the schemes.

4. RAY: Coverage

The choice of cities would be made by the States, according to their aspirations and
financial and resource arrangements in consultation with the Centre that will oversight as to
adherence to the spirit and guidelines of the scheme. About 250 cities, mainly Class I, are
expected to be covered by the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan.

Among the cities selected, States would be required to include all the mission cities of JNNURM,
so as to complete the process begun; preferably cities with more than 3 lakh population as
per 2001 Census; and other smaller cities. However, priority should be accorded by all States to
towns with larger number of people living in slums so that the goal of RAY to achieve the
status of Slum-free State/Country is attained in the shortest time span.

5. RAY: Implementation Approach and Strategy

The strategy for implementation of RAY proposes an open architecture with sufficient
flexibility to the States and ULBs to decide their pace of implementation and models for
arranging land, resources, housing, and partnerships, with the incentive of central support
attached to the condition that they proceed systematically, with careful preparation, and commit to
creating the conditions for inclusive urban growth.

The strategy has the following main elements:

1. RAY will be driven by and implemented at the pace set by the States/UTs. Centre
will incentivize timely and effective implementation by states/cities.

2. A ‘whole city’, ‘all slums’ approach will be adopted, rather than a piecemeal, isolated
approach, to ensure that all slums within a city, whether notified or non-notified, in
small clusters or large, whether on lands belonging to State/Central Government,
Urban Local Bodies, public undertakings of State/Central Government, any other public
agency and private land, are covered; a holistic assessment is made of the size and
scope involved; and available land is put to the best use by designing slum specific
solutions and negotiating the best possible utilisation of the land.

3. The definition of slum would be as per the definition of the Dr. Pronab Sen
Committee Report on Slum Statistics/Census i.e. “A slum is a compact
settlement of at least 20 households with a collection of poorly built tenements,
mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitary
and drinking water facilities in
unhygienic conditions” for all States except the North Eastern and Special Category
States. In these States compact settlements of 10-15 households having the same
characteristics as above would be considered as slums.

4. In each slum, an integrated approach will be taken, with provision of infrastructure,

basic civic and social amenities and decent housing, with attention to planning the
layout (after reconfiguration of plots, if possible), total sanitation (with provision of
individual toilets and water supply to each household) and provision of adequate green
spaces as per (modified, if necessary) town planning norms.

5. Community will be involved at every stage, from planning through implementation to

post- project sustenance stages. The attempt to design for people would be done with
the people.

6. Flexibility will be given to states and cities in deciding solutions specific to the
requirements of each slum, whether upgrading, redevelopment, or in unavoidable
cases, relocation.

7. In-situ development will be encouraged as the programme of choice, to ensure

that development does not lead to a loss of job linkage or additional hours and
income lost on commuting to work; where relocated, there will be emphasis on
active intervention to provide mobility or recreating livelihood linkages.

8. Private sector participation will be emphasised under RAY, for slum

redevelopment, wherever feasible, as well as for creation of new affordable housing
stock, both for rental and ownership, through imaginative use of land use and other
concessions.

9. The benefits of health, education, social security, workers’ welfare, livelihood and
public transport linkages for holistic slum redevelopment will be provided through
conscious effort for convergence of schemes and dovetailing of budgetary provisions
available under the programmes in the respective sectors.
6. RAY: Operational Strategy

RAY would be implemented in two stages, the Preparatory Stage, and the Implementation Stage.

Preparatory Stage

The Guidelines of Slum Free City Planning Scheme include:

1. Preparation of legislation for the assignment of property rights to slum dwellers;

2. Slum Surveys, MIS, GIS Mapping of Slums, MIS-GIS integration and development of
‘Slum- free City Plan’ for each selected/identified city so that every slum cluster
therein is identified and mapped by its size, composition, demographic and
socioeconomic profile, location, land ownership, etc., to enable a comprehensive
planning and modelling for land, resources, and finances for upgradation of all existing
slums;

3. Creating mechanisms and structures for community mobilisation as well as private

sector participation,

4. Developing the vision and strategy for an inclusive city that has adequate
availability of formal spaces for its future growth,

5. Developing institutional and human resource capacity, and

6. Undertaking pilot projects

Commitments Precedent to Release of Funds under RAY

The State POA(Plan of Action) will need to describe the legislative amendments and policy
changes proposed to redress the land and affordable housing scarcities which are the genesis of
slums as a part of their POA and state vision.

Implementation Stage

The State/City PoA will need to be submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Poverty
Alleviation with due approval of the State Level Sanctioning &Monitoring Committee) along
with the Act or the executive instruction/ policy/scheme for assignment of property rights and
in event of the latter the commitment of the Government to enact the legislation within one year.
The Implementation Stage will begin as soon as the State/City POA is accepted and cleared
by the Centre..

The Slum-free City Plan will have to be for a city as a whole, but within a city the
implementation of slum upgradation may require to be phased out and paced as per the financial
and resource capacity of the state and the city, giving precedence to untenable slums and
those with larger populations of the deprived, i.e., the SC/ST and minorities.

7. RAY: Central Support, State share and Credit enablement measures

Central Government support under RAY would have the following components:

Provision of Integrated Slum redevelopment with Basic Civic and Social Infrastructural Amenities
and Shelter

Affordable Housing in

Partnership Credit Enablement :

Interest Subsidy

Credit Enablement : Mortgage /Risk Guarantee Fund

Support for Capacity building, Preparatory Activities, IEC & Community mobilisation, Planning,
Administrative and Other expenses (PA&OE)

8. RAY: Administration and Implementation Structure

National Level - RAY Mission Directorate, State RAY Mission

Director ULB Level - Mayor/Chairman of the Municipal Council

Community Level - Slum Dwellers’ Federation at the city level, and Slum Dwellers Association at
each
slum level

[Link]:Monitoring & Evaluation

RAY will be monitored at three levels: City, State and Government of India. In particular,

I. Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation will periodically monitor the scheme.

II. State Nodal Agency would send Quarterly Progress Report(on-line) to the Ministry
of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

III. Upon completion of a project, the State Nodal Agency, through the State
Government, would submit completion report to the Central Government.

IV. Central Sanctioning-cum-Monitoring Committee will meet as often as required to

sanction and review/monitor the progress of projects sanctioned under the Mission.

V. Monitoring of quality of projects executed by the implementing agencies in the

States/Cities will be facilitated through independent quality control/ assurance/ third
party teams at various levels that may be outsourced to specialized/technical
agencies.

VI. Monitoring of projects by States/Urban Local Bodies by conducting Social Audit in

conformity with guidelines to be prescribed, right from the stage of project
preparation.

VII. The processes of implementation will be monitored by undertaking concurrent

evaluation through reputed independent institutions to ensure that corrections to
distortions, oversights or shortcomings can be made in time.

Evaluation of experience under RAY will be carried out before the programme enters into its
second phase.

HEALTH PRINCIPLES IN HOUSING

A. Healthy housing - interpretation

Housing should provide a safe and heal thy environment for its inhabitants. Many technical, social,
planning and policy factors relating to housing may affect physical ~and mental health and social
wellbeing. These factors can be expressed in terms of basic human requirements that can
accordingly be incorporated into housing standards, policies and goals of attainment relevant to
an individual country's needs, resources and priorities. Adoption of healthy housing principles will
help
governments, communities and families to safeguard against such risks.

B. Housing and health

Throughout recorded history, people have been concerned with having adequate shelter against
the elements and developing a safe and comfortable physical environment in which to live. The
degree
of success in achieving these goals is largely determined by prevailing socioeconomic conditions
and the influence of environmental changes arising from, for instance, industrialization or
technology. As a result, many parts of the developing world face a serious housing problem
as expressed by
homelessness, slums and other poor-quality housing, which contribute to hazards to health and
wellbeing. For instance, disease, accidents and fires are more prevalent in slum areas, and
psychological and social disturbances also are partly attributed to substandard housing.

Improvement of these conditions through slum clearance, rehousing or rehabilitation is .generally

thought to be justifiable on humanitarian grounds because they improve the physical, mental and
social wellbeing of the community for the common good.

Implicit to this concept is the belief in a linear dose-response relationship between housing
conditions and state of health, which can be crudely expressed as:
BETTER HOUSING = BETTER HEALTH

POORER HOUSING = POORER HEALTH

C. Parameters of health

WHO defines health as "not merely the absence of disease and infirmity, but a state of complete
physical, mental and social wellbeing". In terms of housing, information about epidemiology
and identification of causal factors rarely includes biomedical, psychosomatic and social
pathologies. As a result, little is known about the contribution made by housing in causing
stressrelated diseases such
as hypertension, migraine, depression, neurosis, alcoholism and social diseases manifested by
pathologically derived antisocial behaviour (e.g. crime, violence, street mugging, vandalism, child
abuse, and mental or sexual ailments).

D. General healthy housing needs

We spend an estimated two third~ of our life within the home and its immediate surroundings. The
health of each occupant is potentially at risk from an insanitary or otherwise unhealthy housing
environment. However, the groups who spend most time in the home are children, mothers with
young children, the elderly, disabled persons, the chronically sick and the unemployed. These
groups can be expected to be disproportionately affected by poor housing conditions and also
usually have
special health and housing needs. Thus, housing suitable for general needs may not be suitable
for these groups.

Thus, poor housing may affect physical health in at least three ways:

a. it may facilitate the transmission of communicable diseases;

b. it may interfere with physiological needs;

c. its design or construction may cause injury to health.

E. Principles related to health needs

The relationships between housing conditions and human health are set forth in six major
principles some of which include a numbero f subdivisions. The subjects of the major
principles are:

1. Protection against communicable diseases.

2. Protection against injuries, poisonings and chronic diseases.

3. Reducing psychological and social stresses to a minimum.

4. improving the housing environment.

5. Making informed use of housing.

6. Protecting populations at special risk

I. Protection against communicable diseases.

Adequate housing provides protection against exposure to agents and vectors of communicable
diseases through:

 Safe water supply - An adequate supply of safe and potable water assists in preventing the
spread of gastrointestinal diseases, supports domestic and personal hygiene and
provides an improved standard of living.

 sanitary excreta disposal - Sanitary disposal of excreta reduces the faecal-oral transmission
of disease and the breeding ol insect vectors.

 disposal of solid wastes - Adequate and safe disposal of solid domestic wastes
reduces health risks and helps to provide a more pleasant living environment;
appropriate methods
of storage and disposal discourage insect and rodent vectors of disease and protect
people against poisonous substances and objects likely to cause accidental injury.

 drainage of surface water - Efficient drainage of surface waters helps to control

communicable diseases, sa
fety and damage to homes and property.
hazards,
 personal and domestic hygiene - Adequate housing includes facilities for personal
and domestic hygiene, and people should be educated in hygienic practices.

 safe food preparation - Healthy dwellings provide facilities for the sate preparation and
storage of food, so that householders can employ sanitary foodhandling practices.

 structural safeguards against disease transmission - Adequate housing provides

structural safeguards against the transmission of disease, including enough space
to avoid
overcrowding.

II. Protection against injuries, poisonings and chronic diseases

Adequate housing provides protection against injuries, poisonings and thermal and other
exposures that may contribute to chronic disease and malignancies; special attention should
be paid to

 structural features and furnishings - The proper siting, structure and furnishing of
dwellings protects health, promotes safety and reduces hazards.

 indoor air pollution - Adequately designed, constructed and ventilated dwellings, free
of toxic and irritating substances, reduce the risks of chronic respiratory diseases
and malignancies.

 chemical safety - Sensible precautions in the household reduce exposure to hazardous

chemicals.
  the use of the home as a workplace - Where a dwelling is also used as a workplace, those
who live in it should be protected against hazards and contamination.

III. Reducing psychological and social stresses to a minimum.

Adequate housing helps people's social and psychological development and reduce to a
minimum the psychological and social stresses connected with the housing environment.

To reduce unhealthy psychosocial stresses to a minimum, dwelling environments should:

 provide adequate living space, properly ventilated and lit, decently equipped and
furnished, with a reasonable degree of privacy and comfort;

 provide a sense of personal and family security, reinforced by the community structure;

 provide space for children's play, sports and recreation, with minimum risks of injury and
infection;

 be so sited as to reduce exposure to noise, provide contact with greenery and enable people
to have access to community amenities; and

 be easy to keep clean and in good order.

IV. improving the housing environment.

Suitable housing environments provide access to places of work, essential services and amenities
that promote good health.

 Security and emergency services

 Health and social services

 Access to cultural and other amenities

V. Making informed use of housing.

Only if residents make proper use of their housing can its health potential be realized to the full.

VI. Protecting populations at special risk

Housing should reduce to a minimum hazards to the health of groups at special risk
from the conditions they live in including,

 women and children,

 those who live in substandard housing,

 displaced and mobile populations and

 the aged, the chronically ill and the disabled