Upgrading Slums in Order to Benefit the benefit the High Population Density in Urban Living - Research Paper Example

UPGRADING SLUMS IN ORDER TO BENEFIT THE HIGH POPULATION DENSITY IN URBAN LIVING Student Name Tutor’s Name Institution Course Date Executive Summary In most urban areas, slums have resulted due to increased population and the competition for meager resources. They are characterized by many people living is small rooms and congested houses. However, despite the dirt and congestion associated with slums, the architectural concern for this research is to propose ways in which slums can be properly upgraded to benefit the high population density in urban living. This will minimize the total waste and coordinate all the systems so as to use the available resources in the most efficient way. Components covered in the project proposal include background information about slums, the problem to be addressed, the principle objectives, and the contribution of the past researches, the research methods to be employed, and conclusion. Introduction History of development is responsible for the development of slums. While the past development provided solutions to cozy living, it failed to provide the same to emerging settlements such as slums. Slums are very significant and cannot be ignored at all, if development is anything to go by. The growth of slums has become a common norm in most of the urban areas. Slums provide an alternative place of living as opposed to the expensive and less congested parts of the cities across the world. The perspectives of the key policy makers towards slums should change so that they can be developed to modern places of living that is capable of accommodating large numbers of people. Proper upgrade of slum dwellings requires an architectural perspective. Other systems must also be incorporated in order to have sustainable slum dwellings free from dirt, noise and collapsing of buildings. There are different slums in different parts of the world. This research will consider some cases in the UK, USA and Australia, critically evaluate the problem of slums and then propose ways of redesigning them so as to meet the demand. Research Questions Most policies have remained silent on slums upgrading but the big concern is that they are continually becoming more overpopulated with new slums being created now and again (Lincoln, & Guba, 2011). If all the architectural energy is redirected to development of slums, much is going to be realized. This will benefit slum dwellings and make it a suitable place that can accommodate most of the populations. An appropriate re-design or upgrade of slums will change people’s perspective that slums are for under- privileged people. In order to understand the problems associated with slums and several development plans which have been adopted by different countries, this proposal focuses on the use of case studies for specific slum regions within the UK, USA and Australia. Aims and Objectives The principle objective of this research is to address on ways in which the improvement or re-designing of slums can benefit the high population density cases in urban living. Since slum dwellings are increasing becoming unstoppable, the only viable option is to refocus the architectural views towards ways of upgrading the slums. This will involve meeting the primary aims such as quality landscaping, constant and long-term management of the whole slum area, having mixed tenure and household types, redesigning the whole slum area in order to meet the housing demands. Literature Review The rapid industrialization in the nineteenth century in many parts of the world was characterized by sudden urbanization trends (Merriam, 1999). The industrial cities ended up attracting many people who later packed into some poorly built new houses or adapted the existing buildings. Some of these buildings did not have sufficient ventilation, or lacked ventilation. Millions of the urban poor in both the transitional and developing worlds had limited options but to cohabit in the unsafe, and squalid environments. The architectural structures in these places are not sufficiently planned. Over the last 25 years, slum settlements have grown at an alarming rate (Stephen, 2000). The projections still reveal more growth of slums as we get into the near future. There are several factors leading to the emergence of slums, and among them being failed policies, corruption, dysfunctional land markets, lack of political will and even inappropriate regulations. The burdens add to the problem of more people occupying the already deeply burdened slum dwellings ( Yin, 2010). Although there has been a lot of architectural developments around cities, characterized by buildings soaring up into the sky, little has been done as far as upgrading slum dwellings is concerned. History shows that slum dwellings range from high density to spontaneous squatter dwellings where there are no legal recognitions (Stephen, 2000). Most slums sprawl at the edge of cities. Some slums are as old as 50 years. Despite the varying names, they have similar miserable conditions of living, such as: Insufficiency of the basic municipal services like sanitation, waste collection, water, paved footpaths, and drainage systems. Unsafe areas for children to stay Inadequate clinics Unplanned settlement growths Theoretical Framework and Methods There are several slum cases across the world. While this research is based on the architectural concern of how slums can benefit the high population in the urban living, a number of slums in the UK, USA and Australia shall be considered in order to identify the actual architectural approaches being used in redesigning slums. Considering different slum case studies will provide a good option for carrying out the investigation. This research acknowledges the use of case studies, because it will assist in gaining more evident about rebuilding slums. There are several methods that can be used for carrying out architectural research investigations, but the use of case studies will give the opportunity for a deeper exploration of slum dwellings within the architectural context. This research will use a number of slum cases about different slums in UK, USA and Australia in order to come up with theories, build interventions and analyze the problem of slums upgrade in a robust nature. Different cases will form the fundamental elements. Through the use of case studies, a number of slum dwellings will be considered. Upgrading of Slums in Australia The slums in Sydney, Australia, are a home for thousands of people. The approach that has been used in rehabilitating them includes the construction of over 900 housing units, construction of schools, betterment and building of more social halls, the construction of shreds for handling solid wastes, building of more public toilet blocks, the construction of boundary walls and building of over 400 business stalls. This massive redesign of the slums in Sydney was supposed to improve people’s lives within the slums. The other objective was to rid the city of slum dwellings. However, the main challenges included having so many people preferring to move into slums following the upgrade. In other words, the upgrade attracted more people. Other key concerns that were integrated in reconstructing slums included the betterment of sanitation conditions, the improvement of the road networks, improving security lightings, and having proper drainage systems in place. Another slum problem is water. This raised the government concern to come up with sustainable projects of using solar power to run some water recycling and treatment systems. The large part of Australia is a desert, and for the large part of the year, solar can be tapped to run some equipments in the slums or supply electricity to slum houses. The acknowledgment of the government that slum dwellers have a great contribution to the development of the nation is very significant. Therefore, in 1980, the government adopted a new strategy to upgrade slum dwelling areas. The strategy that was adopted falls under three categories: (i) Architectural Planning This is a very crucial stage, and contains some difficult elements, but remains the primary part of upgrading any slum. The architectural plans that were implemented in upgrading the slums started to develop in 1960s, and included determining the general slum layout and building lines, establishing space networks and street width, establishing the right materials for construction, and suggesting housing standards to be followed by all its citizens. (ii) Facades Adjustment This is a crucial stage towards improving the general visual image of the entire slum areas. This was achieved by redesigning the openings, the size of building blocks, picking the right materials and colours, and establishing the texture of the constructions to be adopted. (iii) Improving the Image of Urban Areas This strategy aims at improving the general lifestyle of urban inhabitants, by way of upgrading their dwellings. In other words, slums got to be viewed as places, not just for the disadvantaged but for anyone who wishes to live there. This approach made the country to rank fore-front in ensuring positive use of slums to accommodate the large urban populations. Approaches that have been used in the USA for Slums Upgrading There are several slums in the USA that have undergone, and are still undergoing, several rehabilitations or reconstructions. Some of these slums are in Detroit, Miami, New Orelans, Chicago, Saint L and New York. In order to redesign these slums, the USA government has focused on having enabling strategies in housing. It has also recognized that planners and architects are supposed to be part of this solution. The USA government has focused on the following architectural concerns in order to redesign slums, and change the total perspective about slums. Improving access to water facilities Most slums in the USA have been reconstructed in order to create arrangements for having drinking water accessed by the slum dwellers. Making water available for slum dwellers is a major concern towards rehabilitating slums so that they can accommodate more people. Water should be made available, either free or at an affordable price, and without any extreme effort. Improving access to sanitation facilities A number of slums in New York used to face a critical problem of having unhygienic sanitation conditions. This formed the basis for bleeding of diseases, which later spread to the entire part of the city. The architectural concern that was employed here was to first provide excreta disposal systems especially that suit the slum areas. Disposal waste systems that were designed included both public shared and privately owned toilets. Ensuring Security of the Tenure Systems for Slum People Slums in the USA, like in other parts of the world, have been associated with having inhabitants with the insecurity of getting thrown out of the premises from time to time. Some places, for instance in the slums that were developing in Chicago in the 1970s, were accorded the preference of ensuring the inhabitants had secure tenure status in order to protect them from evictions. Such sense of security encouraged some of the slum dwellers to construct permanent residential premises as opposed to temporary constructions. Permanent systems are easy to plan for; both medium and long-term, unlike with temporary structures which are normally demolished after a short while, thus creating a poor picture of the entire landscape. Ensuring Durability of Housing in Slums This was one of the fundamental strategies towards improving the lives of people in slum areas. It was observed that most people in the slum areas normally used trash wastage for construction of their houses, and this is hazardous to the entire environment. Damp yards that formed the source of most materials used by slum dweller in their constructions were turned into waste management centers, for recycling and reusing waste products. The government also took an architectural approach of advising people to construct their houses through the use of recommended materials. A number of building legislations have really led to the reconstruction of slums, from a number of perspectives. The building regulations advocate for the use of non-hazardous materials in constructions. Providing Sufficient Living Space Architectures play a crucial role in ensuring a strict compliance to the housing standards, especially the size of living area. The USA government has enacted legislations to provide for sufficient housing to the citizens. They have put up laws, some of which prohibit the sharing of a room by more than two people. Like in most parts of the world, major infrastructural developments take place in cities. This creates more competition of the available resources, as a result, those who cannot afford resort to live in slum areas where life is relatively cheap as compared to other areas. This means that, as development continues, there is a parallel problem of slums being created. To address this problem with the seriousness it deserves, architectures and other designers have found it useful to develop all-inclusive plans for slum areas so as to settle the large urban population. In some context, the word slums is used to refer to all people who build houses without any legal permission on any given land. Such houses later get cleared by the government because of their illegal existence. Generally, such areas are unhygienic, underdeveloped and lack essential elements for a healthy living. In order to eradicate slums, the USA government has realized the need to engage architectures in providing solutions of low cost housing, especially for people living in slum areas. Essential elements lacking in slum areas include inadequate access to water, lack of improved sanitation, lack of durable housing, lack of enough housing area, and lack of security of tenure. The lack of these key elements makes the living conditions for people to be both difficult and harsh. Slum Upgrade Projects in the UK The UK government has been at the fore-front of upgrading its slums, not only to improve the living standards of its people, but also accommodate it growing urban populations. Old Nichol, which is situated in East End of London, is one of such examples. It is specifically located in Bethnal Green, and forms part of Shoreditc, in the Bank of England. Before, rehabilitation, the major features that characterized this slum were muddy streets, pools of filthy liquid and even carcasses of dogs. The UK approach towards development of slums has focused on addressing the problems of millions of slum dwellers, who are faced with lack of fundamental human requirements, such as shelter, water, sanitation, and education. Over the last 50 years, cities in the UK have tremendous development, leading to the additional challenge of the growth of some illegal settlements (slums). The growth became so tremendous, to a point it would no longer be ignored (Ibrahim, 2000). The UK government, therefore, adopted new mechanisms of redesigning these settlements, while keeping in mind the existing and future challenges the slums are likely to pose. The UK has got elaborate building legislations, such as the Approved Document 2010. Unfortunately, most slum dwellers fail to meet the standard expected by the building regulations. As such, the government has come in to support the disadvantaged members, especially slum dwellers, so as to meet this standard. Some of the architectural methods employed include the use of building plans which will accommodate all the necessary structures. Although the general improvement of slums requires the application of several disciplines, the main architectural components play a central role. Some of the strategies the UK has embraced towards rehabilitation of slums include: Installation of basic infrastructure, such as flood prevention structures, security lighting, storm drainage, water reticulation, waste collection, and removal of structures that are hazardous. A further strategy involved reconstruction of health facilities in order to accommodate the large population of slum dwellers, rehabilitate the facilities within slums, such as community open spaces, health posts, social halls, and nurseries. The regularizing of security tenure is also significant because it encourages the slum dwellers to refocus on permanent forms of housing unlike temporary houses associated with insecurity in the tenure system. A Comparison of these Three Cases From the analysis of the three cases on USA, Australia and the UK, a lot of architectural efforts can be witnesses in the reconstruction of slums. Generally, fundamental plans have focused on increasing the actual capacity of slums in order to accommodate the large numbers. In effort to increase the slum capacity, there is also a dire need to improve the living conditions by redesigning the water systems, communication systems such as roads, drainage systems, and improving on the general structures and beauty of the landscape. Further, USA, UK and Australia have adopted the mechanism of enacting legislations that govern on buildings. Therefore, the role of architectures is to come up with the right choice of different designs that can meet the dynamic and robust nature of slums. Primarily, the upgrade of slums improves the lives of its inhabitants and attracts more people to it. Therefore, a sustainable solution is to redesign slums in order to accommodate the large population in the urban living. References Ibrahim, H., 2000, An Analytical Comparative Approach on the Relationship between Vernacular Settlements and Spontaneous Settlements, Faculty of Engineeig, Cairo Unviersity, Giza, Egypt. Lincoln, YS & Guba, E A 2011, How to Upgrade Slums in the Architectural Way, Sage, Beverly Hills. Merriam, SB, 1999, Sustainable Upgrade of Slum Dwellings, Jossey Bass Publishers, London. Stephen, LN 2000, Modern Constructions for Highly Populated Areas, Jossey Bass Publishers, London. Stake, R 1998, Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry, New Delhi, London. Yin, KY, 2010, Redesigning Slums to Meet the Demand, Sage, Newbury Park. Read More