how the other half build i - mcgill university€¦ · this study was prepared with the financial...

HOW THE OTHER HALF BUILDa

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HOW THE OTHER HALF BUILDS

Volume 3:The SeIf’Selectjon Process

Vikrarn Bhatt

Jesus Navarrete

Avi Fneciman

Wahd Saharoon

Sun Minhu

Rubenson Teixeira

Stefan Wiedemann

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Rase rc P °r o I Mar h 990Centre for Minrnum Cost Housing. McGill University. Montreal Canada

This study was prepared with the financial assistance of theSpecial Programs Branch of the Institutional Cooperation andDevelopment Services Division of the Canadian International

Development Agency.

Foreword

C o n t e h t s

1

1. Problems Associated with Sites and Services and Formal Housing

2. Self-Selection Design Process: A New Design Method

3. The Design Experiment

4. The Settlement Development Process

5 The Design Apprasal

References

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The study reported n thepresent volume departs shghtiyfrom the previou t v It is notdirectly conce vi t cx ndingour understa g of theunderlying o r. r un ar ed

setteme”s. Ratner t cons’stsof an expenment in whch thefndngs cf the eerier stuceswere apped n a search for newdesign rr hods for theprod i ser responsiveho c oor Th

us r c red arourdh pothetc p oa h we havea d t Se f.’Selection

Process. h asdeveooedough e g buld

Ia o excr c undertak rby a g oup a gr duate studentsin tn’ r Cost HousingPrograr T e new approachsmuiates the settiement processwhich. might take place in anunplanned settlement. Where.however, sufticent control tontegrate proper services in acost effechve manner, smantaned by the formal sectorThe stud’1 ponzs out nherentlmltationc of conventonai desgnmethodc ccd in planning sitesand r nd other low costho g jc t It contributes

h ag rrr f user

partcipaton n settlement designcy demonstrating anexoenmentally effective modelfor an optimal coliaboraton oformal and spontaneous agents

e housing process

his work has been carr ed a tunder the auspices of theM n iiu Cost Hous ng GraduateProgram of fr e McGill School ofArchitecture, It forms one part ofthe project ‘Human SettlementsTra n rg, India.” which ssupoo led by the Special

rogram Branch of theInstitutional Cooperation andDevelopment Services Divisionof the Canadian internationaIDevelopment Agency, the VastuShlpa Foundation and McGiIUniversity. We would Like tothank Dr. Donald Chan for hisneip in generating the randomfamiy profiles for the sirnuIaton.and my friend and colleagueP off Witold Rybczynsk for hisuggetions at differert stages ofie project

BACKGROUND

One popular approach to theprovision of low-cost housing forthe urban poor is the so-called“sites and services” strategy.This has been advocated byseveral international aidagencies such as the WorldBank and the United Nations andadopted by many housingauthorities in developingcountries during the last decadeand a halt In a typical sites andservices project the servicedland is provided by the housingauthority while the actual housebuilding is left to the homeowner. This change of role. frombeing a provider of housing tothat of a facilitator that makesinfrastructure and other relatedfacilities available to users,represents a significantdeparture from the traditionalattitude of housing agencies.

The success of the sites andservices strategy can, in largepart, be explained by itsecor omic rationale Mostdeveloping countries are poorand cannot subsidize housing ona large scale for their growingpopulations Limited resourcescan be usef lly distributedamong a larger number ofbeneficiaries, however, ifhous,ng authonhes refrain frombwidng complete dwelhngs andcommit publc funds only to theprovsion of land andinfrastructure. Typical sites andservces schemes are formallysubsdzed Dackages of shelterand related s v ces that rangein complexit simple‘survny a

intemediate level of ‘servicedsites.” to an upper level of “corehousing” complete with utilitiesand access to community-basedservices (Mayo and Gross,1987). Depending upon thecapacity of the beneficiary to payfor the housing, the authority canchoose the level of servicing.This flexibility permits the formalsector to target its projectstowards very low income groups

ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS

cities of India (Bhatt, 1986) andseveral other studies ofcompleted projects, haveidentified the following problemsthat are inherent in this designapproach:

1) The bias of economics inplanning typically discounts thesocial aspects of design. 2)Projects lack quality and varietyof open spaces 3) Duringproject planning incorrentassumptions are madeconcerning family income andplot sizes, 4) Projects lackvariety of plot sizes. 5) Projectsdo not provide multi-family plots.6) They follow a blind plotallocation process. 7) Projectplanning and implementationtakes a very long time.

F o r e w o r d I p

Ths report forms the thra‘oiume of the cartnung senesof pubicatons “How the OtherHalf Builds” based o the ongterm researcr undertaken byMcGill Unive s y s M um CostHousng Gro..j T fr,oiume ertt Spac . v an

ir estigaton of the a t e t attake place n p bI spacesad acentto a d arourd dwel irgsn unpla ned settle nants aidow such spac s ar a ranged to

accommodate tb se activ tiesVolume two ir te se as Plotsexamned how and why plots inunplannea settlements acquirecertan pnyscai cnaractensticsA quantitatve approach wastaken to these questons usingcertan statistical techniquesernp’oyed ri the social scences

1. PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH SITES AND SERVICES AND FORMAL HOUSING

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Sites and services make housingavailable to the urban poor at arelatively low cost. However,there are several problems thatare associated with this designapproach. A survey of key sitesand service.s projects in major

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L ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS

1) Poor consideration of cultural and social factors 2) Poor quality and variety of open spaces:

The design of sites and servicesprojects is primarily based oneconomic factors and culturaland social factors are rarelytaken nto consderatfon. As aresult. The current planningmethods emphasize economcefficiency n site layout byoptimising varabies such as plotrato5 and road wdths but havebeen ess successful n

responding to the cuitura andsocial factors (Rybczynski et al..‘983. For example. na studyof a sites and servces proJect inAhmedabad. lnda. t was foundthat the typical pre designedseruce core. bult for each plotwas alteren by more than 90% ofthe occupants fMeiln 19831.

come srelter (Bertaud 1986.Bertaud and Wright. 1981:Housing and Urban DevelopmentCoporaton of India. 1982i.These models can be run on ahand-heid calculator or a microcomputer. The ntention beh:ndthese models s to alert plannersto the economic advantages ofratonalized layouts. But oftenthey are used as an excuse forunirr aginative planning and ameans to achieve higherdensities and cheaper ways ofsubdividing land The result is amonotonous. mind-numbing gridand blocks of housing that areruboer-stamped, over and overagan. wThout any socal orcultural considerations. For anyhousing design approach to besuccessful it Is essential that itgoes beyond mere economicfactor considers social anduitura a pects and responds to

the I festyle o the people who willye 1

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‘I ios W ous chemes thepub oper paces lack diversityand icr ess The quality ofspaces crovoed s such that theyoften eman empty and unusedthis s a waste of a vaiuaoleresource On the other hand.studies of n’ormai settlements in,India have snown that the publicopen spaces n these settlements

w’hle ‘pcaily small n scale -

are rich and diverse n spatialqualite . lively. fuil of activtes.and wel ntegrateo with thehousng Rybczynsk et ci..1984i.

Wrier designing a formai sitesand services housing proect th.edecgner does not know who wilibe living wnere and what theircommon spatial needs will be.TI-c e o e a close relationshipbetwe d v du homes and

ub I po’sible toac eve o per aces to be

successful it is essential that theyare conceived along witI- thehousing and other surroundingamenities.

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Various aid agencies such as theWorld Bank and India’s Housingand Urban DevelopmentCorporation have developedmathematical models for the

nalysis of alternatives fo low N

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F-orthesak if ott ercyaraplanning ease in ste a dservices projects the targetpopulation 5 dded nto severalncome catagones. For example.the Government of india usesfour ncome categories’Economically Weaker Sector‘EWS). Low Income Group (LIG.Middle Income Group fMlG andHgh Income urcup .HG.

EWS below Rs 700 monthplots e 035M2

LIG R 7 rorfrpose SM

MIG 150 0.)o 0 40M

HIG ov R 2’0 orthplot s o 325 475 M2

Based on trese atoroabUrycritena. it is assumed that nigher

ir oi’o ar 0 ed larger pwhe as o rcome familiessmallcr pots However, studiesof infoma settlements haveshown :itde correlaton betweenfamiy ncome and physcal piotcharacteristics Rybczynsi’ et al1986

In desgn’g actuai housingprojects - hch Is necessaryto accommodate several ncomegroups “ segregahon ofdffemr ‘ne groups ‘s ‘ccen

a rte r c fferent incomeg’ou a 1 o mixed. Thepa n rg,base

orro s o theot’ at n bseadi a o Schoer

6.) In inforrrset LiT 1 egardless of theiincor e riilies from thesame c e igmus group livenext to a a another Brook1988: Pybczynsk et al 1986

4) Lack of variety of plot sizes’

When planning sites andservices projects it is assumedthat if two families earn the sameamount of money their spatialrequirements should be thesame. thus plot sizes within eachincome category in typical sitesand services projects are keptuniform. However thissupposition is wrong The spatialneeds of low ncome populationare not uniform, but varyconsiderably from one family toanother These variationsdepend on several factors suchas’ the size and structure of thefamily’ their occupation if thefamily engages in ‘orrecoo ‘iomic activity (wo k at 1 o eor not whether they rrairtainanimals at home or lot and soon (Pandya. 1988> n a surveyof informal settlemonts in Indorethe average size of plots wasfound to be 32 M2 which is veryclose to the official government

standard (30 to 35 M2) for theEWS category. But on a closerlook it was also found that noone size of plot predominated:plots less than 20 M2 accountedfor 25% of the total, plots 20-30M2 and 30-40 M2 for 22% each.and plots over 40 M2 for 31%iRybczynski et al. 1986). Thesefigures are not absolute, butshow that there exists a verylarge variety of plot sizes innformai settlements. To makesites and services projects more“uccessful it is important tonoorporate a wide variety of plotsizes w thin each incomecategory

3 Incor cot assuripti re concerning family i ome and plot s’zes

ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS

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that dstinguish single family plotsfrom multi-family plots. Thespatial requirements of a singlefamily plot vary considerably froma multI-family plot The shapeand layout requirements of singlevs mu1ti-family plots also differconsiderably from one anotherA nuclear family can organize itshouse plan in a narrow front plot,but in a multi-family situation itmay be necessary to have a widefront piot or a plot with more thanone sde exposed to giveseparate access to different subunits of the family (Pandya,1988). For any low cost housingdesign to be successful it isessentai to have both s’ngieand multi-family plots

6) A blind process of plot allocation:

The allocation process in a sitesand services project is controlledby the official authorities.Generally, there are morebeneficiaries than the number ofplots available, so plots areallocated using a random draw ofnames - a lottery. This blindallocation process does not allowusers to select the location oftheir plot within the project, or tochoose their neighbors. On theother hand. the traditional townsand new informal settlements areorganized around linguistic.religious, economic and otherfamily ties, Where the housingclusters are formed around theimmediate family links, groups ofhousing clusters respond to theeconomic and religious linksbased on crafts and clan, andneighborhoods are formedaccording to the linguisticbackground of the community(Brook. 1988). For a housing

N5) The provision of multi-family plots:

TypcaI stes and servicesprojects provide one plot forevery family. If not merely forsimplicity in planning. this isprobably based on anassumption that the tradtcnalextended fam:Iy structure ndeveiopng countrIes especiallyin urban areas, is giving way tonuclear families. However, alarge percentage of plots innorma’ settiements oontainmore than one famIly In a studyof sx mforrnal settiementsIndore it was found that slightlymore than half the population(51%) was living on multi-familyplots (Rybczynski et al . 1986)The ex:ended c’ ffiditi-fam yorganizatIon is a good economcsurvval strategy that shojld nereckoned with in planning newhousing projects The familysize, family type (nuclear orextended and whether there aretenants are Important factors

AssociATED PROBLEMS

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project to be successful, it isessential to respond to thelinguistic, religious and family tiesof its occupants.

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ASsOO)ATEDRoBLMS

7) Extended p’anning andImplementahon time

Large urban developmentprojects take a long time tocoil p ate According to the U SAgency for InternationalDevelopments Office of Housingand Urban Programs. which hasbeen instrumental in helpingmany developing countriesformulate ther national housingprograms. large areadevelopment’ projects usuallyequire three to four years to

complete (PADCO. 1984) TheAranya project in lndore.designed by the Vastu-ShilpaFoundat’on, took five years tocomplete Th s s a long timespan. Gonsidenng the scale andurgency of the urban housingproblems in the developingcountries, time is one luxurywhich they can ill-afford If theurban migrants and poorcommunities have to wait for fiveyears to get a plot they arebound to end up ir i iformasettlements. The shelterproblems of the urban poor areso urgent that every effort should

be made to develop newapproaches that can says t me atevery stage of the housngdelivery system from plannngand design to production anddelivery of houses After a I thet me saved can always be usedto produce more housing

TOWARDS A NEW APPROACH

The problems assocated withsites and services range from thelack of culturally appropriatehousing to the creation ofimpersonal urban envr’onments,to wrong assumptions about theclients needs, and so on Theame problems are ommon ii

most public hausng projectsThese problems are notrechniral but more fundamentaln ature and re do elyassociated with the way s tes aservices or formal housingproJects are conceved arcmplemented

The framework of ideas behndsites and services and otherformally planned low-cost

housing schemes as presentlyirrpiemented does rot take intoaccount the actual user.Conventionally-planned projectsare developed in a few definitestages by a planner or anarchitect. and the involvement ofthe project participants in thedecson-makng process is keptto a m nimum In a typical sitesar d serv ces project, the level ofuser participation is greater butlimited to the construction ofndividual houses. The projectparti ipants are still excludedfrom th crucial planning andaesign stages of the proJect. andthus. from the actual process ofdevelopment

To address the problemsassociated with conventionallyolanned projects a new designapproach, radically different fromthe to mal production of housing

proposed. It is called the “selfselection’ design process. a termborrowed from economics Thedeas behind tI-c ‘self-se ectiondesign approach are discussedn the next chapter

THE IDEA

The framework of ideas behindthe typical low cost housingscheme does not take intoaccount the user. On the otherhand. the characteristics inherentin the development process inir formal settlements permit theuser to be involved in the designprocess at various levels increating their environment. It isno wonder that informalsettlements (i a slums) haveproved to be better housingenvironments than plannedhoasing projerts in terms ofsatisfying user needs

A deslgn method that canrecreate the order. spatialstandards and physicalcharacteristics of unplannedsettlements. and follow theirdevelopment dynamics shouldproduce a better urbane wiror ment It s proposed thatthe development process of atraditional or unplanned w’bansettlement should be adopted.but in such a way that it wouldalso overcome the problems ofpoor and inadequateinfrastructure which areassociatd with unplannedettl rrents

THE PRINCIPLES

T pr pIe he tr hpa irgpoc sot iorse tlements are autonomousgrowth and continuousdevelopment The ncreasedscott a etw cor ept r

pa ninj ew oust couDcd:uce a better hvroerjDre.

Autonomous growth: The ideabehind autonomous growthsuggests that the user should beinvolved in the housing processat every level of design. For abuilt environment to be sociocultu rally appropriate it shouldhave as a primary element thecontributior of its futureresidents. To achieve this, userparticipation in the decision-making process should beircreased from the ‘micro level”of individual homes to the ‘macrolevel” of the settlement.Conversely, the duties of thedesign team should bedecreased to the level of ageneral regulator of thesettlement

To achieve a greater degree ofuser input in the housingprocess. changes are required inthe conventional design practiceFor example conventionally-planned settlements rely onblind’ methods for the allocationof plots, but the new approachwill require an open ended plot-allocation system. Thus, projectparticipants are given thefreedom to choose (self-select).not only how they want to livebut also where they want to liveand b w[om they are to bes rou ‘ided

Continuous development:we nal ode ho ‘ig

c err ar developed n asingle or a few defnte stagesContinuous development on thecontrary assumes thedeveloprirttotak ace aurbrofr cyc of events Thisorevent the settlement fromadoptrc an arttnia! or

mechanical character. Theorganic nature of the urbanfabric, representative of thetraditional cities and unplannedsettlements, can be attributed tosuch an autonomous and piecemeal growth process.

The attempt at integratingautonomous growth andcontinuous developmentprocesses in low-cost housingschemes is not new. The twokey components of the sites andservices strategy. the self-helpelement which is similar to theautonomous growth and the ideaof progressive developmert areeffectively used in theconstruction of individual homes(probably the most successfulaspect of sites and servicesprojects) Instead of limiting theidea of autonomous growth andcontinuous development to the‘micro’ level or individualhomes it is proposed to applythem at the “macro”neighborhood, or settlementlevel

STRATEGICCONS1DERATIONS

For the new design approach to‘ic ea e he user inp t the

fo lowing development strategicare proposed. no pre-conceiveddevelopment plan: progressivea v of iajor ast tur

f s ctior plot ar a frchoice n the selecton of differentplot sizes and shapes. Theaeveiopment strategies are sucbat they or Icr c each other

d wi I sustai th ewapproah.

pII 2. SELF-SELECTION DESIGN PROCESS: A NEW DESIGN METHOD

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A NEW DESIGN MEtHOD

No pre-conceived pIan

There should be no preconceived plan to regulate thedevelop nent a ‘id support these.f-selecton process Thelocation of streets. open areasar d plots should take place inresponse to the requirementsand aspirations of the proJectpa ticipants. to produce acu turally responsiveenv ro irient however thecreation of a set of ules snecessary to neip theimplementing team lead anders re the deveioprT er of anon-chaotic settlement

Progressive infrastructure

Tre nfrastruc.ture should not beviewed as something to be mademos efficient with out any regardto the quality of the livingenvironment, or something thatcould be pre-imposed on thes errs it w hout realconside ations about user needs.Rather. the infrastructure shouldbe seen as a tool to assist thedsvlopmen f a iewss lerrent. a d als to serve theexsting settlement so instead ofplannino the entire nfrastructurea nc sbou d be ntroducedgradua Wti the use ofnfrastructure - communty watertaps cublic structures arc pavedroads e de gne ca teefa lie i tb des d d ctioand ma itain a general contro ofthe deeopment The

gre ye od tio thict ur ii OC

+hat tre ew spt4ernef berncre converent 3nd roonsveto cr e&d

Sell-selection of plots:

It is important to have an openplot-allocation system Ininformal housing, families canselect, according to theirparticular preferences. thelocation of their plots within thesettlement Under the self-selection design process familieswill be free to choose the locationof their plot. The freedom ofchoice, regardless of theirincome level, will permit familiesto cluster around immediaterelations and group homesaccording to their family andcultural ties, or their trade andeconomic links

Variety of plot sizes:

There should not bepredetermined sizes or shapes ofplots based on the economicrlassfication of the henefichriesPlot sizes. shapes andproportions should bedetermined by the familiesthemselves or self-selected. Theplot size should be chosenaccording to individual familyneeds anc its ability to pay forthe plot. When users arepermitted to work out thetradeoffs between the size andprice it will produce a morediverse ard bett€. cettlemen+

.

A NEW DESiGN METHOD

a

ANEW DESIGN METHOD

The use of the proposedplanning strategies will producea better housing environmentbecause they overcome theproblems inherent in the formalhousing and sites and servicesprojects. The built environment,produced through the self-selection design process, willbring back the positive physicalfeatures of informal settlements,clearly lacking in the formalhousing projects. To test theself-selection design process anexperiment was conductedwhich is described in the nextchapter.

METHOtOLOGY

To test the self-selectionprocess a design exercise wasconducted during the wintersemester, January to March1989, with a group of graduatestudents in the Minimum CostHousing program. Theparticipants were twoprofessors and four graduatestudents. The professorsaccepted the role of the plannerworking for the developmentauthority in charge ofimplementing the experimentalproject. The students assumedthe role of the heads of differenthouseholds being settled in theproposed development.

the site, the socio-culturalbackground of the client groupand detailed family profiles.

The Context

The project was situated inIndore, a city in the state ofMadhya Pradesh in central

India, Indore, a rapidly growingurban centre, was chosenbecause the housing problemsof that city are similar to thosein many other comparableurban centres in India. Indore,has an estimated population ofabout 800,000 that will reachover one million by the year

The planner supervised andcontrolled the general designdevelopment, the infrastructurelayout and plot allocationprocess. The heads of differenthouseholds, on the other hand,remained responsible forselecting the location of theirplots and designing andbuilding their houses. Inconducting the design exercise,every effort was made tosimulate, as closely as possible,the real situation that one wouldencounter in the field.

ASSUMPTIONS

To place the experiment withinthe socio-cuitural framework ofa given community the plannersmade certain assumptions. Theplanners determined thegeneral context of the project,

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3. THE DESIGN EXPERIMENT

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THE DESIGN, EXPEiMT.

1991 (IDA. 1983) Thecityisfacing a rapidly grownghousing defct that has led toan increasing number of slumsand squatter settlements.According to a recent estimatethe number of househoids hyingin slums is 60000 World Bank.1984,.

The other reason for choosingIndore was ou fan harity with.and knowlndge c t ty TheVastu Shi pa F oundation whicuias bee ol aborat ng with theM mm r Cot Housing Groupor rese reF n humarettlerrertss cc 1983 as

designed 6 500 p ot sites andservices pro ect o th’ I doreDevelopment A t o y Thissites and services project.developed under a state-widecomprehensive urbandevelooment proeot. snanced ov the Wcrla Bank As

a part of the coiiaboraton.mOore nas been made themcus of the human settlement

studies The field work inIndore has produced nterestingnformatio on local housingcondtions, especially in theinformal sector. Over the pastsix years. the Minimum CostHousing Group has collected aconsderabme amount ofbackground information onndore. ncuding the local

buildng by-iaws. thedev lopmert plans. surveyrraoc ocal ndeconomicurv’ys o the irformal

s tt erie ts p tographs and

The Site

A te I ated six kilometersnor f ° ity centre. waschoser or tF e experiment Amajor road. on the southernboundary of the site, connectsthe project to the urban core. Interms of inks with the city andproxmity to empioymentopporturities. the ste is ideallystuatea. It is also well

connected to the city centre bypublic transport.

The site is a featureless plainwith a total area of 284hectares. It s 233.68 M longand 121 .92 M wide wth themajor axis oriented in the northsouth direction: there are fivemature Neem trees on the site,two on the southern end, two in

e middle and one towards theortb

lt v as assur ied that tie ocalgove irient the IndoreDevelop iient Authority - wrihedt ac elop a small housing

o ect to accommodate 400450 families. The project wasprimarily aimed at families fromtne economically weaker sectorwho earn less than $ 45month). but not limitedexclusively to that incomegroup. Surveys of informalsettlements in Indore haveshown that the population oftnese settlements is not mitedto a single income group(Rybczynski et al., 1984)

T pcal informal settlementsha e everal distinct sub

o p Each sub-groupcontair s oeople from a specif cgeog aph cal region of theourtr laying definiteigu stic, regional. Ct 1. iG

g ous and family ties T[esoal background of the subaroup has an nfluence on teonysica: arrangements of tnenforrna{ settlements Based on,t5ese observations, t wasassumed tr’, our clent groupouid. ne madn up of severalscn sub-groups wtn diversesrauace and etr’.’mc‘ackgrcunds

Family Profiles

Indian culture is extremely richand diverse In such a context.the question of which aspectsshould be judged important tore-create a group of householdsthat could be consideredrepresentative of an Indiancommunity is difficult to answer.However, studies of theinformal settlements in Indiahave found that in low costurban housing, besides thephysical needs of a family andits linguistic and regionalassociations, it is also importantto consider its survival strategy(Brook. 1989’ Pandya, 1988).The survival strategy of a familyis complementary to thedefinition of the family profile,as it represents the manner inwhich low-income urbanfamilies manage to make aliving. These economicactivities, marginal to the formalsector, are characteristic of theso-called economically weakersector. and take many forms:owning a small business or ashop adjacent to the house.doing work at home renting outa room or two, keeping animals- mostly cows and waterbuffalos to sell their milkproducts and so on Torecreate a group representativeof a low income urbancommunity, a detailed profile of550 families was randomlygenerated incorporating thefollowing 11 attributes:

Native Language: Peopleprefer to live next to neighborswho speak their own mothertongue (Brook. 1988t. Thenative language cf each familywas determined and the totalpopuaton divided into fivelanguages groups: Marath’.Raastria two Hindt

speaking groups. one fromMadhya Pradesh and otherfrom Utter Pradesh. The fifthgroup. considered morecosmopolitan, and not having apreferred language. could settleamong any other languagegroup.

Clan: People speaking thesame language also prefer tolive next to those who comefrom the same region (Brook1988). To reflect this eachlinguistic group (except the last)as divided into three four subgroups, indicating the regionfrom which they came

Family Cluster: Traditionalsettlements in India havedeveloped around immediatefamily links, where peoplerelated to one another live inthe same neighborhood(mohalla or a pole). A similarpreference also exists in

THE DESIGN EXERtMENT

informal settlements. To reflectthis grouping pattern, familieswithin each language andregional sub-group were furtherdivided into several groups.

Number of Occupants: Plots inthe informal settlementsfrequently house many peopleso it is important to determinethe actual number of occupantsrather than assuming anaverage family size Besidesthe family type the total numberof occupants for each plot wasalso randomly generated

Tenants: If extra space isavailable - it is common to seepeople making an extraordinaryeffort to create this extra space -

it is often rented to augment thefamily income. To reinforce thispractice, it was assumed that acertain number of families wouldhave either one or two tenants.

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ThE DEiGfJ El

Farnly Type TFe famhes w red v ded into two groupsoxtended a d r uc a F amilystru ture ye y mporta t rdettrn’ ni j hfIn ir,n

should be orga 1 ze Forexample, an c te Id d fam ywh rc e eral ge e a ons €

toget r II phys eda ising out of co erisf rprivacy betwoen e oldeger ra io a. d yo r rar edcouples wo d be tai yd fferer fr r a of ru leafaTily Pa dv 98

T eov j

Gomricrce Small shops areiriporta t rcor e generators nFs informal secto housing ard

arc gcne al y located at streetr c o’g H’S ‘sre’

w e e t e e is traffic andexpocure to passersby

wcv, t salsocomnontod ‘one srlalle shops we

n de l’eneighb r ood oer eloca needs Tor fech s patt rr t was assumed1 tomc arriieswoudhavea

bu n°ssath me or eowt ortanprefc’rør r

when the settlement was fullydeveloped, that the projectrecords were transferred todrawings Large photographs of‘he model ee us& as ba’emaps almost like aerial surveyphotos) to make the finaldrawings of the project

THE DESIGN PROCEDURE

Using the computergenerated‘family profiles and the emptymodel base as the startingpoints the design exoerimentwas conducted n four stages.drawing of cards development offamily profiles self selection ofplots and desgring and buildingof houses

The draw of cards’ Cardsbear ng umbers if on 1 to 550were made The heads ofhouseholds drew one card eachtime from a hat Using thenumber on tho drawl ard theread of the 1-ouseho d refered tothe family prof 1€ booklet Thegeneral parameters related tondividual family the 11 attributesescr bed earlier were listed in

the booklet T ie amo nt ofc rr p t°r g rerated nforn-ationwas kept oa lii 1 ald tienext step in tre de or o ocsswas the developmer t of detailedfamily profiles

The development of detailedfamily profiles A more detaileddesc iptior of eac 1 tam ly andtheir reeds was develooed by

ernad if th nd dualouseho d For example the

pu o’d fa’mypro en ga or y t € tal

ur beroffa ily er ber but it

a e eayFadtole eamy o’to

T dtr et crpiorfre T 1 b onsad

gt brte id ters

uncles and so on, to form aspecific household. Similarly, thehead of the household definedthe economic activities of thefay. To record a moredetailed family profile and makea reasoned selection of the plotlocation and shape the familyheads were required to fill Out astandard facts sheet. Students

THE DESiGN EXPERiMENT

who had assumed the role of theheads of households completedthese facts sheets. This steptook a very short time, hardly tenminutes It was, however, animportant step because it gave asense of belonging and a greaterunderstanding of the family beingaccommodated

A FAM NO 358: 3/40 100 FAM Th’PE EN #7 TEN YiN, #1, ANiMAL Y N #BuSiNESS Y N LOOATiON iMPORTANT YIN, WORK V N, FLOORS 1/1 + 36

B

Wo iroxe rortanton rate vorkcp c s e

grren orii s ar

o cttab

ligt € t de 1 y to keepnzislsard eyhadan

a ii a o t o t ir o ot wouldbe ghy rt1 ,rJn

Bud g eoeererceto bu ntyo eas g or two storc dwel gwas &so ascertai ed.

°ot S Bas d o tre ra gea d oerce age o d fferer t plot

z ba edrtrnilforacettlmp-tc n ihr rrtr

c w redivded rt fo rbr ad a egor e s ia I pots of520M2 redur osof2oOM aoepot o 30 40 M2

ar d extra arge pot eaterar 4 M2

U g cab en eatt b te pot e 0550

adorlyge ated b the a re andcod r nyo

b ct T but sweey e [edt cc e

pee rce o cued rth€na se tIc er o rdore

NA 0 e d t1

Nte g g pocsrc pse St paro

rf s urn a out locatt i

I ron‘3 M

NNN

e at

Pr ie eworka tvt a om keepirg

elFe ik rcio rrk rodu 1ot

a p iedb rasde o yteasa F’ g rraat 01 ues

age t[ r v rage o szwa u “ heP t vo havea

01) FAMILY MUMBlE:

02) FAMILY ASSOCIATIONLanquage Group:Clan: ‘NEExtended EASily Cluster:

03) FAMILY Extended: NuclearDescription: i . ,

0) TENANTS Yes: Mo:One: More than one’Description: ,,,

05) ANIMALS Yes, No:One, More t’lan one:Description:

05) BUSINESS Yes: Mo:Location Important / Not ImportantDesciptiOn’

07) WoRE Yes’ We:Description,

05) BUILDING One Floor, Two Floor,,

09) PLOT’ AREA: / N)

10) GIVE REASONS FOE TNT FOLLOWING:Location of the Plot’

a’r4.

a25

Shape of the Plot’

‘1

MEET

TFoqN PIMENtI

The seltselection of plots Inan nformai sefflement thesettler may go to a slumaridlord and wit[ his help,dertify an approonate sitestake out the plot according tohis f’nancial capability andneeds, aid finally design andbuild his house. Sirniarly. inthis exercise, the heads ofho set- ds ident fied thedes.red plot locations anddemarcated them on the modelbase witt- the hep of thedes gne

With a completed facts sheet.the fan- ily heads came to the

planner to confirm the locationof their plots. It was considered

mportai fo all p ts belocated close to tt- e existingurban in rastructure. roads andwater taps. However theoca on vas also to be basedon the specific characteristics ofthe amty associatons it wasassumed tha fam es speakingthe same language. comingfrom the same region andnavng the sane familybackgro d wou Ike to I’veclose to one another. When itwas difficult to match all three

a ables th ang age groupwas considered to be tedete minant for the location.When none o the familyass ciat n could be n-atct-ed.resu ting frors space saturation,use’s se’ected new areas in

do orto t efa lyassociaton ‘language group.ciar. and fan’ ly cljster. the

ur Jal rate y thsPocdted an- y ‘A 3s a oons der d a moor’s t factor

whe -selCctlrg thC pi0 iocator

or st a mi a ar’ cop nd locanon asons,ared “ o--tan’ tbC

us s cp r edLi’st( th lo aw f’s h’s

immediate family and languagegroup. in a better businesslocation either close to a mainroad or on a corner of twointersecting streets. where thebusiness could prosper. Thesettlers were required to justifythe location and shape of theplot selected, the justificationswere also recorded on the factsheets

Once the location of the plotwas chosen and approved bythe planner t was marked onthe model with pins and tapeshe. staked out) A small labelwith the fam ly number, familyassocation (language group.clan, and family cluster), andnane o the student, wasaffixed on the plot The labelworked as a guide to thesubsequent settlers giving themc ues about neighbours.language groups and family tiesand made the settlementprocess simpler Depending on

the time available, at thebeginning of each week. thesethree stages were repeatedabout 10 to 15 times

The heads of households weremd rectly responsible fordesigning the urbanenvironment because they werefree to hoose the location ofthe r plots. However tomaintain a certain degree ofcortrol on the quality of theurban vir m r ar p blicamenities. the plannerremaned fl charge ofintr d ng e ir ast uct C I

stages To o ga ize openspaces wthn the sett’ementseveral simpie ru’e wereus b Cd ba o ,reemeters around pubtc water taosand nyc to seven metersr rd xi a eswasraoueJ M n- di tal cc

between two plot faces wasrequred to be two to threemeters. depending on location.

The design and constructionof houses: After selecting theplot at the beginning of a week,

the rest of the week was spentdesigning and buildingindividual homes. Instead ofplanning the dwelling on thedrawing board the homes weredesigned on the model. At thetime of selecting the plot, thesettlers were expected to makeonly a rough sketch design ofthe house Based on thissketch they proceededimmediately to a model anddesigned their houses in threedimensions T ic house modalswere in block form, but it wasrequired to show thefenestration, stairs, balconies,terraces, shops and otherhouse extensions to give abetter definition to the urbancharacter of the projectCompleted house models wereadded to the site model. Thehouse designs were based onft-c sqcial organ zation andeconomic capability of thfamiy, as described in the factssheet

At different stages of thedevelopment. important publicamen ties such as a primaryschool, market areas and so onwere introduced by the planner.The planne a so took care ofupgrading the open spaces bbuiIdng piattorms around treesa db Idrop cs uc ressucn as te ip’s and shr es.

Tr e s if-se’ection p ocess tookee w a co pica Adetaiea record of differentstages of b deveicpment waskpt. d de r

‘cxt c an e

4, THE SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS -

—

a _—__ w— W——

A Oho,jgrab slw!ng an earlystaae of the self select on process.rotice the in tial r Iraatmcture

vid ha i Me a p oup ofsP’—cfeo r).Qç

Li

The hypothetical settlementwas developed in seven stages,having two distinct parts,corresponding to theresponsibilities of the twoparties involved in the designprocess the planner and theheads of households andrelated to two aspects ofdesign Infrastructure and Selfselection of Plots.

Infrastructure:

The initial infrastructure thatwas added to the settlementconsisted of an access roadapproximately 10 meters wideand 72 meters long Startingfrom the main road that linksthe settlement to the urbancore, a bus stop (A). wasplaced along the main roadimmediately west of the accessroad. a convenient location forall the residents. In front of thebus stop a strip of land B). 161sq. meter in area. wasdesignated as a market to beused by hawkers. Theplanners site office (C). waslocated to the east of theintersection between the accessroad and the main road Twopublic water taps (number 1and 2). were placed one oneither side of the access roadabout 25 meters back.

Initial Infrastructure:

‘ ved Man tc

egIno eetAddt

.OO ii

225 05 M

SeIfseIection of Plots:

The plots started to cluster to thewest of the access road, aroundpublic water tap number 1 andalong the path leading to it.Other plots began to locate onthe access road and along themain road connecting the site tothe city, taking advantage of thegood business location. Anotherplot-cluster developed at the endof the access road around thetwo existing trees, not too farfrom public water tap number 2.One smaller cluster, based onfamily association, developedjust north of public water tapnumber 2, next to an existingtree. Several other plots werelocated in a haphazard waywithout any visible links.However. two of these plots werelocated in anticipation of theaccess road extension. Themajority of the plots had a squareor rectangular shape

THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

STAGE ONE


V

STAGE ONE

IPS‘Ipm

F—

—

p—.-- —

I

V

V

02

evec Ne v

PLb1 Ope Soace

Pcc vvater TaDV

U

-j

THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESSTHE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Infrastructure:

The second installment of thenfrastructure entailed theintroduction of a third publicwater tap and a path connectingit to the main road. Two newpaths, one in the south..eastcorner of the site and another tothe west of the access road,were added. Finally, a centralmarket square (D), was creatednext to the existing access road.The central square was intendedfor weekly markets and socialgatherings of the community.The square took advantage ofthe two existing trees and theextension of the access road.The shape of the market squarewas based on the spread of theexisting trees and surroundingplots.

Infrastructure Additions:

______

Paved Man Streets

Length of Street Addhon

°aved Narrow Lanes

Open Pubhc Spaces

Pub’ic Water Taps

Self-selection of Plots:

In the second stage, aconsiderable amount ofclustering around public watertaps 1. 2 (the first two standpipes) and 3 took place, andalso around the twosouthernmost trees and themarket square. Several newplots developed along the mainroad and the access road forcommercial reasons. Thesmaller paths, acting aspedestrian links between stand-pipes and access road or tree-squares and access road, alsoattracted a number of newplots.

STAGE TWO STAGE TWO

452.90 M2

49.53 M

137.00 M2

334.00 M2

3

0

infrastructure:

Two more public water taps,numbers 4 and 5 each with apath, were added. A path to thewest of the central square wasalso added, its shape based onthe location of existing plots.Another path connected publicwater tap number 1 to theaccess road and an adjoiningsquare with a tree.

Paved Mani Streets

Length of Street Addtior

Paved Narrow Lanes

Public Open Spaces

Pubic Water Taps

N

NN

SelfseIection of Plots.

The main road and the acceisoad started to corsolidate Plots

at strenit ntrcnictinns wPr

occupied first be ause of theadvantageous busi iess locationT i e southern par of the projectgot filled wit i plots Goodcluster ng took place aroundtrees public water taps andpaths leading to the publr’amenit es Seve a rregularpaths emerged as a result f theallocatior process in a eas whereis access to new plots was

blocked by exist ng ones. Somefamily groups lad to leap frog toother locations as the areassu rounding their kinsmer weresaturated There was noclusterirg around stand pipeurbc 5 wc couldb

because of its nortie n mostocation and dative so iofrom other amenities iees dents pr tsr ed b lo ehe man ty oad o rsueeasycss o ie pla e

np oymer wo plott owever did b cak away frorrthe stabl s ed patto n docated nt[e o w oneut io too r e r aq re


STAGE THREE


infrastructure Additions:

STAGE THREE

152A0 M2

3810 M

29710 M2

10730 M2

2

‘05

o4

S

NN

N

— — a —

IT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

STAGE FOUR

c\

Infrastructure:

The access road was extendedtowards the north-west corner ofthe site from the market square.Public water taps number 6 anda path were added to the west ofthe market square. Anotherpublic water tap, number 7, wasintroduced to the west of the newsection of the access road. Akindergarten (E), was insertedjust off of the access roadbetween public water tapsnumbers6andl. Thekindergarten was carefully fittedwithin the open space left by thesurrounding plots. Finally, asmall square and a path wereadded to the street leading fromthe main city road to public watertap number 3.


pp

II


Good clustering occurredaround the new extension of theaccess road and public watertap number 7. This was largelydue to the arrival of a largenumber of famtlies of the samebackground, a merecoincidence. The southernedge of the settlement wasalready saturated. so the newgroup had to stake out plots tothe north The area betweenthe two new public water tapsnumbers 6 and 7. also begun tofill up. New families got linkedwith the two isolated plotsdescribed in the third stage.The southern quarter of thesettlement was now saturatedwith plots and the opacesaround trees and public watertaps had acquired a distinctcharacter

w —— —a_a—


STAGE FOUR

III

p.

-

/L./

/

0

Bo’

4

Paved Main StreetsLength of Street AdditionPaved Narrow LanesPublic Open SpacesPublic Water Taps

464,50 M2

61.OOM

18290 M2

None added

2

4

0

rLi

00

ri• y// 4

Infrastructure:

A rgschooiF, waaddedtorthern sectio 0 Ie

r entinco atngane T e c oolalso

a da oeayareaeast / cinic H

dad ‘ust beyond them at square along the westsde of the access rcad A newseaton of road was adaed to thewestern forK of the access road.and the eastern flanne of theaccess road was asc extended.To arge sqaares and J,,a dad for reOgous purposes,

veioped our d publscnumb a osc the

a ar a o d


Plot allocation in the southern 2/3of the settlement was completedand the space between the forkof the access road started to fillup. Clustering around pubhcwater tap number 5 wascompleted and plots started toexpand to the north. Theintroduction of the religiousstructures consolidated thespaces surrounding the twosquares described in the stagefour. The standard shape of theplots remained square orrectangular, but plots withirregular shapes were used to fillthe leftover spaces betweenothers,

THE DEVELOPMENT PROcESS

STAGE FIVE

e a

THE DEVELOPMENT PROOESS

STAGE FIVE

/ 7

igious a es we ed m thea wo sauares.


P1S

PmPmpmp.

N

S:ree Adc%!cr

a;ec a”cw anpaac d o Open Space

er Tpc

45000 M2

P2.40 M

5020 M2

580.70 M2

N a added

-

_i T

T T


Paved Ma n Streets

gt of St eet Add Ooravod Narrow Lares

Pubi Open Spaces

Pubi Water Taps

261 30 M2

41 90 M

13 20 M2

N ne added

4

SelfseIection of Plots:

The entire western side of thesettlement was now saturatedwith good clustering around thenew stand pipes. The areabetween the two forks of theaccess road to the south of theschool got filled. Only about 1 8of the settlement in the northeast corner remained vacant.This vacant area had only oneisolated plot resulting fromleapfrogging.


STAGE SIX

110

pII

IDo

Infrastructure:

The western and tne easternforks of the access road wereextended. Four public watertaps, numbers 8,9, 10 and 11,were added. Two small pathswere also added to give thesurrounding community accessto the school yard.

THE DEVELOPMENT fROCESS

STAGE SIX

Bo

1 3

— 0

/

NNNN

i ne iase stage of erieinfrastructure implementationconsisted of the addition of twopublic water taps, numbers 12ar d 13 one at the western forkand another at the eastern forkof the access road.

Infrastructure Additions”

P d Ma r Streets

gtr of Street Acid t or

eoN re anes

P bIcOpeiSpace

P Wtrlaps


The remaining space got utilizedby plots. The leftover space,space not used by the formal infrastructure and plots, emergedas informally allocated unpavedpaths and small squares. All circulation linkages not mentionedearlier, were formalized.

[9PMT PROCESS

Infrastructure:STAGE SEVEN STAGE SEVEN

Nr oL o13 j12

/7a


8710 M2

2290 M

38 10 M2None added

2

NNN•1NNINNNN

THE DEVELOPMENT PBOCESS I

5. THE DESIGN APPRAISAL

T e self selection designprocess represented a radicaldeparture from the conventionalplanning method in which low-cost housing or sites andservices projects are designed.The new approach emergedfrom observing the gradual andautonomous development ofunplanned settlements. Toreplicate these developmentprocesse it was necessary forthe sd -selection designp oce to leave various design

10 5 i tre hands of actualuse

To test the workability of theneif-seection design process. asmuIaton exercse (thesimulation) was conductedThe sirnuiaton produced adesign which appeared verydifferent from convention allyplanned ettlements, but similarto a radi o a! town with adense a id organic form

v ecr o judge a settlementp o ly o ts physical formwo d a mistake. In order togaug ti overali success ofthe approach the product ofthe simulation exercise wasappraised from the followingponts of View.

Soca and cuituralapproor areness of desgnFamily come and Plot i esPro on mult fam ly 0

lot si

tmePlot all at on processPs characTrstcs

?flO S’.

Social and CulturalAppropriateness of Design:Compared to conventionalhousing designs the simulationwas able to respond better tothe needs and background ofthe community. The simulationrelied on ample participation ofthe families in the decision-making process at every stageof design which lead to thecreation of a user responsivebuilt environment. The activervolvement of the communityalso produced an informalsettlement with an organiclayout in which plots, openareas, and circulation networkemerged gradually and inresponse to user needs. Theefficient land use. discussed in

detail later on in this chapter,contributed to the creation of abuilt environment that was trueto the needs and aspirations ofthe users as well as planners.

Family Income and PlotSizes:The simulation did not makeany particular assumption aboutincome and plot sizes. Thesimulation also allowed familiesto choose the shape of theirplots and locate themselvesaccording to their particularinterest, regardless of theirincome level. The plot areaswere randomly generated.However, to produce a widevariety of plot sizes and shapes

•1

NNNN

ppphjT t I

eifse1ect,o I s was& -ted ‘stce he d s nsa

B A soda culturally aooroprate bait unvirosmer’t,

THE bESIGN APPRAISAL]

that would not be based solelyon income, several factors suchas family background (size andtype of family), special needstenants business or animals)

and affordability wereconsidered This produced asettlement with a wide variety ofplot sizes and shapes Inaddition. the freedom to choose

self—select — offered aun!que response in meetingusers housing needs in termsof the physical configuration oftheir own plots, and theirlocation within the site

Multi—family Plots’The settlement had 421es dential plots of which 46 %

were s ngle-fam ly and the rest54 % mult-family Theproportion of famiiy mixachieved in the simulation wasvery close to the informalsettlements surveyed in Indore.

Provision of Variety of Plots:The simulation did not use afixed plot size. The plot sizesin the new settlemert) were

generated randomly along withd ffeiei’ family pofiles Theplots ranged from 15 M2 to 124M2 and the settlementash eyed a well propo honedmix of different plot sizes. smallolots (15 to 20 M2) accountedfor 18%. medium plots i21-30M2) for 29%. large plots i31-40M2 for 36% and extra largeplots (bigger than 40 M2i 17%of the tota rumber of allocated

plots. Family size. family type.whether the family had tenantsor a business, and so on, werethe aspects that usersconsidered while defining theparticula’ shape. proportion andexposure of their plots.Responding to theseconsiderations did not pose anydifficulty in generating anefficient settlement. On thecontrary, the users wereencouraged to work out theright trade-off5 when choosingtheir plots, to support theirdifferent survival s1rateges

Variety of Open Spaces:The SCuff selection pnncples inthe simulation have led to thecreat or a wide variety ofoper space vhich are rch andvaried and are eier ly spreadthrough the sits fl e gradualand autonomous developmentof the community perm fled theintegrat on of housing with thesurrounding areas and gaveti-ic settlement ar organiccharacter The ocaton, scale.and partcular confuguraton ofopen areas was such that theywouid be used and maintainedby the urrounding communityand stay free of illegaler croac[ T nts

Project Duration.The tin-c req red to ri Iceither a c f-selection des gproject or a conventionalhousing project would almostbe the same because actuvtuessucn as me seiectuor ofbeneficiaries, plot survey, plotallocation, and furtheradrninistraton would beconstant r both designprocecs At the design c dhowe e I-c self-sd t

aesgr rose bei g and -

on app a , oul equireless plan t ie Ii aconventio ia design processconsiderable time and energyare reauued to develop anefficient and culturallyapproprate iayout Snce thereis hardly any piannng to bedone throughout thedevelopment pmcess the seiselection design process w uldnot in I much pV r otine as d the SiT C

sa sc a el

o woulda aconvefe doree of

difference would be difficult tojudge

The Plot Allocation Process.The opor plot allocat on systerrused ir the 5 mulation led to aobesive spatial

accommodation of all residentsThe open system allowed usersto choose the locaton of theirplots ard neighbors. andfamilies with different languagegroups, clans, and extendedfamily cuusters. or those with acommercai interest were ableto settle according to theirparticula preferences Inbc t g plots responding osos u tu al Inks o b cinepre crc-roes d not p ove o bean 11 i- Thus eopos te as bought c-i-- oforde rnmodatrg va ofamily id guage group

while retaining an organiccharacter in the layout

A close cxamination 0 t esettlemert pattern showed t iatthe spatal assomrrodatior ofthe families was better achievedin terms of maintaining linksamong lar,juage groups bwas less successful inaccommodating familiesaccording to their clans andwithun extended famuiv clusters.However, families withbusinesses were able to uocateon good cites, mainly along theacces oad and within so erpr f heir lang g

L --1jLJ

h —

THE DESIGN APPRAISAL

B

IIIIPmP1P1

NN

NNNN

P’-ovislon of MuIti-Famtiy PlOtS. B Mde var!ety of Open Spaces

PERCENTAGE

18

21 3 F 29°c31 36%

4 F12

ccasdeslessprolect

The Physical Character stiesovento planned s es

and services projects nayproduced settlements efficent in

ther and use but userahenatng n terns of theirenvironmental quaities incontrast the pnscalharacten c f the sirr u at on

orject a igges that thr selfcc ection de gn proces hasndeed over one. mosdrawbacks he ent in thecoventonal olanning approachThe smulaton produced anenvironment, responsive to theuser needs wth vaned plots andopen spaces and road networkwell integ rat d with hous ng‘A e sig tly the

riulator asor oducedaettem n wi ha ema kable

ice of on unity andblongng. si cc the urbanfabnc of the settlement provideaa soclo-cu1turay coneswespatia1 accommodation or tsrec,Opnts

sever ses ar‘1 °aiae r 1 cc

0 ca e.a hatc ecial r

lana usc ency of tbccect° Tc tFe ecc’c’mc

s tte S mjuno’ aoart :at v aua° a basea or

a-c se cv DenCv vas

Land Use AnalysisIr this analysis he land usec fic ency of the s mulation wascompared with a conventionallyplanned sites and servicesproject. For the purpose ofcompanson. the Aranya sitesand services project, designedbytfe Vastu ShilpsFoundation was chocenbecause of its land use andnf as ructure efficiency fl sro ect was recertly completed

by th° lrdore DevelopmentAuthority It is considered amodel of effective planning bytwo experienced financingagencies. the World Bank andthe Housing and UrbanDevelopment Corporation ofIndia. To compare theefficie cy of the two projects.the Ia ‘id use was divided in fourcategories plots circulation.ope’i spaces, and communitytacil t cc

PlotsThe pot sizes in the icysett e ten aried ore flyran p p from 15 M to 124 M2and o cupied a to ma of17.3 he. tares Plots threctangular shapespredomnated: most famIieschose the rectangular shape torts functional and piarnngadianrges Rectangu ar plotsalso buted to °

effe. y f the a seHwe woo dacqu ru uals ap t isoccu d r the case crc thearea was almost saturated,The Irregular shape pots fi.tteain the leftover areas preventingthe creation of any deadspaces

The p1 s ccounted fthe neepa ingac awb icorrpa cdv yfto the 58° plot are a

by the Ar a project.Howeve r [e. simulation

crc ‘ifi areas foropp d str cc wore not

efined T e. hopping,working S es within homesthat vail sac rIclude lihtIndustry, and DIOC areas wereaccounted jnoer the onecategory Tue Aranya project.on the othe band. consideredindivdua por entages f

ffere es Fornutb s etotlarkea as (an opiig

ndustna a plots arecombIned, both proec swere compamd TuesimulatIon exercise had 61marketable land exactly thesame an ach’eved by theAranvapr I

ero o o emulati i cxc cisc do ly

esembled e networktradtionai unolannedsettlements Including tsherarchy Based on theiroartcular matures, roads fl thesetliernert ould be divided intofour cato main road

‘em a ets

Sin ro exist o roades along southern

ooundary of tue ste.connechna t to the city centreOnly bait of Th’s road wasuciuded fl vaiculating theoercentag rulaton t

‘cccunte 1 8T of [ otaladar able

EDESPRAJSAL

Language

pp

IIIIIII


0 ____L°’

g rer bly

eyed Main Road.

N

N

N

N

IIIL,If

dl/1

1 /

attr ced reside

A’mes.s roca Tu. was mep ro tIe cettleme’v

th the man road:rr, ‘nth tue ‘‘.‘

or In ‘gt’ -f ,hc “ts’R ad

tHE DESKN APPRAISAL

access road was 357 80 M andaccounted for 44% of the totalroad area. The access roadfunctioned as the commercialspine of the setfiement andattracted many business-oriented residents. The patternsof plot allocation during thedifferent stages of thesettlement growth showed thatthe access road and theiradjoining areas were rapidlyoccup ed by ramil es wiinbusinesses Considering theow vehicular ownership in thecommunity the access roadwas seen as the prirr ary serviceroad and was therefore made10 M wide at its junction with thenain road and gradually

duced to 4 M

Streets: Steets connected theaccess road with public squaresand narrow anes Streetswithin the settlement accountedfor 28 i or the circulation space,with a total length of 73875 M.The width of streets varied from200 to 4.00 M Although mostof the streets had regularalignment, it was not uncommono fird tree s wit rrgular

shapes. a result of theincremental settlement process.

nes Str ets ra rower than 2M and cul-de-sacs were definedas lanes, they accounted for100, of the total road network

dadat ai gtf 263 4M. Most lar s were Lu desacs and oniy a limited numberof houses faced on to them,p rm rgt ir a ivat

The totai roac network added up22 ott tc* are itu on aft . ro ds

Ara’7ac.1ect accouredf” r &‘ wn -• noof5 the

TILl ‘n t( i ghJ

Open Spaces.The open area within thesimulation was made up of 17clearly defined spaces spreadevenly throughout the site, andadded up to 2.6 hectares. Butthe open spaces in thesettlement were diverse, interms of sizes and shapes.Most open spaces in thesettlement were small.averaging 100 to 150 M2 inarea, and had irreguiar snapesOpen areas emergedautomatically around trees andstand-pipes as a result of thesetback regulations However,some spaces were alsodeveloped by the design teamto accommodate open marketsand religious structures tosatisfy the community needs.The open spaces accounted for9°! of the total planning areaone pe cent greater than the8% achieved n the Aranyaproject.

Community Buildings.The community buildings in thesimulation exercise includedtwo schools a clinic, and anoffice for the plamng teamThe gradual introduction of thepublic facilities permitted goodintegration of these buildingswithin the community, and withthe likely result that they wouldbe better maintained by theirusers. The communityst uctures wer a so designedto encourage multiple use of thebuildings and their surroundingspace the open spaces in thes[ o mpondaet becombin d wit gardens, playareas and other recreationalfacilities to be used by thec rn y he sc o1 bui d’r gsfo con uni mee ngs and so

T or The communty bujidinasrflce-ted 8% c te netp ioar T[ C.

Non-Marketable Area:

Ctrcu latonOpen SpacesCommu ity Bu Idings

Sub total 39%

TOTAL 100%

iqh 1rnOt9a ap ct

Trip and use analyss of tneirnue ion uggc tstfatac ul ly pr pratebuil

en rnrnnrh car a!so be&fCp7t Tue and use of the

mu tion omp rec v ry

avor bly w h otrnvento lyd lop d

projects whch. consider thnhgh efhcency of and use to be

eir iain a hiev ment

n-

_---—;/

Nr1 ‘,.‘

—a

r’

(iL:


0

Streets

CHART OF LAND DISTRIBUTION

AREAS ARANYA SELF-SELECTlON

Marketable Area:

Plots 58% 61%Commercal & Industrial 3 *

Sub-total 61% 61%

24% 22%8% 9%7% 8°/

,fl0/)7 ‘0

00°4

Ope,’ Space

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CLOSING REMARKS

Ts Sun atc, has u nunstratdt at t ie seIfseIection des gnprocess represents a v abalterrative f r p ov dingappropr ate I ng en ironme itsfor t e u bar poor ir deve op ngountr s The elf se ection

process has demo istrated thacanprodu cal eyarduserresporsveb te vronmer

h a c b’ ast eectivear tter fore offer appealing

eatu es to b t artie rvolvedin te formal p od ct or of lowc ctousng d lopngount s t e s r ndtheformal secto

proces encourages the users todevelope a bu It ervironmen[a’ a’c their rros’ pa”uar

needs and supports a strongercomrr u iity ntegration Morerrportanty, ttrough an

i icremen a upgrading of ho sesintrastruct re a id publicamenles tte slf selectorp ocess offers the users thedeve opme it of such a buien ironme t accordi g to the reoromv’ rr

For he f rr a to the selfse e lior d ig process offer a

wer r tia rveirien orirfras u t d r iiirrurn olv rrent tedesgide e p er a d rrair eiaronevreid roet V

u a en estrre ibotii aid r a msou c tte

f lect oesoff stef a s tor h o sb ityof

e opr E r beoe e e 1st-c d gpocs

i r e n able and

economic approach for copingwit[ ifs growing hous ngd and deveiop rig countries.

The principles bet md the selfse action design process make it

su tab e for the development ofnew es dert a areas within thecu rent formal hou1ng context ofdevelopirg countr es The selfselectior proce s can be ideallysuited fo relocat on projects

h’ re rpga-’i9g may not bepossible because of poor orda ige ous locatio i Equally, theelf se ectior process can be

used t de elop new sites andrv e o o ects to

accommodate tte increaseea d or ow cost housing

e f exib I y inherent in the selfe cc o i desig i process makes

i efif tveolannngif ia caibeeasly

app ied to d er t contexs ic b ules nay be

d ed td eeit ultual

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Bort ud M B r rd 0 W ght (1978)jy igAj, ftvjjJranPwLn World Bank. Washington D C

B adM 98r tQr ç Phy ica D&y World

Ba k Ws gt DC

BattV 86t4 ifrvi LLcJi Un publisred Report Scholarship Program Canadian

lnenia o all v o er Agcn y Ottawa

BokR 88Repcjnf- xJ jcLt p b shed P por C ntre for Mm mum Col Housing McGill UniversityMor r

1 [ya ad s wn a Country Pla niig Department Government of

e S e The c ms of Low Cost Housina in Developing Countries Ib

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A nda M Ar I ies s MeG I U v s ty Mon trea

P 01 d acoer New ork

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