SUSTAINABLE

HOUSING for
SUSTAINABLE
CITIES
A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES:
A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

First published in Nairobi in 2012 by UN-Habitat.

Copyright © United Nations Human Settlements Programme 2012.
All rights reserved.

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

P. O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi GPO KENYA.
Tel: 254-020-7623120 (Central Office).
www.unhabitat.org

HS/073/12E
ISBN: 978-92-1-132488-4

Disclaimer:
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this guide do not
imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Secretariat of the United
Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities,
or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Views expressed in this
publication do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations Human Settlements
Programme, the United Nations, or United Nations Member States.

Acknowledgements:
Principal authors: Oleg Golubchikov and Anna Badyina.
Supervisor: Christophe Lalande.
Task manager: Matthew French.
Design and layout: Emma-Liisa Hannula.
Editor: Matthew French.
Contributors: Claudio Acioly, Mohamed El-Sioufi, Emma-Liisa
Hannula, Channe Oguzhan

UN-Habitat also acknowledges the indviduals who contributed to the development of

this publication during an Expert Group Meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya in December
2011: Carmen Antuna, Maike Christiansen, Skye Dobson, Oliver Frith, Philippe
Garnier, Curt Garrigan, Pekka Huovila, Daniel Irurah, Michelle Malanca, Martin
Mulenga, Maria Nyström, Michael Ramage, Kurt Rhyner, David Sanderson, Claudia
Schneider, Martin Suvatne, Diana Urge-Vorsatz, Pauline Wangui, Said Yahya.

Programme support: Helen Musoke and Christina Power.

Cover photo: Urban view in Istanbul, Turkey © Matthew French/UN-Habitat.

Printing: UNON, Publishing Services Section, Nairobi, ISO

14001:2004-certified
SUSTAINABLE
HOUSING for
SUSTAINABLE
CITIES
A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

CHAPTER 1 HOUSING AND SUSTAINABILITY 3

1.1. What is sustainable housing? 3
1.2. The purpose and structure of the Guide 4
1.3. Housing challenges in developing countries 5
1.4. Why sustainable housing? 6
CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing 13
2.1. Consider the whole lifecycle of residential buildings 14
2.2. Urban forms and residential densities 14
2.3. Mitigate environmental hazards and improve green spaces 16
2.4. Environmental performance of residential buildings 16
2.5. Sustainable building material and practices 24
2.6. Integrate housing into sustainable community infrastructure 27
CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL AND CULTURAl SUSTAINability of housing 33
3.1. Affordability, dignity and resilience of housing 33
3.2. Social and spatial justice 36
3.3. Empowerment, participation and inclusion 39
3.4. Social infrastructure and facilities 39
3.5. Residence as coping strategies 40
3.6. Adaptable housing for present and future needs 43
CHAPTER 4 ECONOMIC SUSTAINability of housing 46
4.1. Affordability of housing supply 48
4.2. Balanced housing markets and the choice of affordable tenure 48
4.3. Sustainable affordable house-building as a source of employment 49
4.4. Recognise home based enterprises 52
4.5. Mobilize savings and domestic finance 53
CHAPTER 5 Delivering holistic approaches 58
5.1. Find a balance across the sustainability dimensions 58
5.2. Use the instrument of spatial planning more effectively 59
5.3. In-build resilience in housing development 62
5.4. Mainstream best practices 63
CHAPTER 6 Key principles for sustainable policy delivery 66

References 69

iv | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
LIST OF BOXES
Box 1: Sustainable development 4
Box 2: Climate change, mitigation and adaptation 7
Box 3: Sustainable houses 9
Box 4: Increasing housing demand in our urban future 10
Box 5: Multiple benefits of sustainable housing 11
BOX 6: THE REHABILITATION OF AL-AZHAR PARK IN CAIRO, EGYPT 17
Box 7: Green roofs 19
Box 8: Low carbon cities 21
Box 9: Prefabricated buildings 24
Box 10: Should zero-energy be a target for sustainable housing policy? 26
Box 11: Environmental assessment and international rating systems for buildings 29
Box 12: A culturally-aware use of low-cost building techniques 30
Box 13: Experiences of biogas generation from landfills and human waste 31
Box 14: Mexico’s strategy for sustainable affordable housing 34
Box 15: Cultural dimensions in affordable housing programmes in Ethiopia 42
Box 16: Housing adaptation and repair scheme in Malta 44
Box 17: Remaking traditional building design for flexible housing 44
Box 18: tHE Importance of affordable housing activities for economic development 47
Box 19: Brazil’s Affordable Housing Programme - My House, My Life 50
Box 20: Employment in home-based enterprises in selected countries 53
Box 21: Alternative housing finance schemes 55
Box 22: Community-based housing loans 55
Box 23: Contribution of planning to sustainable affordable housing 61
Box 24: National housing strategy for sustainable housing 68

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: SHORTCOMING OF THE PRESENT HOUSING POLICY RESPONSES. 9
FIGURE 2: WINDOW OVERHANGS: USING PASSIVE LIGHTING AND ACTIVE SHADING. 19
FIGURE 3: A CONCEPTUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF HOUSING. 36
FIGURE 4: PROVISION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS FROM THE POLICY PERSPECTIVE. 51
FIGURE 5: TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP ROUTES TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. 64
FIGURE 6: SUSTAINABLE HOUSING POLICY. 67

LIST OF Tables
TABLE 1: A MULTI-SCALE FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE HOUSING POLICIES. 8
TABLE 2: GUIDING MATRIX FOR ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY. 15
TABLE 3: MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR HOUSEHOLD ENERGY SERVICES TO SUPPORT DECENT WELLBEING. 21
TABLE 4: SUPPORTING COMMUNITY SOCIALISATION. 38
TABLE 5: HOUSING TENURE STRUCTURE IN SELECTED COUNTRIES AND CITIES. 51
TABLE 6: EMPLOYMENT GENERATED BY DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTION TYPES IN SRI LANKA 54
TABLE 7: EXAMPLES OF CROSS-DIMENSIONAL SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS. 59

Table of Contents | v
Planned urban expansion in Morocco. © Matthew French/UN-Habitat. People´s process in Myanmar. © UN-Habitat.
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In a rapidly changing and urbanising world, the and provides a comprehensive framework for
provision of adequate and affordable housing designing sustainable housing policies and
remains a key priority for all governments. practical actions. Although sustainable housing
However, the concept of housing requires a new is often considered from a predominantly
understanding to effectively and synergistically “green” perspective (resource saving, greenhouse
address the pressing issues of slums prevention, gas reduction), this report advocates a more
the urban divide, economic and human holistic approach, which recognises the multiple
development, and climate change. No longer functions of housing – as both a physical and
regarded as simply a roof over one’s head, social system – and which seeks to enhance
housing today plays a crucial role in achieving and harmonise the environmental, social,
sustainable development – as envisaged by the cultural, and economic dimensions of housing
idea of sustainable housing. sustainability. Thus, along with the solutions
for the built environment (resource and energy
Sustainable housing is, however, yet to gain its efficiency, environmental, ecological and
due prominence in developing countries. It is health safety, resilience to natural disasters),
rare that the social, cultural, environmental and sustainable housing policies should deal with
economic facets of housing are addressed there the affordability, social justice, cultural and
in an integrated policy. In many developing economic impacts of housing, and contribute
contexts, the so-called pro-poor housing to making healthy residential neighbourhoods
programmes often provide accommodation and sustainable cities.
of poor standards, in remote locations, with
little consideration to the residents’ lifestyle It is only through sustainable solutions that
and livelihood strategies. In others, rapid the tensions between urban growth, climate
housing developments create amplified carbon change, poverty alleviation, affordable housing
footprint and further negative impacts on the provision, and access to quality residential
environment. Yet in most developing cities, services, clean energy and environmental
decent and safe housing remains a dream conditions can be mitigated, while the
for the majority of the population, while potential of housing for improved economic
government considers affordable housing as prosperity and social development can be
merely a social burden. further unlocked. Well-designed, inclusive and
participatory housing policies and programmes
Sustainable Housing for Sustainable Cities have much to offer to this end.
outlines key concepts and considerations
underpinning the idea of sustainable housing

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | 1
 Planned urban expansion in Marocco. © Matthew, French, UN-Habitat.

Self-built housing using locally available materials in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
People´s process in Myanmar. © UN-Habitat.
© Matthew French/UN-Habitat.
 01 HOUSING AND SUSTAINABILITY

1.1. What is sustainable durability and resilience of homes; economic

housing? activities in housing and their links with the
wider economy; cultural and social fabric
Housing is one of those basic social conditions of communities and impacts of housing on
that determine the quality of life and welfare of poverty alleviation, social development, and
people and places. Where homes are located, the quality of life.
how well designed and built, and how well
they are weaved into the environmental, social, Although sustainable housing is often associated
cultural and economic fabric of communities with wealth and affluence, it does not need to be
are factors that, in a very real way, influence so – genuinely sustainable houses are those that
the daily lives of people, their health, security are inclusive and affordable for all. Addressing
and wellbeing, and which, given the long life the issue of affordability is, therefore, a
of dwellings as physical structures, affect both necessary condition for transformation towards
the present and future generations. Housing sustainable housing. And yet affordability is
is therefore central to sustainable development not enough, because the so-called affordable
(Box 1). homes cannot be considered sustainable if they
create negative impacts on the environment or
Housing is also part of the relationships social life. The marriage of affordability with
between society and the environment. On the other sustainability conditions is a must. In
one hand, housing construction and operation this Guide, the link between sustainability and
consume large amounts of natural resources affordability is discussed in the unified notion
(land, energy, water, building materials), while of sustainable housing.
producing waste, air and water pollution. On
the other hand, housing itself is exposed to a Furthermore, while sustainable housing is
variety of environmental impacts and hazards, often considered from a resource-saving
including those associated with natural (green) perspective, this Guide advocates a
disasters and climate change (see Box 2). These more comprehensive approach – viewing
aspects are also significant considerations for sustainable housing not simply as units or
sustainable development. clusters of self-sufficient “green buildings”, but
as socially-enhancing and environmentally-
This complex web of inter-relationships friendly residential practices integrated into
between sustainability and housing is addressed the wider urban/settlement systems. This
by the policies for sustainable housing. These approach is necessitated by the holistic
policies consider a spectrum of underlying perspective of sustainable development and
conditions to achieve sustainability in housing by the very multi-faceted nature of housing.
development (along the four dimensions Sustainable affordable housing in this regard
of sustainability – environmental, social, may be considered as extension of the adequate-
cultural and economic), such as: impacts shelter-for-all strategy of the Habitat Agenda
.
on the environment and climate change; (paragraph 60): Adequate shelter means

CHAPTER 1 HOUSING AND SUSTAINABILITY | 3

more than a roof overone’s head. It also means physical environment;
adequate privacy; adequate space; physical
accessibility; adequate security; security of • Housing as social structure – residence-
tenure; structural stability and reliability; based activities, their character, social
adequate lighting, heating and ventilation; qualities, and their socio-economic
adequate basic infrastructure, such as water- interactions in space with the immediate
supply, sanitation and waste-management communities and wider society.
facilities; suitable environmental quality
and health-related factors; and adequate and Through both of these functions, housing
accessible location with regard to work and represents a system of social and material
basic facilities: all of which should be available relationships, which is simultaneously
at an affordable cost. arranged at the different spatial scales (homes,
surrounding neighbourhoods, settlements,
Box 3 gives a glimpse on the attributes that regions, countries) and which, therefore,
sustainable homes may have, while Table 1 requires a corresponding hierarchy of policy
provides a more comprehensive framework for interventions.
sustainable housing policies, which is organised
along the four dimensions of sustainable
development (environmental, social, cultural, 1.2. The purpose and
and economic) and different spatial scales structure of the
(from national to household). Guide
What is the meaning of It is the framework summarised in Table 1
housing in this Guide? that shapes the discussions of this Guide. The
purpose is to provide a detailed introduction
The two interrelated functions of housing regarding the key aspects and concepts for
need to be acknowledged: designing and implementing sustainable
housing. This Guile will hopefully build
• Housing as physical structure capacity and can serve as an advocacy tool for
– residential buildings/shelters, their communicating the importance of housing
design, material qualities, their as a system within the urban system and,
arrangement in space, and consequently, the importance of sustainable
their ecological interactions with the housing for developing sustainable cities. The

Box 1: Sustainable development

Sustainable development is a recognised principle for economic and social activities.

Although it remains a “shifting concept” depending upon in which sustainability context
it is applied and from which value position, a common ground understanding owes to the
1987 Brundtland report (WCED, 1987) and the 1992 Rio “Earth Summit”, which defined
it as “meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable development is seen as a
multidimensional process that links environmental protection with economically, socially
and culturally sound development. Those links are referred to as a four-dimensional
approach to sustainable development, highlighting the need for a harmonious association
between environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions.

4 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Guide should assist the national and local level and services, which cities struggle to cope
decision makers, as well as other practitioners with. As a result, urban growth in Asia, Africa
and professionals of the housing sector, and Latin America is associated with slums and
architects, international and development co- informal settlements; shelters are built with
operation agencies, NGOs and CBOs and little to no basic infrastructure and sanitary
other stakeholders in their efforts to support provision, and with negligible regard of formal
the provision of sustainable affordable housing. planning and building regulations.

This Guide is structured as follows. The rest Why are slums a challenge
of Chapter 1 will consider some main housing for sustainability?
challenges of developing countries and will
provide a further case for sustainable housing. Although slums and informal urban areas
The following chapters will highlight the provide a crucial mechanism for the dwelling
key issues to consider for housing within the of many of the urban poor and disadvantaged,
four-dimensional sustainability model – that they pose a range of serious humanitarian and
is, environmental (Chapter 2), social and environmental problems for both present and
cultural (Chapter 3), and economic (Chapter future generations, including:
4) dimensions, as follows from the framework
presented in Table 1. It is important to stress • Environmental deterioration and
that the division into these “dimensions” is life-threatening problems related to
something artificial and should be understood as sanitation and pollution (including
assistance with systematising and emphasising air and water pollution from garbage
different aspects of policies, rather than as a and sewers);
division between policies themselves. Indeed,
as sustainability emerges from the overlaps and • Exposure to environmental hazards
synergies between the four dimensions, there (landslides, flooding, poor drainage);
will be much overlap between the materials
covered under the different sustainability • Further health risks, diseases
rubrics in the rest of this Guide. That will be and injuries related to
further stressed in Chapter 5 that considers poor construction, overcrowding,
how to balance the sustainability dimensions anti-social behaviour and crime;
in relation to housing policy and deliver
holistic approaches. The concluding Chapter • Uncontrolled and conflictual urban
6 highlights the key principles important for sprawls;
sustainable policy delivery.
• Informal and extralegal economies;

1.3. Housing challenges in • Illegal and harmful infrastructural

developing countries connections.

While the challenge to provide sustainable These problems, although not limited to slum
affordable housing is common for all countries, areas, further aggravate the vulnerabilities of
the need for decent affordable housing is the already deprived living conditions in the
particularly acute in developing regions. same cities and their surroundings. Moreover,
These are experiencing rapid and continuing slums, squatter settlements, and other low-
urbanization, driven by population growth income houses often occupy risk-prone areas
and migrations from rural to urban areas (Box that are vacant and available to establish
4). Urbanization increases the demand for makeshift residences. For example, if located
affordable housing and urban infrastructure in hilly and mountainous areas, many of

CHAPTER 1 HOUSING AND SUSTAINABILITY | 5

them are exposed to landslides, which occur due considerations to sustainability principles,
suddenly and can kill hundreds of residents another chance is missed for many years to reduce
(like in Rio-de-Janeiro State in Brazil in its environment footprint. How many such
2010). In India and in many cities in Africa, chances are being missed on the everyday basis?
such as Accra, Kampala, Lagos, Maputo, and
Nairobi, slums are also commonly flood-prone Given that many developing regions have
(Satterthwaite, 2007). These conditions will been successful in slowing down the growth
only be exacerbated by the increasing climatic of slums over the last decade or so (Box 4)
fluctuations. and that much knowledge and capacity have
already been accumulated to this end, there is
There are also challenges related to the access an increasing awareness that housing policies
of clean energy provision. Today, 1.3 billion must shift towards bridging the affordable and
people still do not have access to electricity sustainable agendas. Even in the regions where
– most of these live in sub-Saharan Africa conditions and resources are more challenging
and developing Asia. More than half of the for tackling the slums and up-scaling sustainable
population of the developing world depend on housing, like in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is a
polluting solid fuels for cooking – traditional need to change the conception of housing to
biomass (1.7 billion people) or coal (0.4 billion embrace all of the sustainability dimensions
people) (IEA, 2011). Indoor air pollution for designing more effective and sustainable
from solid fuel use has been responsible for housing responses.
almost 2 million deaths each year worldwide
and causing other chronic illnesses, making It is only through sustainable solutions that
this risk factor the most dangerous killer after the tensions between economic development,
malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and lack of safe water social welfare and equality, urban growth,
and sanitation. This disproportionably affects housing provision, access to clean energy, good
the poorer families and especially children quality residential services, and environmental
and women, who spend more time within the conditions can be alleviated.
domestic environment (WHO, 2011).
1.4. Why sustainable
Even where governments succeed in tackling
the challenge of slums and energy access, there
housing?
remain challenges of planetary importance Sustainable housing offers a great spectrum
emerging from the sheer volume of housing that of opportunities to promote economic
has to be built or renovated to accommodate development, environmental stewardship,
new population and address existing housing quality of life and social equality, while
shortages and inadequacies. In China alone, mitigating the precarious convergences of
as much new building floor space is expected the problems related to population growth,
to be built by the end of the next decade as urbanisation, slums, poverty, climate change,
the entire existing building stock of the US lack of access to sustainable energy, and
today (UN-Habitat, 2011d). If the new-built economic uncertainty.
housing stock is not built with the utmost
attention to sustainability and efficiency It is seldom, especially in developing countries,
(in all senses of these words), it will quickly that the social, cultural, environmental, and
accumulate a considerable new burden for economic facets of housing are addressed in
the environment and the climate, while also an integrated fashion. For example, affordable
multiplying economic wastefulness and social housing is commonly considered on a cost
deficiencies (cf. Box 14 later in this Guide for basis, while environmental and social issues
a Mexican case). Furthermore, every time a (including people preferences, lifestyles, and
major renovation of a home is done without cultural aspirations), as well as economic

6 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
impacts are thought to be addressed separately to energy and water efficiency, leading to
or totally ignored. However, ignoring one or households being locked in wasteful practices
another dimension of sustainability only leads and unaffordable running costs. Segregation
to the accumulation of vulnerabilities and of unemployment and poverty may only be
precarious housing situations. reproduced in such locations rather than
resolved (Figure 1).
There is, for example, a large gap between
policies for “normal housing” and “affordable Planned and built within an integrated
housing” – these often co-exist in parallel sustainability framework, housing will not only
worlds. The so-called pro-poor, slum be more accessible to low-income households,
upgrading, and refugees housing programmes but will also respond to their diverse social and
often provide accommodation of standards cultural needs and will have multiple positive
or in locations where people would live only outcomes for people’s physical and mental
because of despair and necessity. Standardised health and safety, for economy, and for the built
houses are built in large-quantity “matchbox” and natural environments. Besides, sustainable
developments, cheaply, isolated from houses hold up for a longer time, making them
mainstream urban employment and services a smart investment for government and other
and do not cater for households’ varied needs stakeholders (see Box 5).
and values. Saving on construction costs often
means substandard materials and techniques The following chapters will highlight the
(rather than search for sustainable affordable key issues to consider for affordable housing
alternatives) that render the dwellings short- within the four-dimensional sustainability
lived and, furthermore, cause health problems model according to Table 1.
(a sick house syndrome). Moreover, these
initiatives do not provide a duly consideration

Box 2: Climate change, mitigation and adaptation

Climate change refers to the rise in the global average atmosphere temperatures, followed
by an increased frequency of climatic abnormalities, intensified heat and cold waves,
droughts, storms, floods, as well as rising ocean level. The accelerated climate change is
believed to be a result of human activities that increase the concentration of greenhouse
gases (GHG) in the atmosphere – to which carbon dioxide (CO2) is the largest contributor.
CO2 is naturally stored on Earth in “carbon sinks” such as fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal, etc)
and green biomass. Human activities release this CO2 by the burning of fossil fuels for
energy and the reduction of forests, grassland and peatland. Key mechanisms to limit
GHG emissions (and thus to slowdown climate change) include switching to low-carbon
energies, reducing energy demands and preventing deforestation; these measures are
known as mitigation. However, adaptation measures to the already inevitable adverse
impacts of climate change are also needed.

CHAPTER 1 HOUSING AND SUSTAINABILITY | 7

TABLE 1: A MULTI-SCALE FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE HOUSING POLICIES.
MACRO (NATIONAL) MESO (REGION, CITY) MICRO (NEIGHBORHOOD, HOUSEHOLD)

Housing to support climate Achieving good location and density Ensuring energy efficiency, micro/
mitigation and adaptation efforts. for residental areas and access to generation, water and resource
Environmental dimension

infrastructure. efficiency.
Mainstreaming green housing
practices and innovations. Serviced land in environmentally safe Green design, using sustainable
locations and green areas. local construction and materials.
Ensuring energy and resource
efficiency in the building industry. Protection of ecosystems and Sanitation, preventing hazardous
biodiversity. and polluting materials.
Integrating national housing and
energy systems. Promoting sustainable and low- Affordable use of resources.
corbon urban infrastructure, public Improving resilience and adaptation
transport and non-motorised of homes.
mobility, energy systems.
Waste management and recycling.

Fulfilling the right to adequate Promoting integrated comunities Empowering people and ensuring
housing and promoting the right to and ensuring trust in communities. public participation.
the city. Ensuring health, safety, well-being in
Providing community facilities,
Ensuring affordable, decent and preventing segregation and residences.
Social dimension

suitable homes for all, including displacement. Creating a sense of community,

disadvantaged groups. ’sense of place’, and identity.
Regenerating and reintegrating
Developing social housing provision. ’neglected’ areas into regional, Meeting secific needs and wants in
Promoting choice and security of urban fabric. housing (including those related to
tenure. Ensuring infrastructural integration gender, age and health).
of housing into wider areas. Providing access to infrastructure
Upgrading inadequate housing and and public spaces.
slum areas.

Promoting links between housing Promoting urban creativity, culture, Culturally responsive settlements
and knowledge-based and cultural aesthetics, diversity. and house planning and design.
economies.
Shaping values, tradition, norms and Imrpoving aesthetics, diversity and
Cultural dimension

Promoting traditional, indigenous behaviours (eg. in relation to energy cultural sophistication of the built
and local knowledge (including of use, recycling, communal living and environment and residence.
relevance to sustainable resource place maintenance).
use, energy efficiency and resilient Helping community creativity (i.e.
building techniques). Protecting housing heritage and via amenities; affordable sporting,
familiarity of city (eg. preventing cultural and entertainment facilities.
Protecting cultural heritage. unnecessary social replacement/ Assisting people’s transitionfrom
gentrification or complete rural and slums areas to decent
redevelopment. housing or multifamily housing.

Institutional capacities for Managing economic activities and Ensuring housing affordability for
sustainable housing markets and hrowth by strengthening housing different social groups.
housing development. provision and housing markets. Providing adequate residences
Articulating housing productivity Provision of necessary infrastructure to raise labour productivity;
Economic dimension

within national economic systems. and basic services to housing. ensuring housing is integrated with
employment.
Improving housing supply and Providing serviced land for housing.
effective demand, stabilising housing Supporting domestic economic
Strengthening entrepreneurship of activities and enterprise.
markets. communities, local building industry
Improving housing finance options. and enterprise. Promoting petty landlordism and
self-help housing.
Promoting innovations in housing. Promoting local and traditional
building materials and techniques. Housing management and
Stimulating necessary technological maintenance.
developments for sustainable Promoting regional and urban
housing. regeneration. Strengthening resilience and future-
proofing of homes.

Source: UN-Habitat 2011c.

8 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
FIGURE 1: SHORTCOMING OF THE PRESENT HOUSING POLICY RESPONSES.

Rapid and sustained urbanisation leads Urban challenges: lack of formal

to high housing demand. employment low incomes, adjusting to
new lifestyles and urban culture, etc.

Lack of affordable, accessible and desirable housing

alternatives lead to the prevalence and expansion of
informal settlements/slums.

Sustainability
Formal ‘social’ housing is developed Slum upgrading is undertaken
dimensions seldom
(Govt, Co-op., NGO; typically standardised (by Govt., municipalities, NGO´s, CBOs;
feature in these
units at lowest-cost possible. housing units seldom considered, only
programmes or
urban environment.
policies.

Environmentally detrimental development: ‘Lock in’ of energy demand and use.

High operation costs for households.
Housing is often not socially, culturally and eonomicaly responsive to households’ needs and values.

Source: UN-Habitat, 2011c: 10.

Box 3: Sustainable houses

Sustainable houses are those that are designed, built and managed as:
• Healthy, durable, safe and secure,
• Affordable for the whole spectrum of incomes,
• U
sing ecological low-energy and affordable building materials and
technology,
• Resilient to sustain potential natural disasters and climatic impacts,
• C
onnected to decent, safe and affordable energy, water, sanitation
and recycling facilities,
• U
sing energy and water most efficiently and equipped with certain on-site
renewable energy generation and water recycling capabilities,
• N
ot polluting the environment and protected from external
pollutions,
• W
ell connected to jobs, shops, health- and child-care, education and
other services,
• P roperly integrated into, and enhancing, the social, cultural and
economic fabric of the local neighbourhood and the wider urban areas,
• Properly run and maintained, timely renovated and retrofitted.

CHAPTER 1 HOUSING AND SUSTAINABILITY | 9

 Box 4: Increasing housing demand in our urban future

The world’s urban population is expected to grow from 3.5 billion in 2010 to 6.2 by
2050 or from about 52% to 67% of the world’s total population. As much as 94% of
this growth will be in developing regions (from 2.6 billion by 2010 to 5.1 billion by 2050)
(UN, 2011). The capacity of cities to deal with the population growth is challenged by
the structural problems of low development and poverty. The ‘urbanization of poverty’
sustains the rise of slums. It is estimated that 828 million people in developing regions
were living in slums in 2010, which constitute a third of the total urban population in
these regions (more than 70% in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa). Although the
relative share of slums in the total population is thought to be decreasing in most regions,
the absolute number is still growing (see graph below) (UN-Habitat, 2010b).

Given a projected urban population increase by 1.43 billion between 2010 and 2030 and
adding to this the existing slum population, the number of people in the most urgent
need of housing within the next two decades can be estimated to be at least 2.25 billion.
Assuming an average household size of 5 people, 450 million housing units have to be
built worldwide to accommodate this population – that is, 22.5 million units annually or
more than 60 thousand units each day, from this very moment. But even this is just a tip
of the iceberg, as there is also the need to improve the inadequate housing conditions of
non-slum residents and to replace existing housing stock that will come to the end of its
life or will be destroyed due to natural disasters and social conflicts.

URBAN SLUM POPULATION IN DEVELOPING REGIONS IN 1990 AND 2010 (MILLION PEOPLE).

Sub-Saharan 102.6 1990

Africa
199.5
2010
Southern Asia 180.4
190.7

Eastern Asia 159.8

189.6

Latin America 105.7

and the Caribbean 110.8

South-Eastern Asia 69.0

88.9

Western Asia 19.1

36

North Africa 19.7

11.8

Oceania 0.4
0.6

Millions 0 40 80 120 160 200

Source: UN-Habitat.

10 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
 Informal ”Palafita” housing in Salvador, Brazil extending over Todos os Santos Bay.
© Matthew French/UN-Habitat.

Box 5: Multiple benefits of sustainable housing

• Improved quality of life and dignity of residence,

• Affordable access to housing,
• Improved health and lower incidents of illness, fatalities and material losses, better
labour productivity,
• Better conditions for human development, employment, creativity and economic
growth,
• Durability and low maintenance cost,
• Protection against natural hazards,
• Improved efficiency and savings on the use of energy, water and other physical
resources,
• Better environmental protection and sanitary conditions,
• Contribution towards climate adaptation and mitigation,
• More sustainable and socially inclusive urban growth,
• Social cohesion and political stability.

CHAPTER 1 HOUSING AND SUSTAINABILITY | 11

Solar water heating installed on social housing in Brazil. The units in the foreground are damaged,
People´s process in Myanmar. © UN-Habitat.
which highlights the importance of adequate maintenance. © Matthew French/UN-Habitat.
02

Environmental
sustainability of housing

The environmental sustainability of housing for improved environmental sustainability in

is concerned with the impacts of housing on housing include the following:
the environment and climate change, as well
as the impacts of the environment on housing • Reduce environmental footprints from
itself. More specifically, there are three types housing in terms of energy and associated
of the relationships between housing and the GHG emissions, water, land and material
environment: use, as well as waste;

• House building and operation require • Ensure healthy housing and surrounding
various environmental resources, such living environments (including improved
as building materials, water, energy and sanitation, public health impact and
land; reduced pollution);

• Residential activities in human • Strengthen resilience and adaptation

settlements have direct ecological impacts (robustness of design, hazards prevention,
on local areas in terms of air and water greening).
pollution, waste and damage of natural
ecosystems; The rest of this chapter will review the following
common principles and considerations in
• Homes and their residents are also respect of environmental footprint and
themselves exposed to varied resilience of housing:
environmental hazards, which may
emerge due to human activities (e.g. air • The whole lifecycle of houses;
and water pollution, lack of sanitation),
due to natural factors (e.g. landslides, • Residential densities and urban mobility
vector-born diseases such as malaria), in neighbourhoods;
or due to the combination of natural
and human-made factors (e.g. climate • Mitigating environmental hazards and
change). improving green spaces;

Thus, housing provides an important means • Energy and resource efficiencies;

for addressing local and global environmental
concerns in relation to public health, energy, • Sustainable affordable building material
water and material efficiency and CO2 and practices;
emission, waste production and recycling,
climate adaptation and environmental hazards • Integrating housing into low-carbon
mitigation measures. Corresponding strategies community infrastructure.

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 13

2.1. Consider the “urban sprawl” and private car mobility.
whole lifecycle of Transport is a main energy user and emitter
residential buildings of CO2, as well as other pollutants. More
scattered residential environs require more
Contemporary housing sector consumes large land, resources, and infrastructure (water, gas,
amounts of scarce energy and other resources electricity, roads) and lead to a disintegration
in its construction, maintenance and use. of the city space, including between socially
Therefore, housing activities potentially segregated areas. Relatively compact and
represent key mechanisms to better plan mixed-use mixed-income areas, which integrate
energy and resource consumption and to housing, work, facilities and entertainment in
support climate change mitigation/adaptation close proximity, are believed to constitute an
efforts. important strategy for reducing these negative
footprints. A more compact city also allows
As far as the implementation of housing easier, more affordable access by low-income
projects is concerned, it is important to residents to urban services and employment
consider the whole lifecycle of houses in opportunities and a better sense of community
question – “from cradle to grave” (Table 2). integration and cohesion.
Thus, the planning stage may address the
choice of the planned site and its impact on In large urban areas, an extension to the
the local environment, links to the city; quality compact city approach – polycentricity or
of the local built environment; density; public decentralized concentration can redirect
transport and infrastructure; environmental development pressures to new urban centres.
hazards. Design takes into consideration The strategy means that, if inevitable, peripheral
embodied energy and resource utilization and development also proceeds in a compact
enables energy and water efficiency; district town-size mixed-use way. For this, planners
heating/cooling and micro-generation; waste can envisage new housing developments to
management; robustness and resilience, future be of a substantial size and located within
proofing; possibility of upgrade. Construction or near existing settlements, so that new car
should integrate safety and environmental travel distances are minimized. Development
standards; the use of local sustainable materials. should ideally be located near to a regional or
Refurbishment should consider the choice of metropolitan public transportation system, so
refurbishment material; energy efficient design; that high levels of public transport accessibility
disturbance of the environment; management can be provided. However, building free-
of construction waste. At the final stage of life, flowing highway networks is likely to encourage
a decision is taken whether demolish or reuse the sprawl of development and a strung-out
and recycle building components. community (Banister and Anable, 2009).

2.2. Urban forms and However, it is not always that “densification”

programmes are accepted or welcomed in a
residential densities given social context. In already low-density areas
If deciding on a new housing project, especially such programmes can meet residents’ protests
of a larger scale, it may be appropriate to and sabotage from powerful landowners. It is,
start not so much with the architecture and therefore, important to prevent lock-in in low-
design, but with choosing the best location to density high-carbon lifestyles from the very
maximise sustainability. This is to recognise beginning by using the instruments of urban
that people live not simply in a house, but planning and building control effectively for
in a neighbourhood and a settlement or a new-built areas.
city. Sustainable development is seriously
compromised by organizing cities around

14 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
How dense is a “compact” design creates attractive living environment by
neighbourhood? balancing variously dense developments with
access to green space, adequate infrastructure
Good environmental practices suggest and good transport. Many European towns
moderately-high densities for compact and cities show that the best solution lies in a
neighbourhoods. However, the actual compact-green city fusion, where a relatively
density needs to be context-specific. There is compact built environment includes a diversity
a level beyond which density creates social, of densities and designs and maintains a good
economic and environmental congestion and coherence with the landscape and green
undermines sustainability. In some developing environment (EU, 2004).
regions, many denser residential areas are
associated with poverty and overcrowding. It Related tasks include encouraging walking,
is important in such cases to actually reduce cycling and public transport (from, to, and
densities and introduce new public, open between residential areas). Public transport is
and green spaces for recreation and leisure. a crucial means to curb emissions from travel.
Furthermore, multi-floor residential estates For example, Mumbai with a higher share
used for the resettlement of poor slum dwellers of public bus transport and suburban rail
are not appropriate for many of them, as has experienced a 60% reduction in energy
the poor use their home for their informal and emissions compared to Delhi (Das and
businesses that often need access at the ground Parikh, 2004). There is an interesting trend
level. More generally, however, good urban of adopting “non-traditional” means of public

TABLE 2: GUIDING MATRIX FOR ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.

STAGE OF HOUSE LIFECYCLE EXAMPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS

Planning stage Impact of the planned site on the local environment; relationships with the city; quality of
the local built environment; mixed-use and density; poly- centricity; infrastructure; public
transport; green areas; environmental hazards.

Building design Considering embodied energy and resource utilisation; enabling energy and
water efficiency by design; integrating district heating asnd micro-generation; sustainable
waste management; green roofs; robustness and resilience; future-proofing; possibility of
upgrading; shaping of lifestyles.

Construction Safe, environmentally-friendly, local affordable material; minimization of environmental

impact from building activity.

Operation Energy performance; air-conditioning, air quality; pollution by residents and impact of
the local pollution on residents, water use and water management, water recovery;
comfort and hygiene of homes; quality and energy efficiency of the local infrastructure
and transportation; property maintenance and management; waste management and
recycling; greening the area; natural hazards.

Refurbishment Choice of refurbishment material; energy efficient design; disturbance of the environment;
management of construction waste.

End of life Demolishing or reusing; recycling of building components; management of construction

waste.

Refurbishment Choice of refurbishment material; energy efficient design; disturbance of the environment;
management of construction waste.

End of life Demolishing or reusing; recycling of building components; management of construction

waste.

Source: UN-Habitat.

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 15

transport, such as aerial ropeways – which atmosphere; vegetation also removes carbon
can also make remote residential areas more dioxide during photosynthesis and emits
accessible. Examples include metrocables in oxygen. Green areas have a cooling effect
Medellin, Colombia and Caracas, Venezuela, and mitigate heat waves (hotter-than-normal
as well as Algeria’s aerial ropeway serving the weather) and urban heat island (higher
cities of Skikda and Tlecern (UN-Habitat, temperatures in urban areas than in the
2010a). Similar infrastructure is being built countryside) – both of which have negative
to provide urban access from some of the impacts on human health and biodiversity.
favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Such means Furthermore, vegetation reduces surface water
of transportation use less material and energy, run-off, thus preventing soil erosion and
relatively cost-effective to install and are non- reducing the need of piped drainage. All of
polluting. these effects are important in the context of
increased climate uncertainties and climate-
2.3. Mitigate related and other natural hazards.
environmental Cities, even with a high density, have potential
hazards and improve for increasing green and open areas by, for
green spaces example, restoring brownfield sites as parks or
redeveloping closed landfills as green areas (Box
At the stage of planning and design of residen- 6). Recycling of wasteland and derelict sites
tial projects, it is important to give an in-depth and buildings gives an opportunity to clean
attention to contextual environmental hazards up contaminated sites, assist environment and
(existing or potential), including those related social and economic regeneration. Some of the
to the natural environment, such as floods, ‘novel’ approaches to greening the housing,
landslides, earthquakes, etc. These considera- although with a long tradition behind, include
tions and related actions are a key ingredient also the integration of vegetation into the design
of the housing resilient strategy. of individual buildings, such as greening roofs
One simple strategy to mitigate environmen- and walls, ‘pocket parks’, and the planting of
tal hazards, while also protecting biodiversity trees in courtyards (Box 7).
and improving the health and quality of life of
the residents, is to ensure a good network of 2.4. Environmental
green spaces in the neighbourhoods. A green
network may include open spaces, waterways,
performance
gardens, woodlands, green corridors, wildlife of residential
habitats, and street trees. A green network not buildings
only supports the natural ecological process-
es, but is also an essential part of local climate Key concerns for the sustainable design
management strategies – important for both of residential buildings lie with their
climate adaptation and mitigation. environmental performance (energy efficiency
and CO2 emissions; water efficiency; material
Why do green areas matter for efficiency; pollution; waste management;
natural hazard mitigation and climate relationships with the immediate area), health
management? impact (air quality, water quality, hygiene),
human comfort (hydrothermal quality,
Urban forestry and habitat restoration are acoustic quality, visual attractiveness, smells
among the most cost-effective means for control), as well as with the provision of
carbon sequestration, as well as for urban air appropriate housing management. Some of the
quality and runoff management. Increasing main elements of these issues are considered
the amount and size of vegetation helps to below.
reduce the amount of pollutants in the low

16 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Energy efficiency in housing To reduce energy demand and carbon footprint
from residential buildings a range of solutions
The generation of energy is the main may be used (Golubchikov, 2009):
contributor to CO2 emissions and climate
change and it also results in many other • Planning and optimising the orientation
forms of environmental pollution. Housing and interrelation of buildings in space,
is responsible for as much as a quarter of the as well as optimising walls’ and roof ’s
global operational energy demand (embodied albedo (by paint or greening), in order to
energy used in construction notwithstanding). use the opportunities offered by passive
This energy is used for space and water heating heating, lighting and active shading,
and cooling, cooking, lighting, and operation
of other energy-consuming activities within • Better insulating the structural elements
homes. The use of this energy is in fact a of houses - walls, windows, doors, roofs -
necessary condition to support life and social in combination with a better ventilation
activities in houses (Table 3). Yet, as discussed (allows keeping houses warmer in cold
above, millions do not even have access to periods and colder in hot periods),
clean energy or struggle to afford it in sufficient
quantities because of the cost (leading to the • Installing energy efficient appliances for
phenomenon of “energy poverty”). Improving heating, cooling, cooking and lighting
energy efficiency and using renewable energy and ventilation,
is a way to address this complex knot of
environmental and social problems. • Improving the efficiency of utilities
supplying houses with electricity, gas,
It is widely acknowledged that the cost of water, heating,
investing in the hosing energy efficiency is
commonly smaller than gains achieved over • Developing local low-carbon power
a medium-term period from resultant energy plants servicing housing (e.g. district
savings. Energy savings also mean avoided heating and cooling based on combined
energy and CO2 generation. This also makes heat and power generation, renewable
the residential sector one of the most cost- electricity generation),
effective (in fact, profitable) mechanisms for
the reduction of CO2 emissions. • Equipping houses with renewable
electricity or heat generating installations
(microgeneration),

BOX 6: THE REHABILITATION OF AL-AZHAR PARK IN CAIRO, EGYPT

Cairo, located amidst desert environments, has a particularly high residential density, with
very limited open space. By the mid-1990s, Cairo had only one square metre of open
space per resident. A 30 million USD Al-Azhar Public Park Project, which was opened in
2005 by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture’s Historic Cities Programme, was one solution to
this problem. The park was built on a 30-hectare site used as a dump for many centuries.
The project has also rehabilitated the historic districts of Islamic Cairo, which is one of the
primary destinations for tourists, and has provided the residents with new opportunities
for apprenticeships and employment.

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 17

• Reducing energy-intensive building (electricity, gas, district heating) or from
materials and technologies used in autonomous sources (microgeneration – as
homebuilding, will be discussed below).

• Incentivising and disciplining households In principle, exiting technological solutions

through energy metering and billing, already allow individual houses and even whole
communities to be completely self-dependent
• Capacity building activities to raise for their energy needs – much like the areas that
awareness of the importance of energy lack access to modern energy facilities, but, in
savings and how it can be achieved. contrast to them, with a fully modern quality
of life. Zero-energy and zero-carbon cities
These solutions are equally applicable to are already a realistic future (Box 8). As will
both cold and warm environments, although be shown below, European Union standards,
climatic considerations affect the use and for example, are increasingly strengthened
priority of particular building techniques. For in anticipation that all new buildings will be
example, thermal insulation and solar gains required to be built to zero-energy standards
need to be augmented in colder climates, in the near future.
while a greater role is given to passive cooling,
shading and wind tunnelling in hotter climates. How about indoor air quality
Increased thermal mass is used in climates in energy efficient houses?
where there are larger seasonal and day and
night variations in temperatures such in arid Modern highly energy-efficient houses are
and colder climates, while it is less appropriate characterised by high levels of air tightness to
in tropical climates with smaller variations in stop warm or cold air losses. This requires extra
temperatures (for more details on planning measures to ventilate houses. Commonly used
and building energy-efficient houses with is mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.
climatic considerations see a complementary It operates by electricity and recovers heat or
guide Going Green: A Handbook of Sustainable cold from the used air indoor and exchanges
Housing Practices, UN-Habitat, 2012). it with the fresh incoming air, thus providing
good air quality and comfort. The installation
Many European countries, especially those of such systems is, however, unaffordable for
located in the colder environments, are quite the majority in developing countries. And yet,
experienced with very low-energy buildings. it is not even necessary to have so high levels of
Comfortable room temperature is achieved by insulation. A knowledgeable use of traditional
means of highly efficient components, such materials and thermal mass, combined with
as high levels of insulation of walls, roofs and natural ventilation systems (e.g. wind-driven
windows, heat or cold recovery from recycled cross ventilation or stack ventilation), may
air, and the use of internal sources for heating be sufficient to protect the house from a cold
(including existing household appliances and or hot climate and to considerably reduce its
human heat). In order to minimise energy energy demand, while still allowing the house
use, the design of buildings may be required to “breathe” naturally. In any case, it is the
to fit the specific characteristics of the location imperative that indoor air quality must prevail
(in terms of climate, vegetation, topography over energy consideration, as inadequate
and geology, as well as the existing built ventilation may damage the health much
environment) and to use passive lighting, more than poor insulation – particularly if
active shading, and energy-efficient appliances “dirty energy” or smoking is practiced indoor.
and lighting (Figure 2). Remaining energy Building codes, model designs, and related
demand for electricity, the cooling system or monitoring should include indoor air quality
hot water can come from conventional sources considerations alongside energy.

18 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
FIGURE 2: WINDOW OVERHANGS: USING PASSIVE LIGHTING AND ACTIVE SHADING.

Winter Summer Summer

Winter

Window overhangs Seasonal position of the sun

Source: Hendler and Thompson-Smeddle, 2009:14.

Box 7: Green roofs

Green or vegetated roofs reduce the over-heating of buildings in summer and provide a
better thermal insulation in winter, thus improving the building’s own energy performance
in addition to the positive effects for the neighbourhood as a whole. This cooling
effect is also beneficial for solar panels, as they currently work best at temperatures
up to 25°C. Green roofs also intercept storm-water runoff and reduce the load on the
building’s drainage system, thereby extending its maintenance cycle. There are examples
of mandatory green roofs as posited by recent policies in Toronto and Copenhagen;
several cities in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, following the original experiences of
Basel and Linz, have introduced either a compulsory greening of all flat rooftops on new
buildings or additional subsidies for such measures.

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 19

Embodied (embedded) energy Water efficiency

The amount of energy used in buildings during Water efficiency at construction sites, in the
their full lifecycle is not only due to their direct manufacturing of building materials and
energy consumption (energy-in-use), but also in completed houses is a crucial element in
due to energy used during construction and achieving sustainable housing, given both the
demolition. Concrete and steel manufacturing, depletion of fresh water resources globally
extraction of raw materials, and transportation and shortages of clean fresh water supply in
of construction materials contribute to the many socially challenging environments. The
energy use and carbon footprint of a building. residents of poor areas and slums in many
It is often the case that buildings that are developing cities, especially women, spend a
allegedly ‘low-energy’ are built without due lot of time of their life in collecting water from
consideration of these ‘embodied’ forms of remote sources, while also often having to pay
energy consumption. Although they consume disproportionably high to the suppliers of
little operational energy, their embodied potable water compared to their compatriots
energy is such that over their lifecycle, their enjoying a centralised water supply.
carbon footprint can still be larger than that
of the buildings with a lower operational As regards to residential buildings, water is
efficiency but built in a sustainable way and typically used for the following purposes:
using local materials with low embodied
energy. The choice of materials and their • Bath and shower
transportation is among major considerations • Toilet
for both construction and refurbishment.
• Laundry
An analysis of the relationship between
• Cooking
embodied energy and energy-in-use helps
ensure a better choice of building materials. • Cleaning
There is, for example, a variety of energy
modelling software tools that can assist • Gardening
architects and engineers in optimising the • Water losses due to leaks.
building design for reduced energy demand
(with the caveat that all models have their The following sustainable practices are
own limitations and never fully predict real- commonly implemented:
life situations). A house designer needs to
understand the environmental effect of all • Minimisation of water losses and leaks,
aspects of a house, including the delivery • Rainwater and snowmelt harvesting
cost of building materials, and the possibility systems,
of disassembling building elements for
refurbishment and recycling. An optimal way • Re-use of water,
to save embodied energy (and to reduce the
cost) is to ensure that residential buildings last • Water efficient installations in houses,
longer – through, for example, integrating • Waterless and low-flow technologies,
features from the outset to reduce the need for
costly and wasteful repairs and retrofits over • The installation of water metering
the medium term. One technique that has systems (for incentivising water saving).
been experimented with is integrating local
traditional sustainable and durable materials These systems may range from highly
into prefabricated construction (Box 9). sophisticated and high-tech to low-cost that
can be particularly appropriate to improve

20 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
TABLE 3: MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR HOUSEHOLD ENERGY SERVICES TO SUPPORT DECENT
WELLBEING.

ENERGY SERVICES MINIMUM STANDARDS

Lighting 300 lumes for a minimum of 4 hours per night at household level.

Cooking and water heating 1 kg woodfuel or 0.3 kg charcoal or 0.04 kg LPG or 0.2 litres of kerosene or
biofuel per person per day, taking less than 30 minutes per household per day
to obtain;
Minimum efficiency of improved solid fuel stoves to be 40% greater than a
three-stone fire in terms of fuel use;
Annual mean concentrations of particulate matter (PM 2.5) < 10 μg/m3 in
households, with interim goals of 15 μg/m3, 25 μg/m3 and 35 μg/m3;

Space heating Minimum daytime indoor air temperature of 18°C;

Space cooling Maximum apparent indoor air temperature of 30°C;

Refrigeration Households can extend life of perishable products by a minimum of 50% over
that allowed by ambient storage;

Information and People can communicate electronic information from their household;
communications People can access electronic media relevant to their lives and livelihood in their
household.
Source: Adapted from Practical Action, 2012:42.

Box 8: Low carbon cities

Some prominent examples of new low-energy low-carbon communities in developing

countries include Masdar City, currently being built in Abu Dhabi as a zero-carbon, zero-
waste, car-free municipality for 50,000 residents, which is thought to become the world’s
first climate-neutral city and Dongtan in China being planned as a low-carbon city to
accommodate 0.5 million people. While there are encouraging examples, their overall
sustainability is often disputed, as the projects may actually involve huge development
cost (with associated energy and GHG impacts), be relatively isolated and exclude low-
income people. It is important to act in existing urban districts, where there is a greater
potential for paving a more sustainable future. An example here includes the Western
Harbour (Västra Hamnen) district of Malmö, being turned from a brownfield area into an
environmentally friendly town based on 100% renewable energy.

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 21

the quality of life and alleviate water problems Building codes for sustainable housing
of the poor, as well as to alleviate the load
on existing freshwater provision systems. The development of appropriate technology
For example, even in very dense slum areas, should be followed by strengthened minimum
guttering may be used to transport rainwater efficiency requirements for housing/building
from the rooftops to the storage vessels to be construction (incorporated into so-called
used for multiple household purposes and, “building codes”) – for example, for energy,
if properly collected, stored and treated, for water, air quality, as well as the ecological
cooking (e.g. Gould and Nissen-Petersen, safety of the used materials and technique.
1999). Water used for “cleaner” purposes can be Building codes are mandatory in many
captured and then used for “dirtier” purposes, developed countries. Indeed, mandatory
as well as for irrigation, thus allowing a reuse building codes are found to be among the
of water. For example, in both developed and most effective mechanisms for ensuring
developing countries large quantities of clean improved performance of buildings, including
fresh water are used to flush toilets, whereas for energy (Laustsen, 2008; Levine et al.,
this function can be served by “used water” 2007). Such codes may be of national or local
(so-called “greywater”), harvested rainwater jurisdiction and may be differentiated by types
and many other kinds of water that are of development and geographical conditions.
uncontaminated and free of solid subsistence.
For example, the European Union (EU)
Regulations can be effective to improve water already prepares for moving towards “nearly-
management and recycling. For example, more zero energy” requirement for all new and
than 40,000 homes in Melbourne, Australia, retrofitted buildings by 2020 and develops
are required to use Class A recycled water, corresponding energy performance standards
metered and delivered separately in a distinctive for buildings, or energy building codes (EU,
purple pipe, rather than potable water for 2010). The idea is that only buildings that use
toilet flushing, washing cars and watering very little energy to operate will be permitted.
outdoor landscaping (OECD, 2010: 126). New buildings will have to take this little
energy from nearby renewable energy sources
Pollution of existing water systems by or will generate it themselves. With proper
household sewage and waste is another onsite generating capacities and permission for
persistent problem in many poor areas, which a dual-flow of electricity between the building
needs to be tackled seriously and prevented. and the common grid, some buildings will be
Solutions here are closely interlinked with the able to send as much electricity back to the grid
measures for improving sanitation and waste as they take from it or even generate a surplus
management facilities (see Household waste (known, respectively, as net-zero energy and
management and recycling below). plus-energy buildings).

Furthermore, both the quantity and quality What are energy building codes?
of water may also be saved already at the
stage of construction – in this regard, water These are building codes which regulate
conservation and saving measures need to be various energy-related elements of a new or
communicated to the construction workers to renovated building, such as the building’s
raise their awareness about an environmentally- thermal design (e.g. thermal capacity,
conscious water usage. insulation, passive heating, thermal bridges);
indoor climatic conditions and air quality;
the systems for heating, hot water, ventilation,
cooling, lighting; and the design, positioning
and orientation of the building. They usually

22 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Retrofitting housing to improve environmental peformance in Czech Republic.
People´s process in Myanma
© Mathew French/UN-Habitat.
specify different parameters for different model (non-mandatory) self-building designs
climatic zones. be developed for low income groups that can
be easily understood and implemented. These
In developing countries too, targets can be put may include a range of designs for different
in place to ensure an increasing penetration incomes and specific locations, all ensuring
of passive, zero-energy, and zero-carbon energy and water efficiency (UN-Habitat,
buildings – with a caveat, however, of not 2011d). Specially appointed free or low-cost
introducing universally strict regulations information centres may further support the
too fast (Box 10). Stringent building codes local population on this matter.
may be unfeasible for smaller developers
and individual self-builders, thus pushing 2.5. Sustainable
such people into informal practices. Indeed,
mandatory codes are still rare in developing
building material
countries, especially for residential buildings, and practices
and where they do exist are hardly followed.
Sustainability of housing
In any case, building codes should be supported construction practices
by other instruments, including subsidies,
capacity building and leadership development. The actual construction process may create
Voluntary building codes and certification massive environmental problems, including
systems are used to this end too (Box 11). One noise pollution, air and dust, and harmful
of the recommendations advocated by the UN- contamination through toxic waste. The waste
HABITAT for a few decades now has been that from construction and demolition activities

Box 9: Prefabricated buildings

Prefabricated housing construction (also know as pre-manufactured, off-site, flat pack,

modular or volumetric) was popular in the post-WWII Europe as a means for providing
quick affordable housing in mass quantities. Houses were usually designed for a short
life with little consideration to aesthetics or energy efficiency and have gained a poor
reputation. Despite this, there has been a resurgence of interest to the pre-manufactured
technique as potentially environmentally-sustainable yet cost-effective. The advantages
of the off-site technology include a reduced embodied energy (because of less vehicle
deliveries and the economy of scale), waste reduction, reduced site disturbance, and
better control over the used material and methods in factory settings. The houses can be
built to high environmental standards and can either follow a pre-designed template or
be customised. A disadvantage is, however, that prefabricated houses have to be bought
as ready-made products and, even if overall offering cost savings, can only be afforded by
the more affluent or incorporated developers and government. Still, some prefabricated
components can be standardised and subcontracted to poorer areas’ workshops, thus
also contributing to employment opportunities.
Furthermore, as one type of prefabricated houses, portable buildings provide a quick
solution for accommodating refugees, victims of natural disaster or temporary labour –
since they are portable, the embodied energy is preserved when buildings are relocated
to another site. Care should be taken, however, because in many cases such ‘temporary’
houses can become permanent and this should also be considered in the design and
planning stage.

24 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
is frequently dumped illegally in dams, 21 Sustainable Construction in Developing
river courses and any available hollows. The Countries; see CIB and UNEP-IETC,
extraction of raw materials often happens in 2002). The adaptation of traditional building
rural areas, causing the degradation of land technologies - which are in harmony with local
and ecosystems. Deforestation can also be conditions, affordable, durable, reliable and,
related to the building materials industry, as importantly, functional for the modern life - is
timber is often obtained unsustainably from especially important.
indigenous forests, which, given minimal
biomass and ecosystem replacement activities Locally available traditional materials have
afterwards, leads to soil erosion, salinisation much smaller environmental impact in contrast
of watercourses, reduced precipitation and the to materials such as bricks, concrete and iron –
related problems. mainly because of the lower embodied energy.
Some well-known affordable materials with
Defective and inefficient construction low embodied energy include, for example:
materials and techniques can put at risk both adobe or compressed earthen blocks, earthen
construction workers and the end-use residents. and lime-based plasters, the use of ash as
Sustainable house-building industry should alternatives to Portland cement, straw-bale,
prevent the use of harmful building materials local stone, locally harvested rough sawn
and finishes of residential buildings, which lumber, as well as other local biomass products
constitute a large share of the global toxic load. (bagasse, hemp, bamboo), which are used as
Construction practices should also promote raw material to manufacture durable building
sound and safe activities on construction sites, materials (CIB and UNEP-IETC, 2002; UN-
especially with regard to reduction in topsoil Habitat, 2011d). There has been a worldwide
and vegetation losses, dust and noise pollution, resurgence of interest in earth building.
and safe storage of harmful chemicals. However, most soils do not contain the mix
of clay, silt and sand required for good brick
Which building materials making. Modern stabilization technology has
are unsafe for health? broadened the range of natural soils suitable
for making compressed stabilized earth blocks,
A study by World Health Organisation re- and increased their strength and durability. An
emphasises that the following materials interesting type used in South Africa is also
should be avoided in building construction, eathbag/sandbag constructions; sandbag walls
insulation and repair activities: asbestos, lead cannot crack, are fire proof, good insulators and
paint, pressed wood products manufactured resist water penetration (Roux and Alexander,
with volatile organic compounds (e.g. 2009).
formaldehyde), arsenic in timber, batt
insulation materials containing formaldehydes, Indigenous knowledge and techniques may be
and foam boards containing carcinogens and invaluable for improved adaptive capacity of
endocrine disruptors (WHO, 2011). houses by optimising constructions for natural
hazards. However, there should be careful
Affordable building considerations of the durability, resilience and
techniques and materials resistance of the buildings made with the use
of low-cost indigenous materials, especially
There remains a huge potential for sustainable in the areas that are prone to natural disaster.
construction technologies and practices Suitability of particular materials for particular
involving ecological, healthy and safe materials climatic conditions and geographical hazards
and environmentally friendly techniques – has to be assessed before advocating low-cost
even if there have been a good progress in this local methods.
regard (following, for example, the Agenda

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 25

 Training should target safety in construction, as job-related accidents are common among poor construction
workers in developing countries . © Oleg Golubchikov/UN-Habitat.

Box 10: Should zero-energy be a target for sustainable housing policy?

A transition towards zero-energy zero-carbon housing is a revolutionary change that will

transform the housing sector of the future. Target-oriented instruments that require new
levels of technological performance should, however, be reconciled with the housing
policy’s principles of affordability, accessibility and distributive justice. There is a risk of
targets such as “zero-energy houses” being transferred, in isolation from other instruments
and objectives, to countries or regions with a limited welfare state or undeveloped
housing policy. This is not only because these regions may lack immediate expertise on
building low-energy and yet healthy, resilient, safe and environmentally friendly houses,
but also because prioritising such targets may detract policy attention from affordability
or adaptation and result in unbalanced practices. It is necessary instead to design policy
pathways to low-energy housing by nourishing certain policy development and cross-
policies links seeking for an all-round sustainability. There are instruments that can guide
countries towards such a more balanced progression, including the UNECE Action Plan
for Energy Efficiency in Housing, which highlights a number of policy packages for
moving progressively yet sustainably towards a low-energy housing sector.

Source: Golubchikov and Deda, 2012; UNECE, 2011

26 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
A combination of traditional and modern proportion of the embodied energy – even if
materials may be an optimal way to take the this strategy require certain compromises (e.g.
best of the two “worlds”. The re-integration function and location in comparison to the
of indigenous practices and materials cannot ideal new building).
simply replicate a model of a traditional
house. Their use must adhere to the context of
contemporary requirements and technology. 2.6. Integrate housing
Although these techniques have been deeply
rooted in the culture of different regions,
into sustainable
today there is not much confidence in the community
technical and economic feasibility of these infrastructure
techniques – partly due to many incorrect
applications recently. Furthermore, the Cogeneration and district heating
traditional methods of construction originated
in the rural context and are largely neglected Houses have to be linked to adequate and low-
in cities as old-fashioned (Box 12). Having carbon urban infrastructure. District heating
said that, the traditional technologies serve and cooling systems are increasingly seen today
as a springboard for research and innovation as the most energy efficient option to provide
into more sustainable technologies (CIB and space and water heating in densely populated
UNEP-IETC, 2002). urban areas. These systems have great
environmental and other advantages especially
Recycling in the construction industry when renewable sources or combined heat and
power are the energy providers.
There is a need in a practice of producing
buildings and materials with a longer life Combined heat and power (CHP), or
span, and which are recyclable and disposable cogeneration, involves producing thermal heat
at a minimal environmental cost. Recycling and electricity in one integrated process, so
provides a number of environmental that energy losses are minimised. Cogeneration
advantages, especially in terms of a reduced is most advantageous if connected to district
consumption of natural resources and heating (also known as community heating)
deposition of landfill; saving energy in material and deployed at a city- or neighbourhood-
production and hence reduced pollution; and scale. CHP plants can also provide cooling, by
the availability of more durable materials. chilled water – this is known as tri-generation
or as combined cooling, heat and power.
A significant contribution to energy savings and CHP plants become an essential element for
avoiding GHG emissions is made by means of advanced district heating and cooling (DHC)
incorporating into residential buildings re-used networks.
materials (e.g. from the demolition of previous
buildings) and by devising new buildings to be Distributed power and
suitable for recycling at the end of their life. micro generation
Recycling may be possible for wood, metal,
glass and limestone (although the health safety Renewable energy generated by individuals
of the used materials is obviously important to and communities can meet their own energy
investigate). needs, including through neighbourhood-
scale power installations (so-called distributed
Buildings with a solid basic structure can be generation) and even smaller building-
refurbished with less energy spent than in the scale microgeneration. In this way, energy
construction of a brand new building, as the generation is also brought closer to the users
structure and envelope incorporate a very high reducing losses in energy transportation and

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 27

improving community control over access Even if microgeneration offers savings on the
to energy. Different sources of renewable running cost for energy, high upfront costs
energy can be used – geothermal; wind; solar; remain a serious barrier for its effective use at
biomass; and waste-to-energy. The small the household level. Providing grants and loans
power generators can be linked to the usual for the residents to invest in microgeneration,
electricity grid or district heating (albeit raising finding other financing incentives (e.g. feed-in-
issues of their compatibility) or, alternatively, tariffs), or installing this in larger-scale social
supply electricity and/or heat directly to the or affordable rental housing developments will
consumer (such as stand-alone renewable not only improve access to clean energy, but
power operating at distribution voltage level). will also help poorer residents to save on their
living cost (Practical Action, 2012). A care must
What are popular renewable yet be taken about the reliability of the systems
microgeneration technologies? and the arrangement for their maintenance
and repair, so that households do not actually
Building-level microgeneration may include lose money in case of technical faults.
heat pumps, small CHP plants, solar panels
(PV) and solar water systems (thermal And yet community-scale micro-grids (locally
collectors), wood pellet stoves, small wind combined and centralised grids of electricity
turbines, and other renewable technologies. generation), especially in the context of
Although the efficiencies of all microgeneration developing countries and remote communities,
systems are being improved over time, it is help avoid high capital cost required for
solar water systems that have been particularly connecting to national networked power
popular due to their relative efficiency and generation and distribution. At the local scale,
simplicity. For example, such systems have green energy also enables participation of local
been compulsory to install on certain types of industries in the development, deployment and
new buildings in Israel, as well as in many cities maintenance, creating opportunities for the local
around the world. In Barcelona, for example, workforce. Such community-based activities
“Solar thermal ordinance” requires all new represent a good size for local companies or
buildings and major renovations to use solar cooperatives to finance. Micro-grid may also
thermal collectors to supply at least 60% of the include a mix of different energy sources for
energy used to heat water (OECD, 2010: 122). improved reliability, combining green energy
In many countries the installation of such with non-renewable fuels, such as diesel, in
systems is a requirement for being included so-called hybrid micro-grids (ARE, 2011).
in public financing programmes for housing –
e.g. for certain types of constructions funded Household waste management
by the Housing Development Administration and recycling
of Turkey (TOKI). German Agency for
International Cooperation (GIZ, previously Integral to environmental sustainability is
known as GTZ) has provided grants for a well-designed waste management system.
installing solar water systems for low-income Waste management involves the collection,
families in the framework of the programmes transportation, processing and recycling of
of the “1,000 Roofs” in Brazil and the “25,000 waste materials.
Solar Roofs for Mexico”. As one type of solar
water systems, self-made batch heaters have
been common in the Caribbean, Asia and
Africa.

28 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Why does waste matter for The provision of waste and recycling facilities
sustainable housing strategies? near housing should also be accompanied
with easy and efficient collection of waste
There are a number of reasons: and recyclable materials. These facilities are
fundamental for creating a good quality
• Irresponsible or disorganised waste dis- neighbourhood and sustainable housing.
posal creates various risks for both the
health of the residents and the natural en- Waste prevention, recycling, composting, and
vironment, including air and water pollu- energy recovery from household waste are also
tion. good environmental and climatic practices,
• Waste places a heavy load on urban infra- helping to achieve sustainability. For example,
structure and involves land use change; in some environmentally-concerned countries
• The decomposition of waste in landfills is like Sweden less than 20% of household waste
is deposited as landfill.
one of the most important contributors
to the emissions of methane, and waste
Recycling of domestic waste involves the use of
is also responsible for carbon emissions if
waste as a resource for other products. Many
burned; materials may be recycled including glass, paper,
• Waste is itself the end of the lifecycle of metal, plastic, textiles and electronics. Pre-
products, the continual production of sorted biodegradable waste (e.g. kitchen and
which consumes valuable resources and garden waste; sewage sludge) may be used for
energy; composting. However, urban waste recycling
and composting requires effective municipal
• Waste can amplify negative local climate
infrastructure for the collection of these
impacts - for example, dumping of solid materials, their sorting and further processing.
waste can clog drainage channels and
cause local flooding.

Box 11: Environmental assessment and international rating systems for

buildings

Voluntary building codes and environmental assessment systems have been effective in
promoting green buildings. These may also be useful for the development of national
building codes in developing countries. Examples of internationally-renowned rating
systems include BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) in the UK, LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in the US, Green Star in Australia, and
HQE (Haute Qualité Environnementale) in France. In order to rate a building, they include
considerations of the impacts of the assessed buildings on the environment, health and
wellbeing. These certification systems have been also exported beyond their origin to now
rate many buildings worldwide, including in developing countries. They may also affect
government’s decisions, including in choosing or prioritising projects for public subsidies.
For example, BREEAM assessment methods for housing have been incorporated into
national standards in the UK known as the Code for Sustainable Homes, certain levels of
which become mandatory to achieve for various housing developments. Of interest are
also standards that are developed for the assessment of building materials and design
options by International Standards Organisation (ISO).

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 29

Lack of waste management infrastructure creates serious problems with sanitation and water pollution in
Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. © Oleg Golubchikov/UN-Habitat.

Box 12: A culturally-aware use of low-cost building techniques

The effort of World Hands Project in Juarez, Mexico, highlights the importance of culturally-
aware approaches to low-cost sustainable homes. The project was originally designed to
use reclaimed and recycled materials including reinforced tire foundations, straw-bale walls,
and recycled pallet wood. The new houses took advantage of a passive solar design, a high
performance building envelope and low embodied energy building materials (including
earthen plasters). However, this building model was found to be unpopular with the local
population, because the straw bales were difficult to acquire and transport, and the look of
the earthen plaster was considered low-status. The design was consequently modified to use
recycled pallets for the walls, which is a common method of building in the area, stuffed with
waste straw obtained for free from a local livestock yard and a lime plaster that the residents
were fond of. The experience points out to the importance of understanding the preferences
of the local stakeholders and allowing them a central role in the design and planning process.
Source: UN-Habitat, 2011d

30 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Other non-recyclable organic waste can be used waste; pyrolysis for syngas; biofuels; charcoal;
as a resource for energy generation, following and, extracting heat from wastewater. Biogas
the same technologies as for the production of generation has particularly proven to be a
biofuels from crops. A number of technologies relatively simple technology that can be used
are already commercially popular, such as: in a variety of context and scales to produce
anaerobic digestion for biogas; incineration of cheap and competitive energy (Box 13).

Box 13: Experiences of biogas generation from landfills and

human waste

There are examples of both city-scale and community-scale initiatives of using organic waste
for biogas generation. At a city level, the city of Monterrey, Mexico used public and private
funds to construct a seven-megawatt energy plant that captures and converts enough landfill
gas into electricity to power the city’s light-rail transit system and its streetlights. The city of
Guangzhou in China has undertaken one of the largest landfill energy capture projects, which
is expected to generate more than 50 GWh of electricity, sufficient for 30,000 households.
At a community level, examples include the initiatives of the Sulabh International Social Service
Organisation that has been promoting dignity and sanitation of residential areas in India and
built over 6,000 public toilets, of which above 170 are currently connected to biogas plants
to provide clean energy. Effluents from the production of biogas are turned into a colourless,
odourless and pathogen-free liquid manure. The biogas generated from this anaerobic
digestion process is used for cooking, street lighting and electricity generation. A modified
diesel engine can run on biogas by connecting the gas to its air filter. High-density settlements,
slums, public markets and schools are ideal for toilet biogas plants.

Source: OECD, 2010: 125; Kitio, 2006:13.;

http://www.sulabhinternational.org/

CHAPTER 2 Environmental sustainability of housing | 31

Peoples process in Myanmar. © UN-Habitat. People´s process in Myanmar. © UN-Habitat.

03 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
SUSTAINability of housing

Housing is critical to meeting basic human the focal point – against which the environmental,
needs in shelter, but it is also important for cultural and economic considerations
the social development of communities and must be assessed, counterbalanced and
societies. Housing social needs can be expressed developed. However, every effort must be
as a certain hierarchy as in Figure 3. Although taken to ensure that the social dimension is
traditionally housing policy has focused on integrated with the broader conditions for
fundamental social needs fulfilment, such sustainable housing as expressed in the holistic
as affordable, decent and healthy homes, four-dimensional approach (see Table 1).
it also has to ensure that housing achieves
intermediate social needs such as transport and The rest of this chapter will review these
facilities, as well as the ultimate needs of the aspects:
development of human and social capital and
capacity (education, skills, health, and values), • Affordability, dignity and resilience of
cohesion and wellbeing in communities housing;
and society at large (good relationships, • Social and spatial justice in sustainable
participation, inclusion and equity, security, housing provision;
sense of community). These challenges are
considered within the social and cultural • Empowerment, participation and
dimensions of housing sustainability. inclusion;
• Social infrastructure and facilities;
What does social and cultural
sustainability of housing mean? • Housing as coping strategies for the poor;
• Adaptable housing for present and future
Social sustainability in housing is about
needs.
creating affordable, good-quality, inclusive and
diverse (mixed-tenure and mixed-income),
secure and healthy dwellings, residential areas
and communities, which are well-integrated
3.1. Affordability,
into the wider socio-spatial systems of which dignity and
housing is part – urban and national. Cultural resilience of
sustainability takes into consideration cultural housing
worldviews and values, norms and traditions,
as well as lifestyles and behaviours of occupants, At the very core of any housing policy lies the
communities and society, thus supporting the provision of affordable and adequate shelter for
dignity of communal life. all – irrespective of people’s wealth and influence.
In almost all developing countries, but also in
Given the significance of housing for human more developed ones, unmet housing demand
needs and livelihoods, the social dimension of contributes to an unbalanced housing market,
. sustainability remains the key condition – even unaffordable housing and overcrowding.

CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL AND CULTURAl SUSTAINability of housing | 33

 Box 14: Mexico’s strategy for sustainable affordable housing

Meeting housing demand is one of the main policy priorities in Mexico, as the acute housing
deficit in the country is estimated at 8.9 million homes – more than a third of the existing stock
(Maes et al., 2011). To respond to this challenge, government launched an ambitious National
Housing Programme (NHP) to facilitate the delivery of six million affordable homes during
2008-2012. However, the National Housing Commission (CONAVI) estimated that this new
housing stock would accumulate considerable CO2 emissions (33 Mton above the baseline
within a decade). A set of measures were consequently designed to mitigate this effect.
Apart from developing green regulations and standardization for new developments, CONAVI
and the Institute of the National Housing Fund for Workers (INFONAVIT), the major mortgage
provider in the country, launched the Hipoteca Verde (Green Mortgage) programme in 2007.
The programme provides additional affordable mortgages and 20% subsidies to qualifying
households to buy homes equipped with the so-called Basic Package of pre-approved eco-
technologies (energy-efficient lighting, solar water heaters, thermal isolation and reflective
paint and coating on roofs and walls, separated solid waste containers, energy efficient gas
water heaters, as well as water-saving toilets and taps). The idea is that the eco-technologies
will provide savings to the households who can therefore afford taking a larger loan, while the
initiative also overcomes the barrier of the higher initial cost of the eco-technology. According
to CONAVI, each home in question has saved 1-1.5 tons of CO2 emissions per year. CONAVI
has also started providing additional 20% Basic Package subsidies within its Ésta es tu Casa
(This is Your House) programme, which already includes 20-25% subsidies for families who
earn less than 2.6 minimal wages and who do not normally qualify for a green mortgage
(Maes et al., 2011).
14 national agencies joined efforts to promote the Integrated Sustainable Urban Developments
certification (DUIS), which assists private projects in building new towns where employment,
infrastructure, transportation, social services and utilities, and the environmental considerations
are holistically addressed. The DUIS are planned in conjunction with large-scale projects for new
employment centres; more than a million inhabitants are expected to occupy them in 20 years.
Because of access to cheap finance and further government assistance, these projects achieve
high economy of scale, while government-subsidised mortgages ensure stable demand for the
new-built housing.
However, the sustainability of the new housing policy depends upon continuing political will
in Mexico. Critics also argue that many new communities are planned far from the existing
centres of growth and may eventually be left abandoned or otherwise encourage motorised
commuting. Furthermore, the affordable housing programmes are yet to reach the majority of
the needy. For example, those employed in the informal sector lack social security accounts or
full-time employment contracts to qualify for affordable mortgages and subsidies; in contrast,
many wealthier families use the publicly-assisted mortgages to buy second homes – this partly
explains high vacancy rates in the respective housing projects. Developing sustainable social
rental housing might be a way towards a more inclusive and balanced housing policy.
Source: Contribution by Sofía Viguri Gómez, Centro Mario Molina,
Mexico; see also CONAVI, 2011

34 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Among the many by-products are slums, lack What particular aspects of health
of infrastructure, sanitation, clean energy and safety need to be recognised?
and fresh water – leading to a great variety
of negative social and health implications. It has been already discussed that the
use of different construction materials
As stressed throughout this report, the makes big difference for the health of the
affordability of housing is a particular issue residents. Further hazards related to housing
on which the social, economic, environmental quality can be gathered into a few groups:
dimensions of sustainability most clearly
converge. This convergence is used in some of • Physiological hazards (damp and
the most advanced programmes, which attempt mould, smoke, excess cold or excess
to simultaneously target the sustainability heat, building-related pollutants such as
and affordability of housing, such as in asbestos and radiation);
Mexico, which is today one of the leaders in • Psychological hazards (crowded space and
the developing world for comprehensive lack of security, lack of light or excessive
government-led programmes for sustainable light and noise);
affordable housing (Box 14).
• Infection-related hazards (lack of hygiene,
Further aspects of affordability will be sanitation and drainage, water supply
considered in the Economic sustainability contamination, infectious diseases);
chapter, as it is important to articulate that • Accident-related hazards (falls on and
affordable housing is not simply a social between the levels and on the stairs,
welfare mechanism, and not at all “a burden” electrical hazards, fires, burns, scalding,
for the economy and government, but is collisions, cuts and strains);
rather a means for economic development
and one of the most important vehicles for • Environmental hazards (landslides,
solving the structural problems of poverty. The earthquakes, tsunami, as well as air
economic aspects of affordable housing supply pollution).
notwithstanding, affordable housing is also
about a dignified shelter – providing people High incidents of severe health problems and
not only with affordable, but also healthy, safe, death are associated with substandard, unsafe
ecological and resilient place to live. housing, and related physical infrastructure
and public services. Overcrowding reinforces
Both structural elements and design of diseases, as the infection is spread easily; poor
dwellings and residential environments around sanitation due to poor infrastructure leads
them have a substantial impact on people’s to severe infections (e.g. water- and food-
health, safety and quality of life. Houses are in borne diarrhoeal diseases). Housing with
fact the ‘biological’ extensions of people who poor heating, dampness, poor air quality,
use them; they are a ‘third skin’ – additional overcrowding is also associated with a range
to the human skin and clothes and having of physical and mental illnesses, including
the same functions of protection, insulation, tuberculosis, respiratory disease, cancer, stress,
breathing, regulation and communication. Just anxiety and depression.
as health depends upon a healthy ‘first skin’, so
does it depend upon a healthy home.

CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL AND CULTURAl SUSTAINability of housing | 35

Furthermore, the quality of houses determines involve community in disaster management
how well they will be able to withstand processes and planning, so that people are
environmental shocks and disasters when well-informed about hazards in their areas and
these come and, consequently, how well ways to minimise the risks for their lives.
they can protect the life and health of
households and whole communities.
These factors of sustainable housing are 3.2. Social and spatial
compromised by low-quality construction, justice
violations of formal building codes in
disaster-prone areas, and a lack of building The income divide between the wealthy
control mechanisms or their enforcement. and the poor poses a significant threat
for sustainable development. While it is
Certainly, housing quality, improved sanitation certainly a societal problem, it has various
and resilience are among the key priorities of manifestations in space, as most vividly
housing policies around the world, also driving expressed in the contrast between the living
slum improvement programmes. As discussed conditions in slums and those in “golden
above, the use of sustainable housing practices, ghettos” (which are often even located next
ecological materials, and better climatic to each other), but is also visible in the urban
protection of residential buildings contributes conditions of poverty, segregation, exclusion
to improved resilience and protection of and marginalisation. Bridging this urban
houses against various hazards. It is crucial to divide is one of the most serious challenges

FIGURE 3: A CONCEPTUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF HOUSING.

Ultimate needs

Neighbourhood Relationships in
quality the community

Transport Facilities
Intermediate needs

Housing quality

Fundamental needs
Affordability

OVERALL SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Source: Ancell and Thompson-Fawcett, 2008: 432.

36 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Inner-city housing in Cairo. © Matthew French/UN-Habitat. People´s process in Myanma
for this century. UN-Habitat (2010b) has enabling residential environments in which all
been eloquent in advocating “the right to the residents, irrespective of their wealth, origin or
city”, as a platform for actions for achieving gender, can access basic and public services,
more inclusive, equitable and sustainable city. public spaces and all kind of benefits and
opportunities created by cities for everyone. In
Policies for sustainable affordable housing, this regard, the fulfilment of the basic human
which improve access to adequate, safe and need in shelter must be supplemented by the
ecological housing and which involve a degree of provision of affordable and decent amenities,
the redistribution of wealth and opportunities services and infrastructure to the poor
in favour of the disadvantaged groups, are (including, schooling, healthcare, and public
certainly among important instruments for transport)– and right in the place where they
bridging the social divide and reinforcing live – while preventing their forced evictions,
social justice. By removing disproportionate gentrification and displacement.
environmental risks for the heath of the
vulnerable social groups (e.g. inside and outside The design and management of neighbourhoods
pollution and hazards), sustainable housing is are important too. It is often that affordable
also reinforces environmental justice. housing programmes have been seen as purely
public housing development targeted at the
Sustainable housing is also important to poorest social groups and built in distinctive
address the urban divide and reinforce the design and isolated locations; a social stigma
right to the city – effectively spatial justice has haunted these locations. It is crucial that
(Harvey, 1973; Soja, 2010) – by providing affordable housing initiatives go beyond the

TABLE 4: SUPPORTING COMMUNITY SOCIALISATION.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT COMMUNITY PRACTICES

Socially mixed housing areas Joint community projects to encourage inter-generational

and inter-group mixing

Community centres Local community governance

People-friendly layouts (e.g. car-free areas, well-lit Voluntary security and neighbourhood watch
areas)

Distinctive architecture or landscaping to create Community cultural events and celebrations

sense of local identity

Religious facilities Neighbourhood networks (e.g. women’s groups, special

interest clubs, babysitting circles)

Local libraries and museums Local oral history collection and depositories

Public and congregational spaces (e.g. open spaces, Community betterment events (e.g. fundraising litter
parks, benches) picking, planting,)

Shopping and entertainment facilities (including Collective services (e.g. credit unions, childcare co-ops)
markets, cafes, pubs)

Affordable sporting facilities, playgrounds and play Community sporting competitions and gardening activities
spaces, community gardening areas

Source: Adapted from Young Foundation, 2011.

38 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
provision of simply more houses and towards actions made by a wide range of public and
the provision of better residential areas. private actors. The best solutions to urban
poverty and housing problems are those in
What also matters is that a balanced socio-spatial which a variety of actors work in partnership,
distribution and diversity of population and with the poor being the key actors. When
housing tenures is achieved and that segregation governments acknowledge that they can’t solve
and polarization are avoided. A way towards the problem alone, but only in partnership,
this may be to remove design distinction and that’s when the really effective work begins. The
exclusionary zoning and start mixing different most important thing governments can do to
tenures, so that, for example, flats or houses help resolve problems of urban migration and
may be mixed between socially rented or owner housing is to ensure that no group is excluded
occupied. It should be noted in this respect from participation in the process of deciding
that focusing exclusively on homeownership how to solve those problems, and to ensure
and the private housing market to cater for nobody is excluded from the benefits of urban
the housing needs provides only limited development and public resources invested in
choices affordable for the high- and middle- solving these problems” (UNESCAP and UN-
income groups and discriminates against other Habitat, 2008a: 13).
tenure choices, leading to speculative prices.
If there is a housing choice across different The involvement of population in decision
types of tenure, including government and making processes should give the local
non-profit rental housing, a more competitive community control over shaping its own
environment between them is achieved living environment and sharing the ownership
(see the Economic sustainability chapter). of new initiatives, thus ensuring their more
successful implementation and higher
wellbeing of their users. The representation of
3.3. Empowerment, the full spectrum of the community’s fractions,
participation and including that of minorities and marginalised
inclusion groups, is vital to prevent social exclusion and
also mitigate possible conflicts. Furthermore,
Certainly, ensuring that social and spatial women must be integrated at all stages of
justice and the “right to the city” are achieved housing development activities to ensure
and social sustainability is comprehensively gender-sensitive planning. It is often the case
addressed necessitates a broadened participation that empowering the community and its
in housing and urban development initiatives fractions needs to go side by side with capacity
and social inclusion and interaction, centring building for people to understand their rights,
on participation rights, opportuni­ ties and responsibilities, and possibilities.
responsibilities. It is important to remember
that social sustainability of housing is not
just about producing better quality houses 3.4. Social
and environments, but also about fostering infrastructure and
community capacity, building bonds and facilities
trust between responsible leadership and
citizenship, and engaging people in the process Housing development is more than building
of city building and realising their right to be buildings and providing a dignity of shelter. It
involved and make decisions. is also about a decent infrastructure and dignity
of communal life through opportunities for
As, for example, noted in relation to housing inclusive urban environment and decent and
the poor in developing countries: “Urban supportive social and cultural milieu.
development is the result of decisions and

CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL AND CULTURAl SUSTAINability of housing | 39

Sustainability of residential areas relies on essential infrastructure is provided in due time
good infrastructure in place (public transport, include the development of infrastructure
water, energy sources and public spaces) and plans, setting up effective partnership and co-
accessibility of essential community services operation between public bodies and service
(schools, shops, healthcare, but also facilities providers. Providing better neighbourhood
for families and children). Essential social services is also facilitated by giving more power
facilities must be provided at an early stage in for local authorities to strategically plan and
the life of new communities, so that residents deliver better local services and by active local
do not have to commute to get access to them, residents’ involvement and participation in
and also develop bonds with the place they live relevant decision-making.
in (Young Foundation, 2011).
A well designed residential neighbourhood
Furthermore, public facilities must ensure represents a more attractive living environment
that people do not have to rely on cars or that increases residents’ satisfaction and sense
otherwise be excluded, but have easy access of belonging, raises community spirit and
to places where jobs and urban services are encourages social interactions. Good social
located. This is indeed a key requirement for relationships have positive impacts on physical
the green credentials of neighbourhoods and and metal health, but also on economic
cities. Within neighbourhoods, healthy and resilience and productivity – if people are
safe lifestyles can be encouraged by facilitating better connected with each other, they share
walking and cycling as means of transport, news, knowledge and skills and help each
amenities for physical exercise and recreation, other to cope with various everyday challenges
family activities, as well as conveniences for – from assisting in childcare to providing small
the disabled and elderly. If residents have loans and to creating joint ventures.
opportunity to move around safely on foot
or by bicycle, this improves the attractiveness It is important to enhance the social and
and quality of life in the areas, while it is also cultural life of local communities by improving
beneficial for health, local cohesion, and the aesthetics, diversity and cultural sophistication
environment. of the built environment, assisting community
creativity (i.e. via amenities, community
How to ensure that adequate centres, training, affordable sporting, cultural
infrastructure is provided? and entertainment facilities), protecting
housing heritage and familiarity of cities (e.g.
It is best to plan the infrastructure and preventing social displacement, gentrification
capacities from the very beginning of or complete redevelopment) and by a number
development. Many places, however, face of other design and community practices,
challenges in securing timely provision of which (in addition to social and transport
adequate infrastructure for new housing infrastructure) may include those as outlined
developments. On the one hand, there are in Table 4.
common cases of new residential infills being
built within an established neighbourhood
overstretching its existing infrastructure and 3.5. Residence as coping
causing frequent breaks in water, power or gas strategies
supply. On the other, problems in new large-
scale residential areas may involve significant While all social groups have higher satisfaction
delays in infrastructure provision, leading to in their life if they feel they are adequately
‘isolated communities’ with a lack of access integrated in community structures, social
to water, gas and other utilities, as well as networks are even more important for the
public transport. Effective methods to ensure poorer, disadvantaged and marginalised

40 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
High density, mixed-use morphology of housing in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
People´s process in Myanma
© Matthew French/UN-Habitat.
groups who cannot always afford paid example, demonstrated in the multi-thousand
services, but who are willing to share with the protests against the rehabilitation of Dharavi
communities their time, skills, experiences in Mumbai, India, the largest slum in Asia).
and material resources in order to withstand In particular, high-rise multifamily estates,
various challenges and pressures they face in which are often built to resettle slum dwellers,
their everyday life. may be culturally, socially and economically
challenging for the poor to adapt to –
Slum residents in particular may be cash- especially if also higher rents and utility bills
poor, but they have remarkable resilience and are to be paid for. Many just sell their homes
resourcefulness embedded in the social settings at very low prices or rent them out to wealthier
of their local communities – including family people and move back to slums. Although this
“safety nets”, solidarity, possibilities to learn may help them financially, this situation is
skills from each other and share knowledge, not sustainable. Therefore, social and cultural
and, importantly, informal employment. aspects need to be seriously negotiated with
Furthermore, the very combination of when attempting to improve slum dwellers’
social and physical structures of slums offers living conditions.
additional support mechanisms – for example,
proximity to jobs and markets, flexibility Beyond slums, in both developing and
to extend shelters using their own labour, developed contexts, there is a need to rethink
possibilities to carry out ground-level home- the previous urban redevelopment and renewal
based work activities (such as trade, services, practices (which have lead to gentrification and
or small agricultural activities). the displacement of the original population
and intensified discontent and class conflict)
Lack of attention to this “social milieu” is a and change them towards more selective
reason why many larger slum re-settlement and sensitive interventions that would retain
programmes fail to succeed and why residents existing urban structure (which also often have
are often discontent about them (as, for a high heritage value) and avoid the disruption

Box 15: Cultural dimensions in affordable housing programmes in

Ethiopia

Lack of attention to the cultural dimensions has been one of the challenges facing what
has in many other respects been considered as highly successful large-scale low-cost housing
development and slum resettlement programme – the Integrated Housing Development
Programme in Ethiopia. It was launched in 2005 and by 2011 has already built 171,000
housing units, a significant achievement considering the limited capacity of the Ethiopian
housing sector. However, cultural inexperience of people to live in vertical apartments rather
than their detached houses has created a number of tensions and concerns. Adding to the
need to adjust to the vertical living, the new housing units do not respond to customary
activities such as the preparation of traditional injera bread and slaughtering of animals, which
are crucial parts of Ethiopian culture. In response to post-occupancy issues, an awareness
campaign was undertaken by the Addis Ababa city administration consisting of a technical
manual outlining appropriate behaviours and responsibilities in condominiums. Nevertheless,
there remains significant scope to improve the design of the built environment, both the units
themselves and the overall master planning, to improve the responsiveness of the physical
environment to occupants’ needs, values, and lifestyles.

Source: UN-Habitat, 2011a

42 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
to the existing communities and their social facilities (e.g. water, toilet, showers) in slum
capital, whilst still improving the conditions areas and the need to walk through unsafe
and quality of their life. neighbourhoods to get access to these facilities
(which may still lack dignity, privacy and
Further, a number of culture-related capacity- security) as well as to other services and places
building strategies are important to design for of work makes women vulnerable and exposed
assisting the transition towards sustainable to violence and rape. Providing gender-
housing and living: sensitive facilities closer to homes, improving
the design and security of streets and providing
• Supporting sustainable values, norms and public transport and road infrastructures can
behaviours (e.g. in relation to energy use, mitigate these problems. Improved access
recycling, communal living and place to water immediately release women’s time
maintenance, understanding the benefits for other activities and opportunities. Both
of green technology); women and communities at large should be
• Assisting migrants’ transition from rural involved at all stages of housing development
and slums areas to formal urban housing activities to ensure that their needs are properly
and particularly to multifamily housing accommodated.
(see Box 16);
It is also important to allow flexibility in
• Developing traditional, indigenous designing houses and neighbourhoods to
and local knowledge (including of accommodate future needs as much as the
relevance to sustainable resource use, present needs. As, for example, stated by Young
energy efficiency and resilient building Foundation (2011: 43), “in order to allow new
techniques). communities to flourish, planning authorities
should avoid a rigid ‘master-planning’
approach that seeks to create a blueprint for the
3.6. Adaptable housing future. Rather, master plans need to allow for a
for present and degree of ambiguity, uncertainty and openness
future needs to change, recognising that a new community
will develop best if it is allowed to be dynamic
Housing has also to be flexible and responsive and to evolve in ways that the planners
to various and changing needs of residents, cannot entirely predict.” Regenerating some
including those associated with elder groups, vernacular designs and building techniques for
people with limited mobility, as well as with dwellings can help achieve better flexibility of
children and women. Today, for example, most residence, as well as improved environmental
houses and residential settings are not flexible performance (Box 17).
enough to meet the need of the elderly group. A
house design can ensure access by wheelchairs,
so that people can stay in the same house as
they age. Sometimes, targeted assistance is
necessary to improve housing of these groups
so that they do not need to change their
homes because it becomes not flexible enough
and challenging for them to live in (Box 16).

Housing planning and design must also be

gender sensitive, recognising that in most
cultures women take care of domestic life
and families. For example, a lack of domestic

CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL AND CULTURAl SUSTAINability of housing | 43

 Box 16: Housing adaptation and repair scheme in Malta

In Malta, low-income families, elderly people and single parent families often live in areas
from which out-migration is intensive and the quality of housing is poor. In order to
stimulate the families to remain in their homes, the government offered these households
grants for organising repairs of their dwellings. Direct grants were paid to the households
upon receipt of the renovation bills, subject to allowed activities and amenities installed.
The project helped more than 1,700 families within 5 years. This has prevented further
deterioration of the housing stock, as well as alleviated demand for new housing with
corresponding pressure on land and affordability. However, government has recognised
that more effective measures are needed to reach the neediest households and provide
tenants with information and training on how to access social housing funds.

Source: Novem, 2002: 31.

Box 17: Remaking traditional building design for flexible housing

In Tajikistan with its many mountainous and seismic-prone areas, a traditional design of
houses has included terraced adobe units built on slopes, where the roof of the lower
lying house was used as a terrace for an upper lying house. This tradition is currently
combined with modern design to provide affordable opportunities for growing rural
families to extend their houses upslope as their demand in living space increases, while
creating more energy efficient and earthquake-resilient shelters. Houses are placed in
compact clusters, optimised for climate consideration, and are made of clay aired bricks,
straw and wood. This reduces embodied energy, while heat losses can be lowered by up
to 25% compared to a typical new building built in the same locations.

Source: Akbarov, 2009

44 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
 “Micro-enterprises are often part of the housing environment and should be supported as
People´s process in Myanma
they provide important livelihoods for households.© Matthew French/UN-Habitat.
04

ECONOMIC SUSTAINability
of housing

The economic dimension of housing slums and create serious social tensions and
sustainability emerges from a variety of stress and sub-optimal local economies.
economic functions and implications that the
housing system has, such as: Yet, all these economic implications of
affordable housing remain largely unrecognised
• Housing and related infrastructure are in national growth strategies in developing
among the most valuable and lasting hu- countries. Affordable housing is seen primarily
man-made capital assets; as a social welfare instrument (for alleviating
• Housing provides the basis for human poverty, promoting fairness, and ensuring
welfare, labour productivity and mobility; housing rights), not as a system to advance
economic development (Tibaijuka, 2009).
• Housing is an important part of house- While the social welfare imperative is certainly
hold expenditures and public expenditure overwhelming, there is still a strong need
and if unaffordable creates numerous so- to articulate affordable housing along the
cio-economic problems; economic sustainability lines as well.
• Housebuilding, housing services and real
estate markets are among the key econom- The rest of this chapter will review the
ic and employment activities; following important economic aspects that the
policies for sustainable affordable housing in
• Housing is a platform for home-based ac- developing countries need to pay particularly
tivities and entrepreneurship; attention to (see also Table 1):
• Housing is part of economic flows of nat-
• Affordability of housing supply;
ural resources and energy.
• Ensuring balanced housing markets
As shown in Box 18, affordable housing through affordable tenure choices;
is a productive asset that has important
• Recognising affordable housing building
contributions to national welfare and economic
as a source of employment;
development. Moreover, decent affordable
housing and related infrastructure are among • Assisting home-based enterprises;
the key factors that also make local places • Mobilising savings and domestic finance.
more attractive, inclusive and competitive
and hence are the key to sustainable economic
development at the local level too. Indeed,
places with housing deprivation have little
prospect to attract skilled workers and
investments, while places with expensive
housing often end up being surrounded by

46 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
 Box 18: tHE Importance of affordable housing activities for economic
development

Affordable housing contributes to economic development through its capacities to:

• Stimulate economic growth through housing markets and homebuilding activities;

• Stabilise and reduce volatility of housing markets;
• Improve health conditions and labour productivity through better living conditions;
• Add to the growth of capital assets of the gross capital stock;
• Support regional and urban regeneration, development and growth;
• Contribute revenues to local, regional and national governments
(e.g. via taxes) and individual wealth (e.g. via housing markets);
• Generate employment and income through residential and building
activities and their multiplier effects in other sectors;
• Strengthen local building industry and enterprise and promote
local and traditional building materials and techniques;
• Provide domestic financial mobilization through housing finance institutions;
• Generate additional income by raising collateral for business start-ups and
small firm growth as well as through home-based enterprises and renting.

Housing is more than just a place to sleep; It should also be connected with economic activities as these
present an important livelihood strategy for many households in developing countries.
© Matthew French/UN-Habitat.

CHAPTER 4 ECONOMIC SUSTAINability of housing | 47

4.1. Affordability of Environmental sustainability and Social and
housing supply cultural sustainability chapters). For example,
improving thermal insulation in Europe and
A policy to increase affordable housing supply North America has proven to be an effective
will need to set clear targets and strategies way of not only regenerating houses, but also
based on a sound assessment of needs and decreasing the “energy poverty” of the many
trends and the capacities of existing housing poor who face the life-threatening dilemma
resources. Although there are no universal between “eating and heating” (Golubchikov,
solutions, common strategies to improve the 2009; Boardman, 2010). Certain elements of
affordability of housing supply involve: green housing are used in the ambitious pro-
poor housing programmes in Latin America,
• Regulations and incentives for the including in both homeownership and social
construction and real estate markets; rental housing (Box 19).

• Provision of subsidies and other types of

housing assistance; 4.2. Balanced housing
markets and
• The development of affordable mortgage the choice of
market and alternative financial systems; affordable tenure
• Provision of public land and While the housing market is an important
infrastructure for housing projects; driver for the wider economy, unbalanced
housing supply and demand and limited
• Building public housing and incentives affordability create unhealthy housing markets
to community-based, cooperative, non- that generate ‘ripple effects’ through the
profit and rental housing programmes; economy and financial system (Berry, 2006)
and result in what is known as ‘boom-and-
• Regulating and stimulating self-built bust’ economies. It is especially in this context
housing and housing improvements; that pursuing housing affordability will
improve the overall health of the economy.
• Modifying building codes, regulations
and procedures to reduce housing Why does homeownership create
compliance costs problems for the economy?

• Partnerships between local and central There are particular problems with
government, private companies and other macroeconomic policies excessively favouring
stakeholders to realise housing projects in private housing markets and homeownership.
local communities; Too much focus on homeownership contributes
to market volatilities. Under the conditions of
• Strengthening house-building industry economic growth, there is a rapid expansion
and affordable building material markets. in mortgage activities that may result in the
‘credit binge’ and a surge in property prices.
It is important that in the context of Under the economic downturn, housing prices
sustainable housing, the traditional measures drop and many are left with “negative equity”
for improving affordable housing supply (their property value drops below the amount
are now complemented by the potentials of their remaining mortgage). As many low-
offered by the energy and water efficiency, income people also find themselves unable to
micro generation, and using ecological local pay back their credit obligations during this
materials and labour (as discussed in the period, their home is repossessed and they lose

48 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
their already accumulated capital in property 4.3. Sustainable
investment. All this reinforces social inequality, affordable house-
while also leading to homelessness. Moreover, building as a source
when the majority’s incomes are locked in of employment
paying back mortgages, household disposable
incomes available for other goods and services One of the most important economic functions
shrink, with negative consequences on the of housing is its links with employment. For
aggregate demand in the economy, further example, residential construction makes up
reinforcing general economic problems. between 7 and 10% of the total labour force
in developing economies (Tibaijuka, 2009).
Developed economies with lower rates of It is particularly less-expensive housing that
homeownership (e.g. Switzerland, France, has considerable linkages with employment
Germany, Austria and Sweden) have not creation, especially in the context of poorer
experienced the same housing price volatility as areas, where low-cost housing production
countries with much higher rates of ownership. provides employment for unskilled and skilled
For example, between 1971 and 2001, UK labour. Table 6 demonstrates, for example, that
experienced a 2.5% annual increase in house less expensive housing is much more labour-
prices, which was above a European average of intensive than luxury housing. Affordable
1.1%; in France the rate was 0.8%, in Germany housing also stimulates the development of
it was zero, and in Sweden it even declined small enterprises - subcontractors, which in
by 1% (Maclennan and O’Sullivan, 2011). the context of developing countries are more
likely to employ the local poor and informal
Today, the dominant private sector supply, labour.
backed by high homeownership rates, caters
mostly for the high-end of the housing market However, sustainability principles need to find
thus worsening the housing, economic and an appropriate balance between low and high
poverty situations in many countries. Rental technology, which will likely to be specific to
housing, on the contrary, remains a neglected the socio-economic context of particular areas.
option for policies in developing countries While low technology activities involve locally
– even though this is where most urban available low-cost resources, it is also usually
residents live today and will live in the future. characterised by inefficient use of labour and
Table 5 demonstrates that the proportion of materials and low-quality outputs. Yet, high
population in rental housing tends to be much technology involves a large capital investment
higher in large (and growing) cities than in and high import components, limited impact
their corresponding countries. This points at on local employment, expensive outputs, as
the need of concerted efforts to improve public well as high transportation cost and related
and private non-profit options for affordable embodied energy. For example, across African
rental housing (for further details see: UN- countries, as much as 60% of building
Habitat, 2003; UNESCAP and UN-Habitat, materials are imported (Tibaijuka, 2009).
2008c; UN-Habitat, 2011b). It is intermediate low-cost technologies that
seem to be particularly effective in terms of
In short, the supply of affordable housing sustainability and impact on employment in
options is needed across all tenures – not most developing counties. These are as low-
only homeownership – to ease the ‘housing cost, small scale, easily used; local resources
stress’ for households with varying needs and and building materials are utilised (Tibaijuka,
to ensure a proper and competitive tenure 2009; UN-Habitat, 2002). Intermediate
choice and flexibility. Figure 4, for example, technologies also require certain expertise and
demonstrates housing provision along the this opens additional room for training and
continuum of affordable housing options used skills development – which can be externally
in Australia.

CHAPTER 4 ECONOMIC SUSTAINability of housing | 49

 Box 19: Brazil’s Affordable Housing Programme - My House, My Life

Despite a remarkable reversal of inequality in Brazil since the adoption of socially-progressive

redistributive policies in the 2000s (Cornia, 2012), the country of more than 200 million
population has a large proportion of the population living in substandard shelters. To address
this, the Brazilian Government has launched the Minha Casa Minha Vida (“My House, My
Life”) housing programme (MCMV) in 2009, as one of the packages of Brazil’s Growth
Acceleration Programme. It aims to build 3 million homes for low-income families in just
five years. The programme is administered by the public Caixa Economica Federal Bank. The
second phase of the programme, staring in 2011, has been allocated BRL140 billion and as in
2012 it was protected from budget austerity cuts.
MCMV provides incentives for housing developers, provided they will offer new homes at a
government-approved cap price. Currently, low-income households are eligible to receive an
allowance to buy these homes (e.g. up to 90% of the house price if earning less than three
times the minimum wages (i.e. less than about USD1,000), as well as a low-interest mortgage
to cover the rest. Before MCMV, mortgages in Brazil were only available for the wealthiest
families – only 10% of Brazil’s real estate were mortgaged. Real estate loans represented less
than 4% of the country’s GDP. As demand for new homes is ensured by the public subsidies,
MCMV marshals great interest of investors and developers across the world.
MCMV also attempts to incorporate green concerns - e.g. in the second phase of MCMV,
single-family houses have to be equipped with solar water heaters, although there are also
shortcomings arising from a lack of consistent sustainability requirements. It is very often that
new homes, especially in larger cities such as Rio, are built far from the centres of commerce
and lack public transportation and community facilities – thus undermining their overall
sustainability.

Barrio Carioca is being developed as a part of the Brazilian ‘My House My Life’ housing programme to scale up
housing production and have a positive impact on the national economy and job creation.
© Matthew French/UN-Habitat.

50 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
FIGURE 4: PROVISION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS FROM THE POLICY PERSPECTIVE.
MODELS

delivery (boarding
Public community

Public/community

Unassisted home
profit providers)
Low-cost rental
Non-supported

houses, not for

ownership and
Assisted home
Group homes;

Below market

Market rental

shared home
crisis services

Supported

ownership

ownership
tenancies

tenancies
housing;

housing;

rental
Increasing government assistance Reducing government assistance

Very low income; Nominated places for Low/income families Work-ready clients; Key workers; low and
homeless; people needing support and aged singles; low-paid moderate income
high support needs linked to housing workers; students families

TARGET GROUPS

Source: CAH, 2012.

TABLE 5: HOUSING TENURE STRUCTURE IN SELECTED COUNTRIES AND CITIES.

HOUSING TENURE IN COUNTRIES, % HOUSING TENURE IN CITIES, %

Owners Renters Other Owners Renters Other

Germany 40 60 - Berlin 11 89 -

Netherlands 53 47 - Rotterdam 26 49 25

Bolivia 60 18 22 Santa Cruz 48 27 25

Canada 62 33 5 Toronto 58 42 -

USA 66 34 - New York 45 55 -

UK 69 31 - London 58 41 -

Egypt 69 31 - Cairo 37 63 -

Brazil 74 25 1 Sao Paolo 70 20 10

South Africa 77 22 2 Johannesburg 55 42 3

Thailand 87 13 - Bangkok 54 41 5

Note: Estimates are based on data from the period 1996-2001 and include both formal and informal housing.

Source: UN-Habitat, 2003: 9-11.

CHAPTER 4 ECONOMIC SUSTAINability of housing | 51

A woman trader in an informal market in Kibera, Nairobi. © Oleg Golubchikov/UN-Habitat.

provided, as well as shared between the local can stimulate employment (Golubchikov,
communities. 2009).

There are particular economic, employment

and training opportunities related to the use 4.4. Recognise home
of locally-produced sustainable/green building based enterprises
materials and technologies. Sustainable
technology can be a platform to employ Many low- and middle-income urban
and train workers and unite communities. households in developing countries are
Even if for the many poor it is self-building using their dwellings as workplaces – to
that remains the only option (beyond produce things, carry out trade and provide
renting), self-help methods (“sweat equity”) other services. This phenomenon of home-
offer a means of empowerment to the local based enterprises (HBEs) is very important
community – especially when local methods for generating their income and providing
can be supported and further optimized with employment (Box 20). Small-scale home-
input from experienced sustainable design based enterprises use labour-intensive methods
professionals (UN-Habitat, 2011d). and work within local neighbourhoods to self-
employ their owners and to provide further
The development of local sustainable building jobs to the local labour (Tipple, 1993; UN-
materials and technologies may also boost the Habitat, 2006).
associated retail and consulting industries.
This implies that direct and indirect impacts Although home-based activities often find
may stretch far beyond the construction themselves in the informal sector and are
industry, having a genuine multiplication often treated with hostilities in government
effect. Furthermore, rehabilitation, upgrading policies, it is more effective to acknowledge
and retrofitting, which are necessary to them and support their gradual formalisation
improve the environmental performances rather than ignore or, even worse, harm them.
of houses in many areas also rely on labour- That will particularly affect the life of women,
intensive, locally-implemented projects and who constitute the majority of workers in the
UNESCAP and UN-Habitat, 2008a).

52 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
In the context of slum upgrading or construction has already a long tradition,
redevelopment, it is important to take into especially in wood-rich areas. For example,
account those self-employing needs of the low- Bali in Indonesia has been known for reaching
income people and their use of dwellings not certain successes in exporting prefabricated
only as residence, but also as a workplace. This houses, although this industry has targeted
should be reflected in designing appropriate rather affluent groups and been vulnerable
internal housing space, number of floors, and to the changes in the global economy.
street layouts.

HBEs may also be linked more directly with 4.5. Mobilize savings and
the green economy. With proper financial, domestic finance
training and technical assistance, the potential
of HBEs may be involved in the production Given that developing countries have limited
of sustainable building materials or low-cost financial resources for housing and related
green technologies, such as, for instance, infrastructure, it is critical for sustainable
rainwater harvesting systems or prefabricated housing to define finance solutions (UN-
building components of standardised designs Habitat, 2005). Housing finance sources
may include conventional mortgage finance,
(e.g. pre-cast beams, columns, piles, roof subsidies, microfinance, migrant remittances,
tiles, ceiling panels, door frames). Moreover, and informal finance (Tibaijuka, 2009).
if HBEs and local entrepreneurs can be Much evidence points at traditional formal
involved in the production of the whole finance (e.g. mortgage finance) being largely
pre-manufactured sustainable housing, inappropriate (unaffordable and inaccessible)
this will make particularly beneficial and for the poor, while high levels of subsidization to
lasting impact for sustainable house building achieve affordability (i.e. supply side subsidies)
industry. The industry of prefabricated being unsustainable (UNESCAP and UN-

Box 20: Employment in home-based enterprises in selected countries

• Argentina: 8% of workers in the manufacturing sector in Buenos Aires are home-workers;

• Philippines: 13.7% of workers in the informal sector are home-workers;
• Botswana: 77% of enterprises are home-based;
• Kenya: 32% of all enterprises are home-based;
• Lesotho: 60% of all enterprises and 88% of women’s manufacturing enterprices are
home-based;
• Malawi: 54% of enterprises are home-based;
• Venezuela: 45% of all clothing industry workers are home-based;
• Zimbabwe: 77% of enterprises are home-based;
• Tanzania: 64% of female households in Dar es Salaam use their homes for economic
activity.

Source: Tibaijuka, 2009: 96

CHAPTER 4 ECONOMIC SUSTAINability of housing | 53

Habitat, 2008b). In this situation, some financial infrastructure for environmental/
countries have been exploring different ways for green housing technology, and for new green
alterative housing finance schemes (Box 21). technology to establish its market niche.
This would include a transparent system of
For instance, housing microfinance (HMF) is subsidies, grants, loans, public investment
widely considered to fit into the incremental programmes and leasing, as well as self-
building process adopted by many poor sustainable funding sources (e.g. revolving
households – when home is considered as funds). Such instruments should be targeted
a slow continual process of building and at appropriate stakeholders, including owners,
improvement rather than a finished product. tenants, builders, technology producers and
HMF is also based upon a more nuanced retailers. Information about such financial
understanding of the financial needs of low- instruments has to be systematized and easily
income households (Tibaijuka, 2009: 164). accessible (Golubchikov, 2009).

However, when HMF model draws on purely One specific industry that is developing to help
informal finance practices, they may be over- with financing energy efficiency improvements
exploitative and even criminal – charging high and deploying relevant technology includes
interests and being brutal for non-payers. One energy service companies (ESCOs). These
good practice is combining informal and formal help finance and coordinate energy efficiency
practices though, for example, community- measures and receive profit from the savings
based loan arrangements as discussed in Box of their clients. This model is usually used
22. By managing their own financial base, the in the industrial sector, but may also be of
community organisation not only knows their interest for financing the improvements of
members’ needs better, but provide people energy performance of the housing stock that
a simple, regular mechanism for building is managed by larger housing management
collective management skills, cooperation and companies.
mutual assistance.

It is also necessary to develop a sound

TABLE 6: EMPLOYMENT GENERATED BY DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTION TYPES IN SRI LANKA

HOUSE TYPE AREA COST EMPLOYMENT

(m2) (rupees/m2) generated per million rupees of expenditure (people)

Luxury 181 475 280

Conventional 50 190 510

Traditional 37 76 500

Source: Tibaijuka, 2009: 96.

54 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Box 21: Alternative housing finance schemes

The Housing Provident Fund (HPF) was established in Shanghai in 1991 to mobilize private
resources to secure long-term funds for meeting housing needs without state subsidy. Modelled
on Singapore’s HPF, the Chinese HPF scheme involves a compulsory monthly contribution by
all employees and employers of a share of workers’ salaries to the Fund. While HPF has been
shown some limitations, it is an effective housing finance model that support housing finance
in China.
In Mexico, organisations such as FONHAPO (the National Peoples Housing Trust) and SEDESOL
(the Secretariat for Social Development) provide mortgages to those without credit histories,
to seasonal or temporary workers and those participating in Mexico’s large informal economy.
(Maes et al., 2011).
Sources: Chi-Wai Yeung and Howes, 2006 and Maes et al., 2011

Box 22: Community-based housing loans

A fast-growing strategy for channelling housing finance is getting group loans by the
community organization (e.g. against collective land as a credit security), which then
on-lends to its members, and takes responsibility for managing the repayment process
and making a single group repayment each month to the lender. In these group loan
strategies, the whole community is collectively responsible for repaying the loan, and
developing internal systems for ensuring the repayments are made in full each month,
even if some members might have repayment problems. Although savings groups may
have no legal power to penalize late-payers, there are a number of techniques they can
work into their loan management systems to accommodate the inevitable repayment
problems and to help their neighbours who have problems making repayments. These
systems are positive, supportive, realistic and highly social. When communities design
and manage them, they will ensure good repayment. One way communities do this is by
charging their members an extra margin on top of the lender’s interest rate, or making
some extra monthly saving compulsory during the repayment period. Both techniques
allow a community to build up a reserve to act as a buffer against repayment problems.
Source: UNESCAP and UN-Habitat, 2008b: 24

CHAPTER 4 ECONOMIC SUSTAINability of housing | 55

Traditional housing area in China. © Emma-Liisa Hannula/UN-Habitat.

The community-managed loan repayment in Kenya. © Oleg Golubchikov/UN-Habitat.

56 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Construction work by community members in an informal area of Lusaka, Zambia.
People´s process in Myanma
© Matthew French/UN-Habitat.
05 Delivering holistic approaches

5.1. Find a balance across longer cycles of refurbishment and repair.

the sustainability Reduced exposure to the fluctuation of
dimensions outdoor conditions prevents dampness,
rusting and mould formation. Such
Certainly, there are positive cross-linkages factors, taken together, have also
between improving different dimensions of beneficial impacts on property values.
sustainability in housing, so that sometimes it
is even not possible to easily divide measures Although such examples are encouraging and
into the environmental, social, cultural while policy-related reports never stop stressing
or economic categories. Let’s consider, that sustainability is a multi-win solution, it is
for instance, some examples of the multi- important to maintain a realistic perspective.
win across environmental and economic Getting to the objective of sustainability is not
dimensions: without serous hurdles, because rather than
multi-win scenarios it often involves conflict
• Transforming housing stock towards and controversy, issues of power and the
environmental sustainability is redistribution of wealth (Marcuse, 1998: 111).
simultaneously an opportunity to raise
the economic sustainability – energy, Environmental sustainability and social
water and material savings offered by justice, for instance, may work in the opposite
green housing imply economic savings directions and involve a very real conflict of
for residents and society in large; interest between different stakeholders. As
discussed above, tough energy performance
• Physical and functional durability and standards may undermine affordability or
the enhancement of the lifetime of indoor air quality and health; cost-oriented
houses is another major concern for housing projects may be harmful for the
sustainable construction. Sustainable environment, health and social cohesion;
housing design takes a long-term healthy houses may not necessarily be friendly
perspective and considers the use of to social mix or climate. Besides, projects that
more durable materials and components, are designed to ensure all-round sustainability
which will lead to reduced maintenance may involve political problems with getting
costs and service charges in the future; access to land or key infrastructure or ensuring
local residents’ consent.
• Positive side-effects from energy
retrofitting projects can include the Although it is imperative to focus on a
improved aesthetics of buildings; better multi-win balance across the sustainability
noise isolation; better indoor thermal dimensions, it is important not to discard the
and moisture conditions, leading to necessities of tradeoffs. Solutions will always be
higher levels of comfort of living and specific to particular initiatives, socio-cultural
health (and hence labour productivity), contexts, and political landscapes.
as well as lower rates of wear and tear and

58 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
As a general point while designing or assessing be considered across the spectrum of the other
a project, programme or another initiative for sustainability constraints, as discussed in this
sustainable affordable housing, it may be useful Guide. As an illustration, Table 7 provides an
to start right from the affordability and social example of what kind of questions might be
justice perspectives. Some questions to ask in considered in relation to hypothetical projects
relation to this may, for example, be: that seek to integrate affordable housing with
different aspects of sustainability. Of course,
• Who will benefit from the project? Is the these questions are not exhaustive and are
project pro-poor? Will it reach the very given here simply for illustration. As a rule of
poor? thumb, building on a broader participation of
stakeholders and voices will lead to securing a
• Does the project ensure social justice and broader and more lasting consensus.
prevent socio-spatial inequality?

• Does it prioritise collective consumption 5.2. Use the instrument

(e.g. public services, public space, public of spatial planning
skills) or focus on elitist consumption more effectively
(e.g. car-based mobility, gated
communities, real estate speculations)? Spatial planning is relevant for all sectors
of the urban economy and is principal for
• What would be the project’s wider social the organisation and integration of different
implications? sectors and urban systems into a consolidated
spatial strategy. Cities with a long tradition of
If the housing project satisfies necessary strong land use planning, public transport and
affordability requirements, it further needs to green space strategies are among the healthiest

TABLE 7: EXAMPLES OF CROSS-DIMENSIONAL SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS.

Projects Environmental Social Cultural Economic

considerations considerations considerations considerations considerations

Energy Will it be safe for Does it provide for Are energy efficiency Does it include
efficiency health and local the varied needs features easy to local materials
environment? of different social operate? and technique?
groups?

Rental housing Does it incorpo- Does it allow for Does it consider Are public trans-
development rate green spaces? social mix? cultural habits and port and access
expectations of the to jobs consid-
residents? ered?

Heritage Is it water- and Does it help or Does it protect Is it financially

restoration energy-efficient? harm community current residents from viable?
cohesion? displacement?

Slum upgrading Will it improve Does it include Does it include Does it cater for
resilience to climate social services opportunities for the needs of local
change? (education, cultural development? entrepreneurs?
healthcare)?

New ‘social’ Does it negatively Is it integrated as Does it support local Will the housing
housing affect the local part of the city and cultural norms, be affordable
ecosystem? its services? traditions, and ways of for the intended
life? beneficiaries?
Source: UN-Habitat.

CHAPTER 5 Delivering holistic approaches | 59

and safest in the world, including Portland in improvements of areas of different scale (from
the US, Vancouver in Canada, Copenhagen regions to neighbourhoods), including slum
in Denmark, Munich in Germany and upgrading. It can improve social cohesion,
Melbourne in Australia (UNEP, 2011). the environmental performance and energy
efficiency of housing projects while also
Housing and planning were once well assisting in climate mitigation and adaptation
connected to promote effective housing efforts (Box 23). For example, in many places in
programmes in urban and rural areas, but Western and Northern Europe the potential of
over the last few decades, this relationship has urban planning is realised by building new “eco-
been weakened. Housing has become reliant neighbourhoods”, such Hammarby Sjöstad
on the market rather than being plan-led, in Stockholm, Sweden; Viiki in Helsinki,
with a number of negative effects manifest Finland; Vauban and Rieselfeld in Freiburg and
in land shortages for housing, urban sprawl, Kronsberg in Hanover, Germany; Vesterbro
imbalanced housing market (housing shortages in Copenhagen, Denmark; Leidsche Rijn in
in growing urban centres and abandoned Utrecht, the Netherlands, and BedZED in
housing in declining areas), rigid housing Beddington, United Kingdom (OECD, 2010).
differentiation, shrinking green spaces, etc.
What is important is that decisions on land-
But spatial planning remains a key tool to use and urban layout have impacts lasting for
strengthen the all-round sustainability of decades and even centuries. Particular land
housing, by providing a sense of strategies for use and infrastructural patterns create a long
the development, redevelopment and further footprint for the future, as future investments

Community-based planning for slumupgrading. © Matthew French/UN-Habitat.

60 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Box 23: Contribution of planning to sustainable affordable housing

• Limit urban sprawl and car-dependency by ensuring appropriate levels of building

density and mixed-use developments, organizing transport flows, public transport
and non-motorized transportation options;
• Deliver comprehensive programmes for rehabilitation and regeneration of slums and
other problematic areas (e.g. derelict, former industrial) and ensure better living and
environmental standards in the built environment;
• Bring together disparate residential developments of the city to ensure integrated
residential patterns (e.g. re-designing and upgrading slums as the city’s
neighbourhoods);
• Ensure social inclusion and socio-spatial integration, by preventing social segregation
and mitigating social imbalances between neighbourhoods;
• Transform existing low-density areas towards mixed-use development, based on a
strategy of stimulating polycentricity;
• Ensure the provision of social infrastructure and amenities and accommodating the
particular needs of various social groups through appropriate spatial organisation,
densities and design;
• Preserve and expand an integrated system of green spaces and other natural
infrastructure;
• Protect cultural and architectural heritage of urban areas and integrate them into the
urban tissue;
• Increase recycling infrastructure in the city, install waste-to-energy technologies;
promote sustainable material cycles via design control;
• Develop integrated infrastructure for renewable sources of energy, district heat-
cooling-electricity systems and waste-to-energy.

CHAPTER 5 Delivering holistic approaches | 61

Housing is more than houses. It should be connected to the urban environment, including public spaces,
where people meet and socialize, such as this example from Kenya. © Matthew French/UN-Habitat.

are predetermined by existing infrastructure, 5.3. In-build resilience in

which may lock economies into unsustainable housing development
lifestyles and patterns. Spatial planning is
important to prevent being locked into high- Improving climate adaptation and resilience
carbon or hazard-prone conditions that would is also among important measures to improve
be expensive or impossible to alter later (World the sustainability of housing. Indeed, due to
Bank, 2010). climate change, depending on their location,
communities are increasingly exposed to
intensified heat waves; droughts; wildfires;
storms surges and floods; as well as to rising
sea levels (in coastal areas); and other climate-
induced geomorphological hazards. These

62 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
manifestations may involve significant cost to Whilst the anticipation of the external shocks
human health, to physical capital and natural is vital for prioritizing certain fields or direc-
habitats, further leading to public and private tions, communities’ overall vulnerability is
costs associated with aid, rehabilitation, ultimately determined by a number of struc-
resettlement, or conflict resolution. ture factors that are not possible to change
overnight. A dilapidated and inefficient capi-
Large housing development should be subject tal stock; buildings built in the absence or in
to a climate robustness test and incorporate violation of construction regulations; poorly
future-proof design. Previous solutions maintained urban engineering systems; under-
designed for the climate of the past may no developed public services; social inequality;
longer be relevant under new uncertainties. polarization and deprivation; are all factors
To overcome the inherent uncertainties which leave communities badly exposed. Re-
of climate change, major new investment silience in this sense needs to be incrementally
solutions and general capacity building efforts and yet purposefully and progressively ‘accu-
should advocate flexibility, diversification, and mulated’ by improving the quality of both so-
redundancy. The 2010 World Development cial wellbeing and housing stock (Golubchik-
Report (World Bank, 2010) highlights a ov, 2011).
number of important principles for such
strategies:
5.4. Mainstream best
• ‘No-regrets’ actions that would practices
provide benefits irrespective of climate
change (such as improving energy Worldwide and nationally there are usually
and water efficiency in housing); many good examples that achieve interesting
results for sustainable affordable housing, even
• Reversible and flexible options to keep though they often focus on some aspects of
the possibility of wrong decisions as low sustainability or are very limited in outreach.
as possible (e.g. restrictive planning for The real challenge lies in how to combine
coastal areas can be relaxed, whereas the best aspects of these practices and main-
forced retreats from such areas due to streamed them.
flooding or increased protection can be
very costly); Generally, two approaches to sustainable
housing may be identified. One is a “top-
• Safety margins or redundancy (e.g. down” (centralised) approach, which relies on
paying the marginal additional costs government initiatives and polices and multi-
of building a more robust house, or lateral partnerships. The other is “bottom
extending safety nets to vulnerable up” (decentralised) approach which relies on
groups); the efforts of small and dispersed initiatives
by individuals and groups (including NGOs,
• Long-term planning based on scenario communities, companies). Both are important
analysis and an assessment of alternative for sustainable housing practices, although
urban development strategies under both have important practical limitations –
a range of possible future scenarios; limited scale and scope in case of the bottom-up
projects and, typically, limited understanding
• Participatory design and implementation of final users’ needs in case of the top-down
based on local knowledge about existing approach. Figure 5 shows schematically how
vulnerability, and fostering ownership of both of these approaches may be engaged to
the strategy by its beneficiaries. form a focus on sustainable development. In
both scenarios, longetivity, replicability and
scalability are key considerations.

CHAPTER 5 Delivering holistic approaches | 63

FIGURE 5: TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP ROUTES TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

TOP DOWN

Government programmes
Generalised institutions
Build state capacity
Large-scale impact
Established funding mechanisms
Collaborate with recipient community

LONGEVITY SUSTAINABLE SCALABILITY

DEVELOPMENT

Influence government
Pro-poor policy reformation
Appropriate and repeatable impacts
Engage local networks
Civil society controlled
De-centralised organisations
Community (NGO/CBO) project

BOTTOM UP

Source: Cronin and Guthrie, 2011: 131.

64 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
People´s process in Myanmar. © UN-Habitat. People´s process in Myanma
06

Key principles for sustainable
policy delivery

The general approach for the realisation of to be fully institutionalised in the relevant
the sustainable affordable housing policy is government and non-government structures
represented in Figure 6. Housing practices and practices and become independent from
must be adjusted to achieve multiple benefits changes in government. Sustainable housing
across the four sustainability dimensions – to ideas should become part of political and policy
simultaneously improve people’s livelihoods, discourses and the operation of government,
contribute to the economy, and enhance the non-governmental and private sectors, as well
environment. A crucial aspect is sustainable as academia. For this to gradually happen, a
policy delivery. The latter relies on a strategic national housing strategy (see Box 24) and a
vision and supportive institutions, multi- strong legislative basis need to be introduced,
stakeholder cooperation, and sustainable governance structures reformed, and strategic
sources of funding – all underpinned by investment, research and training programmes
appropriate regulation and capacity building. launched.

The following principles are relevant at all Multilateral collaboration:

scales of sustainable affordable housing
projects and programmes – from the national Good governance should be underpinned by a
to community level. clear vision, strategies and action plans, which
need to be formulated and implemented by
Leadership and commitment: collaboration with multiple stakeholders,
including between different levels of
It is the imperative that sustainable housing government and government departments,
initiatives are backed by a clear and strong private sector, non-government organisations
leadership and political will. When critical and local community. Wide and open
changes are to be set in motion, it is especially consultations are critical to the development of
important that strategic thinking and strong the sustainable housing strategies and projects.
leadership are present. Within government Participation and cooperation can also bring-
special organizational units should be charged in missing technical expertise.
with the responsibility of coordinating
sustainable affordable housing initiatives, Community participation:
which will have a sufficient mandate as far
as these policies are concerned. It is also Local and end-user participation is essential
important to establish coordination between for understanding community needs and
various relevant authorities. preferences, as well as to learning about the
local community’s knowledge about climate
Institutionalising sustainable housing: challenges. Sharing ownership of the project
with the local community and end-users better
For sustainable housing to really become a guarantees its viability. Projects should also
long-term and sustainable policy, it needs respect local culture and traditions.

66 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Context-specific approaches: Financial mobilisation:

The challenge of integrating potential It is important to mobilize financial resources

competing social, cultural, economic, and for the implementation of the sustainable
environmental considerations in sustainable housing policies and projects, including by
housing requires cooperation and integration engaging with public-private partnerships,
across sectoral and administrative boundaries. the private sector, and advocacy with the
This is best achieved by a holistic spatially- government organisations.
focused approaches (rather than sectoral),
which will seek locally-nuanced solutions, Indigenous low-cost materials
based on specific social and physical contexts. and techniques:
Problems vary from one location to another
and so should be responses. Particular effort needs to identify and,
if necessary, restore low-cost sustainable
Capacity building: methods for homebuilding, which should be
further combined with modern methods to
This involves educating various publics about deliver affordable and resilient homes. The
the multiple benefits of sustainable housing development of new materials and technologies
and green building; developing educational should include a strong pro-poor element.
programmes for various groups and job markets
to acquire necessary skills; accumulating and
sharing data bank of best practices; promotion
of exemplary projects and case studies.

FIGURE 6: SUSTAINABLE HOUSING POLICY.

SUSTAINABLE HOUSING

Environment People Prosperity

Housing in natural Housing as arena for socio- Housing as a driver of
and local environment spatial justice and culture economic growth

Housing system to protect Housing system to ensure everyone Housing system to support a
natural environments, use natural has access to a decent affordable strong, responsive and
resources prudently, mitigate and shelter in a place which is competitive economy at local,
adapt to climate change desirable to live in regional and national
levels

Social footprint assessment, economic footprint assessment, environmental footprint assessment

• Appropriate institutional, legal and regulatory setting

• Multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance and cross-sectoral cooperation
• Housing as part of National Development Srategies, Sustainable Development
Strategies, Poverty Reduction Strategies
• Tools: housing strategies, building regulations, spatial planning, land provision, funding,
capacity building
• Monitoring, implementation or policies and projects

Source: UN-Habitat, 2012.

CHAPTER 6 Key principles for sustainable policy delivery | 67

White building by Vann Mollyvann in Phnom Penh, Cambodia is informally occupied by numerous residents.
© Emma-Liisa Hannula/UN-Habitat.

Box 24: National housing strategy for sustainable housing

The purpose of a national sustainable housing strategy should be a creation of an

integrated policy framework to guide the country in the development of a sustainable
housing sector, while also assisting with the wider ambitions for poverty reduction, socio-
economic development, and dealing with climate change. The strategy needs to integrate
housing programmes that already exist in the country with a broader framework aimed
at creating a more sustainable and affordable housing sector. The national sustainable
housing strategy should: (1) set out a clear housing vision for the country over a 10-20
year timeframe and key strategic objectives; (2) be based on a sound evidence base; (3)
set out policies and a detailed action plan to implement the vision and objectives, giving
details such as when, how, where and by whom actions will be delivered; (4) set out the
outcomes expected from the delivery of the actions and the indicators that will be used
to monitor progress towards them, including quantified targets; and (5) be reasonably
concise and accessible to the general public.

68 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
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74 | SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES: A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
References | 75
SUSTAINABLE HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES:
A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The concept of housing requires a new understanding to effectively

address the pressing issues of slums, the urban divide, economic
and human development, and climate change. No longer regarded
as simply a roof over one’s head, housing today plays a crucial role
in achieving sustainable development.

Sustainable Housing for Sustainable Cities outlines key concepts

and considerations underpinning the idea of sustainable housing
and provides a comprehensive framework for designing sustainable
housing policies and practical actions.

Although sustainable housing is often considered from a

predominantly “green” perspective this book advocates a more
holistic approach, which recognises the multiple functions of
housing – as both a physical and socio-cultural system – and which
seeks to enhance and harmonise the environmental, social, cultural,
and economic dimensions of housing sustainability to ensure
prosperous residential neighbourhoods and equitable cities.

HS/073/12E
ISBN: 978-92-1-132488-4

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PROGRAMME

P.O.Box 30030,Nairobi 00100,Kenya;
Tel: +254-20-7623120;
Fax: +254-20-76234266/7 (Central office)
infohabitat@unhabitat.org www.unhabitat.org