Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
interpret. The new proscriptive regulations
should be packaged into formats that are
readily accessible and comprehensible bythe
common man who, under the proposals
of this paper, is the main builder of his own
habitats. The simplified format can then be
disseminated to the people through public
seminars and use of brochures. The regulations
should be tools with which individuals can
create a decent living environment other than
means of restricting what people can do.
Contextualising with Other Role
Players in the Housing Sector
Design professionals do not work in isolation
and the last part of this paper is aimed at
suggesting a framework for how the diverse
role-players in the construction can work
together with innovative alternative building
technologies to improve habitats. Apart from
the community (clients and users) and design
professionals, other role-players include
government, funding agencies, education
institutions, NGOs, contractors and subcontractors,
builders and constructional
professionals. How these interact with each
other is highlighted in the diagram below. In
the diagram, the community (the people) are
at the centre. The rest of the role players are
grouped into three: 1) government and NGOs
2) the education institutions and building
professionals 3) the funders, producers and
builders.
As per the self-help approach, the producers,
builders and artisans would mainly be part
of the community; and would in many cases
be the actual beneficiaries of the housing.
The role-players not only interact with the
community but also with each other. Thus
the government interacts with producers and
builders through empowerment of small BEE
Fig 2: Interaction amongst Different Role-Players in the Housing and the Community
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