Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
Innovative Technology Objective
The objective of implementing innovative
technology is to achieve comfortable
subsidized housing that perform as good as
or equal to conventional suburban housing,
are durable and quick to build, readily
alterable, easily extendable, less dependent
on municipal services, and able to facilitate
sustainable human settlements.
Constructing an Innovative
Technology Framework
An innovative technology framework should be
predicated on supporting certain key national
objectives:
level of the entire development, and not
only at the level of individual housing units.
ii) Scaled-up technology – technologies
employed should be capable of being
scaled-up across similar subsidized
housing projects in South Africa. The
development of innovative technologies
should therefore have in mind the skills
levels within the construction industry, the
needs of the beneficiaries, and the ability
of the local authority and the community to
service and maintain those technologies
over time. The use of innovative products
should similarly ensure that the technology
solution be available to the beneficiaries
over the life cycle of the dwelling.
i) Treat Development Holistically – any
technology proposals recommended
for a housing project should be treated
holistically, that is to say, that all proposals
support a common set of national goals and
objectives. Certain technologies are known
to offer other benefits, such as job creation.
Similarly, potentials to be found in the
specific geographic conditions of the site
and its surrounding areas, for example local
soils, may well add-value to the development
if properly exploited. Local authorities are
increasingly unable to sustain the expansion
of urban areas within their jurisdiction: thus,
if any development proposal is to serve as
a model development, it must demonstrate
an ability to operate in a manner that will not
further undermine the financial sustainability
of local authorities. One of the ways that it
can do this is to reduce the dependence
of the development on municipal services.
This approach should be explored at the
iii) Assess the impacts – one of the objectives
of the Department of Science and
Technology (DST) is to improve the
quality and depth of Science, Engineering
and Technology (SET) statistical
information to support development and
investment decision-making as well as
to drive improvements in the quality of
SET activities against the backdrop of
internationally recognized benchmarks.
To accurately assess the impacts of the
proposed technologies requires that a
base technology level be determined in
conjunction with alternative technologies,
and that the technology be applied in the
same manner. In other words, occupancy
rates and occupancy usage should, as
far as possible, be comparable. As stated
above, certain technologies are more
effective at certain scales than others: thus,
the overall development must be assessed
for scale opportunities and all technologies
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