Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
With too many units to make it workable the
various manufacturers across the country only
produced those units found to be more popular
in their region, once again fuelling the need for
cutting and breaking on site.
The altered design of the standard house
for growth and development over time as
demonstrated meets a strategic goal for this
study in that it provides a home base model for
achieving sustainable human settlements over
time that was not feasible with the previous
standard house. As the research progresses
it has yet to demonstrate how the model can
go to scale in all senses: concept, technology,
financing, implementation, monitoring, and
evaluation which are all aspects of the study.
The general approach of the research is
holistic in that all aspects of research are seen
within a dynamic sustainable urban model
that supports a broad-based and common
set of goals and objectives: house design,
performance, a healthy working and living
environment and opportunity for economic
activity and sustainable livelihoods.
regards the standard subsidy house and the
suburban version, remain unanswered as to
performance at this stage. Sub questions 3
and 4 as regarding good and best practice
have been dealt with in the research as
necessary components of the process of the
research, informing the technology selection
and development for House 3. Sub-questions
5, 6, await the availability of all three houses
for processing time, cost and manpower data
as well as the testing of performance of all
three houses and processing the results. This
latter work should be enabled on completion
of House 3 by end April 2009. Sub-question
7 regarding roll-out of housing incorporating
final recommendations will follow both
during the remaining research period and on
completion of final results and consideration
of their implications in the low-cost housing
environment. The project remains on target as
regards its original research focus.
The technologies being researched are
simple applications of available materials
and methods but in such a way as to add
sustainable value to the property and its users
at little additional cost.
The objectives are, in short the following: more
comfortable buildings that perform better,
are durable, quick to build, readily alterable,
easily extendable, and less dependent on
municipal services. While the necessary
research framework and the building
structures are complete or nearing completion
for testing the research questions 1 and 2, as
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