SA's housing crisis | Empower housing project changing the face of affordable housing
Summary
TLDRUrban Think Tank in Power is addressing South Africa's housing crisis with an innovative model that emphasizes community participation and sustainable construction. The model involves developing double-story duplex units on occupied sites, optimizing land use and freeing up space for community amenities. By keeping communities together and focusing on quality over quantity, the initiative aims to create long-lasting, comfortable homes that residents can take pride in.
Takeaways
- 🏠 The project aims to address the housing crisis in South Africa, with at least 1.9 million households living in informal dwellings.
- 🌐 Urban Think Tank is introducing a radical housing model to tackle the issue, focusing on innovation and community involvement.
- 🔍 The model has been tested over a 10-year pilot project, proving its effectiveness before scaling up for wider implementation.
- 🏢 The approach includes developing on already occupied sites, working closely with the community from the beginning of the project.
- 👪 The housing typology features double-story duplex units, optimizing land use and creating higher density living spaces.
- 🎨 The design includes separate living and sleeping areas, allowing for more efficient use of space and community amenities like playgrounds.
- 📈 The pilot project was able to free up approximately 30 percent of the site area, emphasizing community spaces over traditional RDP models.
- 👥 Community participation is a key factor in the success of the model, with residents being the stakeholders and clients of the development.
- 📍 The project aims to keep communities intact, avoiding the dispersion that can occur with RDP housing assignments outside of existing communities.
- 🛠️ Quality is prioritized over quantity, with a focus on sustainable construction methods and long-term durability of the housing.
- 🌡️ Sustainable construction also considers thermal comfort, ensuring homes are warm in winter and cool in summer.
Q & A
What is the primary issue being addressed by the innovative housing project mentioned in the script?
-The primary issue being addressed is the housing crisis, specifically the lack of formal housing for the 1.9 million households living in informal dwellings in the country.
Who is Mama Local Kubai and what did she reveal in Parliament?
-Mama Local Kubai is the Minister of Human Settlements. She revealed in Parliament that at least 1.9 million households live in informal dwellings.
What is Urban Think Tank and what is their role in this housing initiative?
-Urban Think Tank is an organization that is rolling out a radical housing model to address the housing crisis. They are working on innovative solutions to develop occupied sites and improve living conditions.
What is the alternative model proposed by Urban Think Tank to the current RDP solution?
-The alternative model proposed by Urban Think Tank involves developing double-story duplex units on occupied sites, optimizing land use, and maintaining community cohesion by keeping people in their existing communities.
How does the new housing model differ from the traditional RDP model?
-The new model focuses on community participation, sustainable construction methodologies, and creating comfortable homes with consideration for thermal comfort. It contrasts with the RDP model, which has been criticized for prioritizing quantity over quality.
What is the significance of community participation in the new housing model?
-Community participation is crucial as it ensures that the residents are key stakeholders and clients in the development process, allowing them to take ownership and maintain the community bonds.
How does the new housing model address the issue of space in the City of Cape Town?
-The model addresses space issues by focusing on developing already occupied sites rather than finding new unoccupied land, thus optimizing the efficiency of land use.
What is the housing typology developed by Urban Think Tank and how does it contribute to higher density?
-The housing typology is a double-story duplex unit with living areas on the ground floor and separate sleeping spaces for adults and children on the first floor, allowing for higher density and more efficient land use.
What are the benefits of the new housing model for the residents and the community?
-The benefits include better quality housing, community cohesion, the creation of playgrounds and community centers, and the provision of training for local community members in construction processes.
How does the new housing model ensure the longevity and sustainability of the constructed homes?
-The model ensures longevity and sustainability by focusing on quality construction, using sustainable construction methodologies, and considering thermal comfort for year-round livability.
What is the role of Delana Finlayson in this initiative and what is her position at Urban Think Tank?
-Delana Finlayson is the Managing Director of Urban Think Tank. She is responsible for leading the initiative and has been involved in proving the pilot project and the model over the past 10 years.
Outlines
🏠 Innovative Housing Solutions for Informal Settlements
The video script discusses an innovative project aimed at addressing the critical issue of housing in South Africa, particularly the challenge of informal dwellings. The Minister of Human Settlements, Mama Local Kubai, highlights the staggering number of 1.9 million households living in such conditions. Urban Think Tank in Power is introducing a radical housing model to tackle this crisis. The managing director, Delana Finlayson, explains their approach involves community participation and innovative housing typologies, such as double-story duplex units, to optimize land use and create higher density living spaces. The pilot project in Cape Town has successfully freed up approximately 30% of site area for community amenities like playgrounds and a community center, which are not typically found in the standard RDP housing model. The emphasis is on maintaining community integrity and providing better quality housing that is sustainable and long-lasting.
🛠️ Sustainable Construction and Community Empowerment
In the second paragraph, the focus shifts to the sustainability and quality of the housing solutions being proposed by Urban Think Tank in Power. Delana Finlayson emphasizes the importance of creating comfortable homes that consider thermal comfort, ensuring the houses are warm in winter and cool in summer. The initiative also involves the local community in the construction process, providing them with training and a sense of ownership over their homes. The goal is to develop housing that will stand the test of time, avoiding the pitfalls of previous models where quantity was prioritized over quality, leading to houses that deteriorated quickly. The narrative concludes with an invitation for viewers to learn more about the project, highlighting the significance of this approach in creating lasting, positive change in communities.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Housing Crisis
💡RDP Solution
💡Urban Think Tank
💡Innovative Solutions
💡Community Participation
💡Duplex Unit
💡Land Use Efficiency
💡Sustainable Construction
💡Thermal Comfort
💡Community Center
💡Quality Over Quantity
Highlights
An innovative project aims to address South Africa's pressing housing issue, with 1.9 million households living in informal dwellings.
Urban Think Tank in Power is rolling out a radical housing model as an alternative to the RDP solution.
The new model focuses on developing already occupied sites in collaboration with the community.
A double-story duplex housing typology is introduced to optimize land use efficiency.
The pilot project was able to free up approximately 30% of the site area for community spaces like playgrounds and a community center.
Community participation is emphasized as a key factor for the success of the housing model.
The model aims to keep communities together rather than assigning houses outside their existing communities.
Residents have been living in the area since the 80s, and the project seeks to strengthen community bonds.
Quality over quantity is prioritized, with a focus on sustainable construction methodologies.
Local community members are trained to assist in the construction process, ensuring long-term durability of the houses.
The project emphasizes creating comfortable homes with consideration for thermal comfort year-round.
The goal is to develop houses that will stand the test of time, not falling apart within 5-10 years.
The project's managing director, Delana Finlayson, discusses the innovative approach on ENCA.
The housing model has been tested and proven over the past 10 years through a pilot project.
The project seeks to make a significant impact in the Western Cape by scaling up the successful pilot model.
The innovative housing solution has been featured in an in-depth write-up, encouraging further exploration of the topic.
Transcripts
an Innovative project is offering a
solution to one of our country's most
pressing issues yes there are many I'm
referring to housing answering a
question in Parliament a minister of
human settlements Mama local kubai
revealed that at least 1.9 million
households live in informal dwellings
Urban think tank in power is rolling out
what it says is a radical housing model
to address this so how exactly are they
planning to do it how does it all work
making time for me today the MD the
managing director Delana Finlayson
making time for us here on enca to talk
more about this initiative in
khayelitsha Delana hello to you good
afternoon thanks for your time just help
me understand what is this exactly what
are you trying to what are you trying to
solve for us
hi good afternoon thank you so much for
having me on
me on well housing in Cape Town well
across the country really is a huge
problem and we are trying to offer an
alternative model to the RDP solution we
think there are there are better ways to
solve the crisis and we have over the
past 10 years work very hard to prove
our pilot project and our model and it
works so we're ready to scale it up and
roll it out to really make an impact in
the Western Cape paint a picture for me
how does this model try and Achieve that
well first of all I think we are trying
to be Innovative in the solutions that
we offer I mean we know that the City of
Cape Town is running out of space if you
go and you look at the Google Earth
images over the last 20 years you can
very quickly get a real thing of how the
population has grown in informal
settlements
so we we cannot just focus on
Greenfield's developments uh it's
obviously a lot easier to just find
unoccupied land and develop that but it
really doesn't work we need to focus on
sites that are already occupied and
develop those
and in working very closely with the
community from the word go
uh and getting there by in and allowing
them to participate in the process
um we we can in fact develop occupied
sites with relative ease of course there
are always stumbling blocks but what
we've done is we've developed a housing
typology which is double story a duplex
unit with living areas on the ground
floor and sleeping spaces a separate
sleeping spaces in fact for adults and
children on the first floor so that this
allows us to create a higher density it
optimizes the efficiency of the of the
land use
in fact in our pilot project we were
able to approach free up approximately
30 percent of the site area this is
allows us to create playgrounds we are
building a community center which of
course is not possible and you don't see
this in the normal RDP model
um yeah and and I really think just to
to put emphasis on this is that the
community participation is what
ultimately makes the model successful
um they are the key stakeholders and
ultimately our clients and it's
something that you don't see in the RDP
program where people are assigned houses
outside their existing communities
um we're trying to keep the communities
together if you look at at the pilot
project it's interesting that some of
the well in fact most of the residents
have been living there since the 80s so
to give them for example an RDP house in
a remote area you will literally break
up the entire community and we try to
strengthen the bonds that are already in
place by keeping the people on the on
the site that they have been living on
but I imagine
I imagine it's also keeping them where
they are because that is what they're
calling home but better quality housing
as well because the sense given over the
last two two to three decades is it's a
case of uh quantity over quality and
then what happens these houses start
breaking we know how wet Cape Town can
get during the the winter season as well
so I imagine this is quality over
quantity
absolutely
um it has to be quality first in a way
and
and we are using the local community and
and providing them training to assist in
the construction processes but
ultimately we're in it for the long haul
we don't want to develop houses that in
five years or ten years time from now
will be falling apart they need to be
there they need to be a testament to
what is possible if things are done
right we have specifically focus on
sustainable construction methodologies
we want to create comfortable homes
um where there is a real consideration
for thermal comfort in the first place
houses that are that are warm in Winter
and cool in summer
um and that and that the community would
like to call home yeah
take ownership in a place
as well I'm going to say thank you very
much indeed for this afternoon Delana
I'll tell you why I'm going to leave it
very briefly Delana for lesson is the MD
of urban think tank in power there's a
lot more to that story please do
yourself a favor uh go and Google it as
well there's an incredible write-up
about it the reason I need to come out
of
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