Inhibitors and Their Intra-Relationships Influencing the Adoption of Stabilised Earth Construction to Alleviate the Urban Housing Crisis in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Stabilised earth is an alternative building material which is comparatively cheaper than conventional building material in Zimbabwe. However, there are inhibitors which make it unpopular amongst the Zimbabwean construction professionals and general population, though it has a high potential to alleviate the urban housing crisis. This paper aims to identify and highlight these inhibitors and refines them through a series of in-depth interviews. First, a critical literature review method is adopted in this paper to identify the inhibitors influencing the adoption of this building material to address the urban housing crisis and second, the identified inhibitors are refined through the in-depth interview method to determine those influencing the widespread adoption of stabilised earth as a construction material to address urban housing crisis in Zimbabwe.