Research needs and priorities in housing and construction in Nicaragua

Abstract

Nicaragua is a country in Central America with an area of 130,000 sq. km and a population of 3,014,OOO inhabitants. Some 55.9% of this population lives in urban areas, with an average of 4.6% annual growth. The population that lives in rural areas is scattered. The situation of housing in this country has been serious, without any real attention in the past. On 19 July 1979, with the Revolution, Nicaragua began a process of reconstruction and reorganisation. Thus, it created the Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements, whose objective is to make effective the right of each family to acquire a house, to eliminate speculation in housing and urban land, and to normalise the development of human settlements in this country. The establishment of an integral housing policy includes as an important activity the study and research of the technologies appropriate to the real situation of the country today but without forgetting the future as a part of the whole process of reconstruction and of building a new reality in Nicaragua. There never were any institutions in Nicaragua dealing with housing and construction research. The universities provided through the theses of graduate students the only way for certain research activity. Nevertheless, in general and related to housing and construction, there are now some institutions dealing with research. The principal topics are in the field of the technological dependence on construction materials from the developed countries and studies about material sources in the country and their exploitation. There are also studies in process, trying to evaluate the solution in rural areas and the resettlement in war zones. The principal problems we face are: (0