Housing Improvement Research Articles

The Different Aspects of the Housing Quality of Older Adults: Which Criteria Should Be Prioritized?

ABSTRACT Various studies have identified that older adults’ assessment of their housing quality differs from that deemed as good-quality housing by housing professionals. This has prompted the need to advance academic discourse beyond simply reporting high levels of satisfaction in older adult’s housing surveys. This study attempts to achieve this by using empirical data gathered through a mixed quantitative and qualitative research approach conducted with older adults in Slovenia. While the quantitative survey revealed generally high levels of satisfaction, the qualitative face-to-face interviews revealed numerous deficiencies, irrespective of whether older adults tended to express satisfaction with their dwellings. Therefore, our findings suggest that attributes such as ownership, period of residence, and neighborhood relations are far more important in determining housing satisfaction. Thus, we conclude that policies and programs for modifying housing for older adults must be based on a deeper understanding of their specific needs. During the policy formulation process and the implementation of specific housing improvement programs, emphasis should be placed on the social-historical aspects related to the lifestyle of each specific older adult.

Implementasi Program Rehabilitasi Sosial Rumah Tidak Layak Huni dalam Peningkatan Kualitas Hunian Masyarakat Berpenghasilan Rendah Pada Kelurahan Rungkut Kidul Kota Surabaya

Social rehabilitation of uninhabitable houses aims to restore social function and improve the quality of housing for the poor through improving the condition of the house and/or environmental infrastructure, either in whole or in part, by applying the spirit of mutual cooperation, togetherness and social values. the value of social solidarity in society. This research examines the implementation of the Social Rehabilitation Program for Uninhabitable Houses (RS-Rutilahu) in Rungkut Kidul Village, Surabaya City, with a focus on improving the quality of housing for low-income communities through collaboration between the government and the community. The aim of this research is to determine the implementation of the RS-Rutilahu program in improving the quality of housing for low-income communities in Rungkut Kidul Village. Based on David C. Korten's program implementation theory, this research examines three main aspects: the program itself, the implementing organization, and the beneficiaries. The research results show that this program has succeeded in achieving the house improvement target, but there are still obstacles related to community participation and strict administrative requirements. It is hoped that these findings can become a reference for increasing program effectiveness in the future. Social rehabilitation of uninhabitable houses aims to restore social function and improve the quality of housing for the poor through improving the condition of the house and/or environmental infrastructure, either in whole or in part, by applying the spirit of mutual cooperation, togetherness and social values. the value of social solidarity in society. This research examines the implementation of the Social Rehabilitation Program for Uninhabitable Houses (RS-Rutilahu) in Rungkut Kidul Village, Surabaya City, with a focus on improving the quality of housing for low-income communities through collaboration between the government and the community. The aim of this research is to determine the implementation of the RS-Rutilahu program in improving the quality of housing for low-income communities in Rungkut Kidul Village. Based on David C. Korten's program implementation theory, this research examines three main aspects: the program itself, the implementing organization, and the beneficiaries. The research results show that this program has succeeded in achieving the house improvement target, but there are still obstacles related to community participation and strict administrative requirements. It is hoped that these findings can become a reference for increasing program effectiveness in the future.

Repelling Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with electric fields using insulated conductor wires.

The control and prevention of mosquito-borne diseases is mostly achieved with insecticides. However, their use has led to the rapid development and spread of insecticide resistance worldwide. Health experts have called for intensified efforts to find new approaches to reduce mosquito populations and human-mosquito contact. A promising new tool is the use of electrical fields (EFs), whereby mosquitoes are repelled by charged particles in their flight path. Such particles move between two or more conductors, and the use of uninsulated copper or aluminum plates as conductors has been proven to be effective at repelling mosquitoes. Here, for the first time, we assess if EFs generated using a single row of insulated conductor wires (ICWs) can also successfully repel mosquitoes, and whether mosquitoes are equally repelled at the same EF strength when the electrodes are a) orientated differently (horizontal vs. vertical placement), and b) spaced more apart. Over a period of 23 hours, the number of host-seeking female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that were successfully repelled by EFs, using ICWs, at EF strengths ranging from 0 kV/cm (control) to 9.15 kV/cm were quantified. Mosquitoes were released inside a 220×220×180 cm room and lured into a BG-Pro trap that was equipped with a BG-counter and baited with CO2 using dry ice. Mosquitoes had to pass through an EF window, that contained a single row of ICWs with alternating polarity, to reach the bait. The baseline interaction between EF strength and repellency was assessed first, after which the impact of different ICW orientations and ICW distances on repellency were determined. Over 50% of mosquitoes were repelled at EF strengths of ≥ 3.66 kV/cm. A linear regression model showed that a vertical ICW orientation (vertical vs. horizontal) had a small but insignificant increased impact on mosquito repellency (p = 0.059), and increasing ICW distance (while maintaining the same EF strength) significantly reduced repellency (p = 0.01). ICWs can be used to generate EFs that partially repel host-seeking mosquitoes, which will reduce human-mosquito contact. While future studies need to assess if (i) increased repellency can be achieved, and (ii) a repellency of 50-60% is sufficient to impact disease transmission, it is encouraging that EF repellency using ICWs is higher compared to that of some spatial repellent technologies currently in development. This technology can be used in the housing improvement toolkit (i.e. preventing mosquito entry through eaves, windows, and doors). Moreover, the use of cheap, over-the-counter ICWs will mean that the technology is more accessible worldwide, and easier to manufacture and implement locally.

Powers of the Local Authorities at the Grassroots Level in the Process of Development Planning in Sri Lanka

A development plan implanted at the grassroots level such as a city is one of the physical plans consisting of three sub-plans, i.e. National Physical Plan, Region Plans, and Town Plans. This paper focuses on the laws of the local authorities and their powerfulness in comparison to different agencies and central government arms recently set up to implement similar tasks. Authorities such as the Municipality Council have convinced powers to implement development planning for the betterment of society and to set up public comfort and conveniences through their enforcement and implementation together with its planning agency, the Urban Development Authority (UDA). The remaining local authorities such as in rural areas, are still vesting their powers through the Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance of 1915. This paper discusses the core planning powers of Local Authorities (LAs) and their importance to the general public as a law.

Shifting landscapes: Women's experiences of socio-cultural changes from in-situ redevelopment in Ahmedabad

In-situ redevelopment policies, involving the construction of new apartment-style housing at original slum sites, have become a widespread approach to housing improvement in India. While much scholarly attention has focused on potential economic, administrative, and health impacts of such policies, the exploration of socio-cultural consequences has only recently gained prominence. Employing grounded theory methods and qualitative interview data from women residents in three housing settlements – one awaiting redevelopment, another redeveloped 2.5 years ago, and the third redeveloped 8.5 years ago – this study scrutinizes the socio-cultural impacts on women transitioning from slums to apartment-style housing. Socio-cultural impacts unfold in three overarching themes: spatial affordances of slum settlements for social life, experienced erasures in redeveloped settlements, and the social gains resulting from redevelopment. Findings from this study highlight the significance of interstitial semi-private spaces in slum settlements, acting as critical zones for social connection and cultural expression for women. Conversely, redeveloped settlements exhibit spatial erasures and a shift toward increased isolation. The elimination of interstitial spaces, coupled with an inability to modify the fixed housing structures in redeveloped houisng, contributes to social atomization and a fragmented sense of community post-redevelopment. This study underscores the intricate interplay between spatial configurations and the socio-cultural fabric of communities undergoing redevelopment.

Creating Resilient Smart Homes with a Heart: Sustainable, Technologically Advanced Housing across the Lifespan and Frailty through Inclusive Design for People and Their Robots

The design of age-friendly homes benefits vulnerable groups, such as frail people and older adults. Advances in smart home technologies, including robots, have important synergies with homes designed for health needs. Yet, focus on environmental and sustainable housing design and improvements misses important opportunities for collective impact. Stronger involvement of disciplines, such as those from the built environment for technological integration within homes and effects on space and the community, is needed. There is a need for a unified framework integrating the needs and factors of the resident, smart home technologies and robots, and the built environment, and that includes the concept of a “home”. With the remodeling of housing towards sustainable and environmental targets, as well as advances in smart home technologies such as robots, the timeliness of shared input for the benefit of residents now and in the future is of the essence. This would help target future research into effective and optimized cohabitation with technology within homes for the purpose of improving the wellbeing of residents.

빈집정비사업에 대한 공법적 검토

The recent issues of population decline due to aging and low birth rates have led to an increase in unoccupied houses. This increase is associated with higher crime rates, deteriorating residential environments, urban slums, imbalances in the real estate market, and environmental problems. The necessity of unoccupied house improvement has been raised, yet public law reviews on this matter remain insufficient. The concept of unoccupied houses includes both usable and unusable houses, which vary according to the investigation period and methods. Demolition targets include unusable unoccupied houses classified as Grade 3 under the ｢ACT ON SPECIAL CASES CONCERNING UNOCCUPIED HOUSE OR SMALL-SCALE HOUSING IMPROVEMENT｣ or as ‘specific unoccupied houses’ under the ｢AGRICULTURAL AND FISHING VILLAGES IMPROVEMENT ACT｣. The constitutional basis for the demolition of unoccupied houses includes the state's coordination and intervention duties under the principle of the social state, Article 122 of the Constitution, and the housing rights of neighbor of unoccupied houses. Especially, the conflict between the housing rights of neighbor and the property rights of unoccupied house owners(conflicts between fundamental rights) is transformed into a constitutional review issue as the legislator introduced a demolition system that limits the property rights of unoccupied house owners. The most important perspective in the constitutional review is adherence to the principle of proportionality, and demolition and compensation must be carried out under stricter standards, shifting from ensuring the existence of property rights to guaranteeing their value. The management and improvement obligations of unoccupied house owners are specified in the ｢AGRICULTURAL AND FISHING VILLAGES IMPROVEMENT ACT｣ but not in the ｢ACT ON SPECIAL CASES CONCERNING UNOCCUPIED HOUSE OR SMALL-SCALE HOUSING IMPROVEMENT｣. Based on the constitutional duty of property rights for public welfare and social constraints, owners may bear police responsibilities under public law, but this needs to be explicitly stated in the law. Such regulations on the responsibilities of unoccupied house owners can serve as the legal basis for enforcement fines and potentially a future unoccupied house tax when demolition orders are issued. Local governments' ex officio demolition of unoccupied houses is deemed an administrative execution. However, demolition orders for unoccupied houses are only feasible in cases involving substantial illegality, such as when legal buildings are abandoned for extended periods, resulting in significant harm to residents. In this context, recognizing the process of becoming substantially illegal should be strictly judged under the principle of proportionality. Compensation for the demolition of unoccupied houses is challenging to include in traditional public law compensation, thus falling under special public loss compensation recognized by the legislature through special laws. The compensation amount for demolition is determined as the arithmetic average of the amounts appraised by two appraisers. Issues concerning offsetting demolition costs highlight that compensation amounts can vary between voluntary demolition and enforced demolition by administrative execution, necessitating objective standards for demolition costs offset by administrative authorities.

A Study on the Impact of Home Occupant Characteristics on Housing Renewal and Improvement in Management-type Residential Environment Improvement Project Areas in Seoul: Focusing on the Moderating Effect of Home Occupancy Status

A Study on the Impact of Home Occupant Characteristics on Housing Renewal and Improvement in Management-type Residential Environment Improvement Project Areas in Seoul: Focusing on the Moderating Effect of Home Occupancy Status

Small dams drive Anopheles abundance during the dry season in a high malaria burden area of Malawi.

This study explores the influence of small dams on the exposure to malaria vectors during the dry season in Kasungu district, Malawi, an area recently identified as high priority for malaria interventions by the National Malaria Control Programme. Small dam impoundments provide communities with a continuous supply of water for domestic and agricultural activities across sub-Saharan Africa and are considered vital to food security and climate change resilience. However, these permanent water bodies also create ideal breeding sites for mosquitoes in typically arid landscapes. The study focuses on a specific dam impoundment and its vicinity, aiming to assess its spatial and temporal influence on indoor vector densities. From May to August 2021, CDC light traps were used to measure indoor mosquito densities for two consecutive nights per month in three communities located at increasing distances from the dam (0, ~1 and ~2 km). Simultaneously, drone imagery was captured for each community, enabling the identification of additional standing water within approximately 400 m of selected households. Larval sampling was carried out within the impoundment periphery and in additional water bodies identified in the drone imagery. Generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs) were employed to analyse the indoor Anopheles abundance data, estimating the effects of household structure (open/closed eaves), month, temperature and water proximity on malaria vector exposure. Throughout 685 trapping nights, a total of 1256 mosquitoes were captured, with 33% (412) being female Anopheles. Among these, 91% were morphologically identified as Anopheles funestus s.l., and 5% as Anopheles gambiae s.l. Catches progressively decline in each consecutive trapping month as the environment became drier. This decline was much slower in Malangano, the community next to the dam, with abundance being notably higher in June and July. Further, the majority of An. gambiae s.l. were caught in May, with none identified in July and August. Anopheles larvae were found both in the impoundment and other smaller water bodies such as irrigation wells in each survey month; however, the presence of these smaller water bodies did not have a significant impact on adult female mosquito catches in the GLMM. The study concludes that proximity to the dam impoundment was the primary driver of differences between survey communities with the abundance in Chikhombwe (~1 km away) and Chiponde (~2 km away) being 0.35 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.19-0.66) and 0.28 (95% CI, 0.16-0.47) lower than Malangano, respectively, after adjusting for other factors. These findings underscore the importance of targeted interventions, such as larval source management or housing improvements, near small dams to mitigate malaria transmission risks during the dry season. Further research is needed to develop cost-effective strategies for vector control within and around these impoundments.

中国城市更新政策的经济影响评估 －聚焦北京老住宅区的电梯安装－

This study examines the economic and welfare impacts of China’s aging population and the improvement of older urban housing. Using a sample of older neighborhoods in Beijing, we find that elevator renovation is significantly positively related to second-hand housing transaction volume and price growth. These results suggest that elevator installation improves residential satisfaction and stimulates the secondary housing market. Regression analysis showed that urban infrastructure improvements, income growth, and urbanization had a positive effect on increasing second-home transactions, while China’s aging population and rising home prices had a negative effect. In particular, in the eastern part of Beijing, elevator renovations were found to further boost second-home transactions. These findings provide empirical evidence of the economic and welfare impacts of China’s aging population and the improvement of urban old housing, suggesting the need for continued policy optimization and support.

Urbanisasi dalam Tinjauan Historis: Studi Kasus Pemukiman Kumuh di Kelurahan 3-4 Ulu Kota Palembang, 2010-2020

This article examines the urbanization that occurred in slum settlements in Subdistrict 3-4 Ulu, Palembang City from 2010-2020. The focus of this article is on the ethnic diversity of living in slums and the socioeconomic problems faced as a result of urbanization. The research process starts from searching for data to writing articles using historical methods. This article aims to identify the impact of social exclusion and marginalization on ethnic minority groups as well as environmental damage due to urbanization. The research results show that Subdistrict 3-4 Ulu, Palembang City is classified as a very slum settlement. This can be seen in slum housing locations, lack of infrastructure, high unemployment rates, and limited access to education and health services. The studies that have been carried out contribute to providing useful insights into designing sustainable development policies in the future by proposing various mitigation efforts and solutions, including government measures, housing, and infrastructure improvement programs, as well as the importance of social integration and community participation.

The Status and Development of Informal Housing in Guangzhou Urban Villages

Amid rapid urbanization, the housing market must be more robust to provide housing for vulnerable groups. In China, informal housing, represented by urban villages, provides a large amount of living space and alleviates the emergence of urban poverty and slums. However, due to the social and environmental problems of urban villages, there are certain contradictions with the sustainable development of cities. This paper takes Guangzhou as an example, looking at the trajectory and underlying mechanisms of informal housing growth in urban villages utilizing field surveys and questionnaire interviews. The study extracts the current housing conditions and development concerns in urban villages and tries to unearth the economic and social issues behind urbanization. In addition, this study discusses the inclusive development strategy of informal housing in urban villages from three aspects: the improvement of affordable housing, the protection of migrant populations' rights and interests, and the renovation and renewal of urban, which offer insight into managing informal housing and supporting sustainable development in developing countries.

Facilitators and barriers to integrated malaria prevention in Wakiso district, Uganda: A photovoice study.

Malaria continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Appropriate combinations of non-chemical and chemical methods of malaria vector control in the context of integrated vector management have been recommended by the World Health Organization. The aim of the study was to explore facilitators and barriers to using integrated malaria prevention in Wakiso district, Uganda. This qualitative study employed photovoice among 20 community members in Kasanje Town Council, Wakiso District. The photos taken by participants for 5 months using smartphones were discussed during monthly meetings with the researchers. The discussions were audio-recorded, and resulting data analysed using thematic analysis with the support of NVivo (2020) QSR International. Findings indicated that various conventional and non-conventional measures were being used for preventing malaria such as: insecticide treated nets; clearing overgrown vegetation; draining stagnant water; mosquito coils; smouldering of cow dung; spraying insecticides; plant repellents near houses; eating of prophylactic herbs; as well as closing doors and windows on houses early in the evening. Facilitators supporting the use of several malaria prevention methods holistically included: low cost and accessibility of some methods such as slashing overgrown vegetation; and support provided for certain methods such as receiving free mosquito nets from the government. Barriers to using several malaria prevention methods holistically included: inadequate knowledge of some methods such as housing improvement; allergic reactions to chemical-based methods such as insecticide treated nets; unaffordability of some methods such as insecticide sprays; and inaccessibility of certain methods such as body repellents. These barriers to integrated malaria prevention need to be addressed to achieve greater impact from the combination of methods in endemic communities.

Health effects of holistic housing renovation in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in the Netherlands: a qualitative exploration among residents and professionals

BackgroundHolistic housing renovations combine physical housing improvements with social and socioeconomic interventions (e.g. referral to social services, debt counselling, involvement in decision-making, promoting social cohesion). In a deprived neighbourhood in Utrecht, the Netherlands, this paper examined residents’ and professionals’ experiences, ideas, and perceptions regarding holistic housing renovation, its health effects, and underlying mechanisms explaining those effects.MethodsSemi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 social housing residents exposed to holistic housing renovation, and 12 professionals involved in either the physical renovation or social interventions implemented. Residents were interviewed in various renovation stages (before, during, after renovation). Transcripts were deductively and inductively coded using qualitative software.ResultsResidents experienced and professionals acknowledged renovation stress caused by nuisance from construction work (noise, dust), having to move stuff around, and temporary moving; lack of information and control; and perceived violation of privacy. Involvement in design choices was appreciated, and mental health improvement was expected on the long term due to improved housing quality and visual amenity benefits. Social contact between residents increased as the renovation became topic for small talk. Few comments were made regarding physical health effects. The interviews revealed a certain amount of distrust in and dissatisfaction with the housing corporation, construction company, and other authorities.ConclusionsRenovation stress, aggravated by lack of information and poor accessibility of housing corporation and construction company, negatively affects mental health and sense of control. Potential stress relievers are practical help with packing and moving furniture, and increased predictability by good and targeted communication. Social interventions can best be offered after renovation, when residents live in their renovated apartment and the nuisance and stress from the renovation is behind them. Social partners can use the period leading up to the renovation to show their faces, offer practical help to reduce renovation stress, and increase residents’ trust in their organization and authorities in general. This might also contribute to residents’ willingness to accept help with problems in the social domain after renovation.

Incremental housing as care infrastructure: transformations in low-income housing in Alto Hospicio, Chile

The discussion regarding the relationship between housing and care within the general field of housing studies has generated a broadening of the field in many ways. One of such is the reciprocal relationship between the numerous forms of housing transformation and care, particularly for low-income communities in the Global South. We suggest that the main drive to transform housing incrementally is care. Following the work of Power and Mee (2019), we consider housing as an infrastructure of care and therefore, the incremental transformation of housing as part of a set of practices, which produce a sociomaterial assemblage that is constitutive of care. Under these practices, not only does housing pattern care relations, but care relations also pattern housing and therefore housing transformations. This relational way of seeing housing and care is increasingly relevant in the implementation of housing transformation programmes and policies, as this would impact incremental housing design, programme, operation, funding, and implementations, particularly in the context of an increasing incorporation of multiple alternatives of housing transformation and improvement in public housing in the Global South. We show this through ethnographic work on housing transformation for care purposes in the city of Alto Hospicio, Chile.

Assessing the implementation fidelity, feasibility, and sustainability of community-based house improvement for malaria control in southern Malawi: a mixed-methods study

BackgroundDespite significant success in the fight against malaria over the past two decades, malaria control programmes rely on only two insecticidal methods: indoor residual spraying and insecticidal-treated nets. House improvement (HI) can complement these interventions by reducing human-mosquito contact, thereby reinforcing the gains in disease reduction. This study assessed the implementation fidelity, which is the assessment of how closely an intervention aligns with its intended design, feasibility, and sustainability of community-led HI in southern Malawi.MethodsThe study, conducted in 22 villages (2730 households), employed a mixed-methods approach. Implementation fidelity was assessed using a modified framework, with longitudinal surveys collecting data on HI coverage indicators. Quantitative analysis, employing descriptive statistics, evaluated the adherence to HI implementation. Qualitative data came from in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and focus groups involving project beneficiaries and implementers. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis guided by the implementation fidelity model to explore facilitators, challenges, and factors affecting intervention feasibility.ResultsThe results show that HI was implemented as planned. There was good adherence to the intended community-led HI design; however, the adherence could have been higher but gradually declined over time. In terms of intervention implementation, 74% of houses had attempted to have eaves closed in 2016-17 and 2017-18, compared to 70% in 2018–19. In 2016–17, 42% of houses had all four sides of the eaves closed, compared to 33% in 2018–19. Approximately 72% of houses were screened with gauze wire in 2016-17, compared to 57% in 2018-19. High costs, supply shortages, labour demands, volunteers’ poor living conditions and adverse weather were reported to hinder the ideal HI implementation. Overall, the community described community-led HI as feasible and could be sustained by addressing these socioeconomic and contextual challenges.ConclusionOur study found that although HI was initially implemented as planned, its fidelity declined over time. Using trained volunteers facilitated the fidelity and feasibility of implementing the intervention. A combination of rigorous community education, consistent training, information, education and communication, and intervention modifications may be necessary to address the challenges and enhance the intervention’s fidelity, feasibility, and sustainability.

Visibilizing Empowerment as Topological Resonances: Analysis of a Participatory Mapping and Enumeration Project as Strategy for Active Waiting for Housing in Khayelitsha (South Africa)

Informal settlement livelihoods in South Africa are characterized by a structural waiting for housing improvements. Participatory mapping and enumeration (PME) are a key tool for Capetonians NGOs to tackle urban injustice and improve livelihoods. Unfortunately, PME evaluation and empowerment dynamics are often linked and reduced to the PME final output (data, cartographic artefact, etc.). Based on an action-research PME project implemented by a Capetonian local NGO and by S section informal settlement’s community (Khayelitsha), this paper explores PME as an empowering strategy for activating the waiting phase for housing. Drawing on postcolonial approach, this paper frames empowerment as “topological resonances” enabled during PME through the dual dynamics of “translation” and “connectedness.” Translation and connectedness are applied to the case study of S Section and allow for the capture of interstitial yet critical empowerment dynamics that go beyond PME outcomes alone.

신속통합기획 및 공공정비사업의 사업 초기 저해요인이 사업 만족도에 미치는 영향 연구

In order to revitalize the housing improvement project, it is necessary to study the effect on business satisfaction of union members from the beginning of the project. This study analyzed the impact of legal, financial, and operational obstacles on project satisfaction in the early stages of the housing improvement project. In addition, the purpose is to provide basic data for revitalizing housing supply by analyzing the impact of the recently implemented rapid integrated planning and public maintenance projects on business satisfaction. The method of this study was to conduct analysis by applying a structural equation model based on data from a survey of union members. It was found that when financial obstacles within a union increase, it not only has a negative impact on business satisfaction, but also has the greatest impact on union member conflict. Accordingly, it was found that it was necessary to secure transparency in the cooperative's acquisition of operating expenses in the early stages of the project and to provide support from the government's housing improvement project support fund.

Adding Balconies to Historical Tenements – Local Approaches to the Retention of Heritage Value in Poland, Germany, and Denmark

ABSTRACT Approximately 22% of the existing dwellings in the EU were built before 1946. In Wrocław, Poland ca. 21% of all dwellings in multifamily houses are protected for their heritage value. For such a significant share of the residential building stock pursuit of sustainability through amenity improvement is inevitable and will gain pace with the EU endorsed Renovation Wave. The discourse about the scope of renovations should be extended to consider an improvement of historical housing’s spatial quality without compromising its heritage value. Balconies are perceived as an indispensable part of new-built apartments; however, they are scarce in tenements built at the turn of 20th century. Adding balconies as a part of retrofitting is common in Germany or Denmark, but rare in Poland. By analysing heritage preservation practices in Chemnitz, Copenhagen and Wrocław, this paper aims to understand how retention of heritage value shapes local approach to adding balconies. Semi-structured interviews (18) were conducted with heritage conservation officers and other stakeholders. The results revealed a shared recognition of balcony’s role as an element contributing to heritage housing preservation through enhanced usability. Factors that impede balcony additions in historical tenements in Wrocław were identified for different tenure types, followed by recommendations.

HABITABILITY CONDITIONS IN SELF-CONSTRUCTED RURAL HOUSES WITHIN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

In the Multidimensional Poverty Index, housing conditions carry a weight of 25%. In Ecuador in 2022, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, the rate of multidimensional poverty in rural areas was 70%, while the rate of extreme multidimensional poverty stood at 41%, accompanied by a Gini Index of 0.433. Paradoxically, the processes of globalization related to construction and modern material resources adapted from ancestral knowledge have led to worse habitability conditions in communities settled in the rural Paramus of the High Andes. This study aims to evaluate rural housing under extreme conditions of climate, topography, accessibility, and basic services, in order to establish strategies that are context-appropriate and promote house improvements through collaborative workshops. The conditions of 40 houses in two indigenous communities were assessed through direct observation and thermography. Site characteristics, spatial distribution, materiality and pathologies, along with perceived thermal comfort, were recorded on an adapted datasheet. The assessment was conducted by a researcher and the homeowner, with the objective of generating a participatory diagnosis. Data was analyzed using a multicriteria matrix proposed within a comprehensive framework for assessing building performance in the context of sociocultural and technical dimensions. The main results reveal that inhabitants uphold traditional aspects like collaborative construction processes, a relationship with the landscape, and efficient space utilization. However, the loss of ancestral construction knowledge and the influence of migration to cities have led to technical building errors; consequently, the majority of the dwellings exhibit structural vulnerability and poor indoor environmental quality.