Rural Housing Research Articles

Health risk assessment of arsenic and lead contamination in drinking water: A study of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan

ABSTRACT The present research study explores the drinking water quality of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to identify the potent dissolved contaminants and carry out a health risk assessment as the study area houses more than 3 million people. A total of 95 drinking water samples were collected from the union councils of the selected study area and analyzed for 12 physicochemical water quality indicators. The collected datasets were interpreted using general statistics, principal component analysis and spatial analysis for knowing the variations among the collected samples. The results revealed that overall 51.57% of the drinking water samples were unsatisfactory for human consumption. The rate of physicochemical contamination was 87.27% in the rural and unauthorized housing societies. Arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) were the potent contaminants in the drinking water samples. The health risk assessment uncovered that 31.57 and 10.45% of samples had a hazard quotient (HQ) >1 for arsenic and lead, respectively. Collectively, 41 drinking water sources were identified as potential health risk sources for the residents.

Sustainable innovations in rural housing: Strategies for efficiency, community engagement, and environmental harmony

This study delves into the multifaceted aspects of enhancing sustainability in rural dwellings, focusing on energy efficiency, the use of sustainable materials and construction techniques, and the pivotal role of community engagement and social sustainability. Through detailed quantitative analyses and case studies, we examine the effectiveness of various insulation materials, the integration of renewable energy sources, and the impact of energy management systems in reducing energy consumption and promoting sustainability. Additionally, we explore the benefits of utilizing local and recycled materials, incorporating green roofing and natural ventilation strategies, and implementing water conservation techniques. A significant portion of our research is dedicated to understanding the socio-economic impacts of these sustainable practices, including job creation, economic benefits, and the importance of education and capacity building within rural communities. Our findings highlight the substantial advantages of participatory design processes, demonstrating how they contribute to increased community satisfaction and the overall success of sustainability projects. The study underscores the critical importance of tailored, locally adapted solutions for rural sustainability and provides a comprehensive framework for stakeholders aiming to implement sustainable practices in rural development projects.

Understanding land take by low-density residential areas: An institutionalist perspective on local planning authorities, developers and households

Using a case study design, the study focuses on identifying the institutional configuration that determines land take by low-density residential areas. Methodologically, it combines geospatial approaches and new institutionalism to capture and understand residential development, taking into account the interests, constraints and agency of local planning authorities, developers and households. The geospatial analysis shows that land take in the case study regions is primarily the result of low-density residential areas. We find that the combination of rural housing ideals, municipal policy objectives, municipalities' disengagement from spatial development and private sector interests are the main drivers for this kind of residential development. As the interests and constraints apply to all case study regions, the identified institutional configuration has high power in explaining low-density residential development. Our study thus uncovers a close link between the interests and constraints of actors, which on the one hand explains the limited impact of existing and new planning instruments on reducing land take, and on the other hand fosters path dependency in the development of low-density residential areas. Although there is some potential for change, breaking path dependency requires significant behavioural change among local planning authorities, developers and households.

A Comprehensive Investigation of Rural and Low-Rise Housing Design Quality: a Thematic and Bibliometric Analysis

A Comprehensive Investigation of Rural and Low-Rise Housing Design Quality: a Thematic and Bibliometric Analysis

Multi-Objective Optimization for Winter Heating Retrofit in Rural Houses of Cold Regions: A Case Study in the Wusu Area

In regions of China experiencing severe cold, the duration of the winter heating season significantly contributes to elevated heating energy consumption in rural dwellings. This study focuses on typical brick-and-concrete rural homes in the Wusu area. Utilizing the Rhino–Grasshopper parametric modeling platform, it aims to minimize heating-related carbon emissions and the overall costs associated with retrofitting. The approach involves improving the insulation properties of the building envelope to reduce energy requirements. Additionally, the study incorporates solar photovoltaic systems atop rural homes, building upon low-carbon, passive, energy-efficient design principles. By examining the influence of various factors on rural housing energy consumption, the research employs the entropy weight method to identify the most effective design solutions. The goal is to explore strategies for the energy-efficient retrofitting of rural dwellings in areas faced with harsh winter conditions, aligning with the objectives and preferences of Applied Sciences. The simulation results reveal the following: (1). In comparison with the baseline scenario, 42.2% of the optimized solutions within the Pareto frontier satisfy the current standards for 75% energy savings in energy-efficient residential design. (2). The lowest recorded thermal consumption index for the buildings can reach 12.427 W/m2, at which point the rate of energy savings is elevated to 79.5%. (3). Within the solutions identified by the Pareto frontier, 80% exhibit initial investments that are lower than the cost savings over the lifecycle due to reduced energy consumption (dCg < 0), demonstrating the economic feasibility of the proposed retrofitting strategies.

A place to remain in the village. Dutch planning cultures and rural housing policies from 1945 onwards

ABSTRACT Historical consciousness leads to a deeper understanding of rural housing policies and helps to find structural solutions to the present-day situation. This statement is illustrated with a study on two villages in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Starting with a historical account of the post-war ‘top-down’ planning culture, the analysis moves further by assessing the change towards a ‘bottom-up’ planning culture. This culture fulfils the needs of those who living in villages better. However, old habits remain in place and hamper the new culture to become more mature. Historical consciousness helps administrators, civil servants, and actors from the local civil society to become aware of (in)effective behaviour. The concept of a new ‘bottom-up’ planning culture helps them to develop the formal and informal ways for the construction of housing further.

Alternative Arrangement for Roof Tops Rural Housing Catching Rain Water in the Semi-Arid

Harvesting rainwater for human consumption through rooftops is becoming an increasingly common practice, especially in regions where there are no community water supplies, such as much of the Indian semi-arid region. The water collection systems installed in this region are based on the construction of cisterns to collect water collected through roofs. In order to contribute to the improvement of the performance of these systems, this work aimed to study the problems preventing the proper functioning of this important water supply and to propose design solutions adapting appropriate technologies for the rural population of the Indian hemisphere, Arid region. The starting point was a field study conducted in the rural community of Namakkal Taluk in Tamil Nadu between 2020 and 2021. The results showed that 80% of the residential buildings surveyed have a water intake system, but only 16% store enough water for a year-round supply. It was found that this low rate is mainly due to unreliable conditions for installation and maintenance of water conduit subsystems (gutters and channels). Based on this finding, and taking into account functional and aesthetic-formal aspects, five alternative devices for rainwater harvesting systems, consisting of roofs, gutters and channels, were developed. In order to simplify and, as a result, reduce the cost, the gutter supports were eliminated, which gave a performance advantage over conventional systems.

Informal settlements and the continuity of Gujarati building traditions in Ahmedabad

Informal settlement is a widespread form of development in rapidly urbanising countries, yet the architectural form of dwellings and the design intention of the residents has received scant attention across the extensive literature on informality. Architectural scholars have drawn parallels between informal and vernacular environments, but the empirical evidence to support this assertion is limited. Comparing accurate and detailed architectural drawings, this article demonstrates how Gujarati building traditions influence the arrangement of dwellings and their plans in two informal settlements in Ahmedabad. Despite insecurity of land tenure and limited services, dwellings are built incrementally but planned with architectural intent informed by traditional rural housing types. The function and arrangement of traditional room types are consistent across dwellings in different contexts, from world heritage-listed havelis, rural Gujarati villages, to the incremental housing in two informal settlements in Ahmedabad. This evidence is at odds with popular and political views that informal settlements are unplanned accretions of ad hoc shelters. Such views, embedded in policy, can be part of the rationale for ‘slum’ clearance and relocation, which frequently disrupts social and economic networks. The findings and methods used in this study can inform architects or planners seeking to upgrade, redevelop, or relocate informal settlement communities.

Uncertain parameters adjustable two-stage robust optimization of a rural housing integrated energy system considering biomass on-site utilization

Rural areas will be an important component to achieve carbon neutrality. However, there are currently issues such as an unreasonable energy consumption structure and low efficiency in renewable energy utilization. It is urgent to propose an energy optimization solution to address these problems. Therefore, considering the advantages of renewable energy in rural areas and the diversified and decentralized energy consumption patterns of rural households, a rural housing integrated energy system (RHIES) is proposed, which includes photovoltaics and a biomass utilization chain through self-production and local consumption. Subsequently, considering the economic and low-carbon aspects of the system's operational process, an uncertain parameters adjustable two-stage robust optimization model (UPATSRO) is developed to achieve a balance between robustness and economic efficiency during the scheduling optimization process. The results of case study indicate that the proposed RHIES reduces costs and carbon emissions by 28.15% and 93.83%, respectively, compared to conventional approaches. The biomass utilization mode satisfies 52.31% of the gas load and 39.71% of the thermal load for households. Additionally, it is shown that the proposed UPATSRO optimization model can achieve a flexible adjustment of scheduling schemes during the scheduling optimization process.

The rural housing market after the COVID-19 pandemic

This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Branched hierarchization of indicators related to rural housing for environmental health evaluation

The Brazilian rural communities concentrate a significant fraction of the population exposed to deficient conditions in water supply, sanitary sewage, and solid waste management, which, combined with housing conditions, directly impact the quality of a healthy environment. Few studies have evaluated the salubrious conditions of a rural environment, and in the searches carried out, the use of branched hierarchical techniques was not verified. The objective of this work was to create a branched hierarchization of those variables that are the cause of unhealthy conditions of the housing environment. Initially, all the variables that affect the salubrity of the housing environment were listed, to later order them in a ramified form. Afterwards, and based on the technical literature, the parameters of adequacy and/or inadequacy of these variables were defined. This methodology was tested in a rural dwelling in order to exemplify its applicability. The application of the proposed tool has demonstrated a satisfactory practical use, with low time spent for its conclusion, besides providing a realistic characterization of the environment evaluated. This work provides an easily applicable methodology for obtaining a detailed report on the degree of adequacy of a wide range of variables that influence the healthiness of rural dwellings.

The Rural Borderland House: Functional‑Spatial and Ritual-Symbolic Specificities

This publication reviews the monograph by Polish researcher and PhD in Architecture Magdalena Sulima, which addresses the topics of architectural and ceremonial specifics of traditional rural housing in border territories. under-studied in Russia: Sulima, M. Dom pogranicza w kulturze wsi podlaskiej. – Białystok: Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Białostockiej, 2018. – 277 p. The novelty of the work lies in identifying the specific features of the borderland from the perspective of preserving archaic elements in house-building, structuring of home space, and its use in calendar and family rituals. The monograph may interest Russian-speaking readers not only due to its interdisciplinary approach to studying the house and dwelling but also for defining the specifics of border identity and developing its typology. Further studies of dwellings in zones of intensive ethno-cultural contact can broaden the relatively scarce domestic tradition of understanding and conceptualizing the dwelling as a frontier topos.

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.

An Exploration of Rural Housing Insecurity as a Public Health Problem in California's Rural Northern Counties.

Although widely acknowledged as an important social determinant of health, until recently researchers and policymakers have primarily approached housing insecurity as an urban issue, obscuring the visibility of its impacts in rural contexts, including the ways in which housing insecurity intersects with other health and structural inequities facing rural populations. Working to address this gap in the existing literature, this paper explores the experiences of housing insecurity in a rural context by reporting on an analysis of 210 in-depth interviews with 153 adults between the ages of 18-35, living in California's rural North State, a relatively overlooked far northern region of the state comprised of 12 north central and north eastern counties. Using in-depth qualitative interview data, we conducted an exploratory pattern-level analysis of participants' narratives structured by four dimensions of housing insecurity defined in the literature (housing affordability, housing stability, housing conditions, and neighborhood context). Drawing attention to the pervasiveness of rural housing insecurity within our sample, this analysis highlights the unique ways in which rurality creates distinct experiences not currently captured in the existing literature. Further research is needed across different types of rural communities to better understand the various ways that housing insecurity affects the everyday lives and health of rural residents. By grounding research within the experiences of rural residents, we are better able to respond to the crisis of rural housing insecurity and develop solutions that are tailored to rural residents' unique needs.

Cointegrations in house price dynamics and ageing population risks.

How does the riskiness of an ageing population change with house price dynamics of rural areas? Why do rural house prices increase faster than cities despite their ageing populations? Life cycle theory predicts working age households have higher demand for housing than retirement households. An issue that has seen much less attention in the literature is that rural house prices have been increasing despite their populations age rapidly. To answer these issues, our paper introduces an empirical cointegration-based framework designed to be flexible for empirical settings. Our cointegration framework reveals crucial information about rural housing and ageing which has not been found previously: the short-term deviation of house prices from cointegration restrictions is a strong predictor of future rural house prices and migration rate from 1 to 4 year ahead. This is not the case for urban areas nor where cointegration restrictions are being ignored. Rural house prices, not urban ones, are the key to understand this cointegration restriction. Our framework is pertinent to most ageing societies with available housing and demographic data. When a government formulates macroprudential policies internalizing these cointegration restrictions and supporting rural developments, migration into rural areas and population increases are possible. Our evidence highlights the importance of cointegration-based long-run ageing risks for rural housing markets.

Optimization Analysis of an Energy-Saving Renovation Scheme for Building Envelopes of Existing Rural Houses Based on a Comprehensive Benefit Evaluation

In the cold regions of China, the existing rural houses are widely distributed and in large numbers. There are widespread problems such as low thermal performance of building envelopes, high building energy consumption, and poor indoor thermal environments. Reducing the energy consumption of building heating by reforming the envelope structure can reduce the environmental pollution caused by heating. In this paper, the existing rural houses in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province are taken as the research object, and EnergyPlus software is used to calculate building heating energy consumption, and the schemes are compared and selected via the entropy value method. Based on a comprehensive benefit evaluation, the best scheme for the renovation of building envelopes of rural houses in Tongchuan City is put forward. The research results show that the energy saving rate of buildings can reach more than 50% after renovation. In the evaluation of energy saving, incremental cost, return on investment, carbon emission reduction and unguaranteed hours, the weights are 0.1915, 0.2104, 0.2312, 1755, and 0.187, respectively. The best renovation scheme for rural housing is as follows: the thickness of the XPS board is 90 mm for exterior wall insulation; the thickness of the XPS board is 80 mm for roof insulation; the window-to-wall ratio of additional sunspace is 0.6; and the type of exterior windows is a broken-bridge hollow aluminum window of 6 + 12A + 6 (mm).

Study on the Stability of Cut Slopes Caused by Rural Housing Construction in Red Bed Areas: A Case Study of Wanyuan City, China

The red beds that are widely distributed in hilly areas in eastern Sichuan Province are inevitable rock and soil masses in engineering construction. In order to obtain a larger building area, engineering slope cutting is quite common in red bed hilly areas. Engineering slope cutting destroys the inherent stability of a slope and causes geological disasters. In order to practice the concept of sustainable development and explore ways to develop and utilize land resources reasonably and reduce the possibility of geological disasters caused by engineering slope cutting, this paper took the slope cutting sites caused by rural housing construction in the red bed area of Wanyuan City as research objects. The internal and external factors affecting the stability of the cut slopes were summarized through a field investigation, and two typical slopes were selected for analysis. Sampling and indoor tests were conducted to obtain the geotechnical parameters. Geo Studio software (2018 R2) was employed to establish numerical models, simulate the stress and strain distributions, and compute stability coefficients under different slope cutting conditions at the same time. Based on field investigations and numerical simulations, the three main failure modes of shallow landslides caused by slope cutting were summarized, and the evolution process of slope landform accelerated by slope cutting activities was deduced. In an engineering application, the functional relationship between the cutting height and the stability coefficient was fitted. It was found that the critical cut height values of soil slope were 6.3 m, 6.2 m, 5.2 m, and 2.6 m at slope of 10°, 20°, 30° and 40°, respectively; the critical cut height values of rock–soil mixed slope were 9.3 m, 6.5 m, 5.9 m, and 2.2 m at slope of 10°, 20°, 30° and 40°, respectively. The research findings can be used to prevent and manage the hazards caused by slope cutting in this study area.

Land, landowners, and the delivery of affordable homes on rural exception sites in England

Land is a major part of the total cost of residential development, particularly in advanced economies where significant proportions of economic value resolve to land and where land for development is rationed through planning systems that seek to corral extractable value into specific locations, in support of the infrastructure investment needed to unlock development opportunity. In England, strong markets assign a high value for land allocated for housing in local plans, relative to unallocated land. In England’s rural areas, constraints on land development – for reasons of landscape and amenity protection, or to support food security – contribute to significant affordability challenges for households on lower rural wages, who may be out-competed in the housing market by adventitious purchasers, or simply by more affluent buyers bidding for a limited supply of rural homes. Planned development (on sites allocated in a local plan) may not meet the needs of lower-income groups in constrained rural housing markets. For that reason, it is necessary to support housing affordability by granting exceptional permission for development on unallocated land, and then negotiating land sales at a price that will allow a non-profit housing provider (a ‘registered provider of social housing’) to build affordable rented homes for local households in need. Development on ‘rural exception sites’ (RES) has a thirty-year history. It is an important means of supporting the development of affordable homes in smaller villages (market-led schemes on allocated sites are the norm in larger settlements, with affordable homes procured through agreement with for-profit developers). The RES approach lays bare the impact of land cost on housing affordability. Only if a sufficiently low price for land, which is well below ‘full residential’ value, can be agreed will it be viable to develop affordable homes, with rents matching local wages. Where such a price is agreed, it may be possible to build homes without cash subsidy. If the price rises, affordability may be threatened, unless public grant support is more generous or market homes on the RES can be used to mitigate a higher land cost by providing cross-subsidy for affordable homes. This monograph details research exploring the recent granting of exceptional planning permissions in England, the critical relationship with landowners, and how those landowners may be incentivized to sell land at a price that supports affordability. It analyses extant threats to the approach, and therefore the risk that a key mechanism for delivering affordable homes may be undermined by a market logic that continuously questions the efficacy of ‘non-market’ and ‘non-profit’ housing solutions in England.

Research on Optimized Design of Rural Housing in Cold Regions Based on Parametrization and Machine Learning

With the rapid development of urbanization, the emergence of more self-built buildings in the countryside has brought about energy waste problems and decreased comfort. Achieving the low-carbon goal and improving the quality of the human living environment through architectural and planning means have become vital issues. In this study, from a parametric perspective, model building and performance simulation are carried out using Rhino and Grasshopper, and a multi-objective optimization method and a neural network model are used as the theoretical basis to train the prediction model after data collection and processing. The model validation of R2 = 0.988 and MSE = 0.0148 indicates that the model can accurately reflect the program’s performance. By establishing a rapid prediction model for the performance of rural residential buildings, decision-makers can perform performance predictions under various parameter combinations at the early design stage, facilitating the screening of building types with high energy consumption and costs. The method can improve the efficiency of decision-making at the early stage of design, help save decision-making costs by screening high-energy-consuming building types, improve the living conditions of residents, reduce carbon emissions, and contribute to the sustainable development of residential building renewal design in rural areas.

Rural housing-jobs synergy at the county level in mountainous and hilly areas of China: Spatio-temporal pattern and driving mechanism

Rural decline is a severe global problem. The sustainable development of rural areas is in jeopardy due to rapid migration out of rural areas and the separation of rural housing and jobs. Rural housing-jobs synergy (RHJS) is conducive to promoting high-quality and sustainable development of rural areas. Based on rural permanent population, rural employment population, and rural working-age population data from 2007 to 2020, this study applied spatial autocorrelation analysis and Geodetector model to explore the spatio-temporal pattern and driving factors of RHJS at the county scale in Chongqing. Results showed that RHJS in Chongqing demonstrated a steady upward trend and showed spatial heterogeneity. The spatial layout of RHJS was characterized by spatial agglomeration. RHJS hotspots are all located in the yuzhong district and has advantages in terms of its natural resource environment and market placement, while the coldspots are concentrated in the northeast of Chongqing with generally poor conditions. The internal drivers of county RHJS have gradually shifted from a mix of resource-environmental factors and economic factors to a combination of economic factors and social public service factors, with the influence of social public service factors increasing. Market location was the main external driving factor for RHJS, and the influence of technological innovation factors is growing. The degree of influence of the selected variables in each driver on RHIS varies spatially and temporally, and improving RHIS can be accomplished by optimizing the industrial structure, boosting investment in science and technology, and improving the quality of social public services such as healthcare. The proximity of provincial capital cities, the income ratio of urban and rural residents, and the altitude have a significant negative effect on the regional divergence, they are the main variables affecting the RHJS divergence. These findings will assist decision-makers in developing future rural sustainable development policies for the construction of livable and employable villages and optimize rural areas spatial structures by RHJS situation and its driving factors in various regions of counties in mountainous and hilly ecologically fragile areas, and also serve as a useful reference for sustainable a rural development research in other developing countries.