An Overview to Social Sustainabilty - Electives Sem 7
‘Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ - The Brundtland Report
Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report, was published in October 1987 by the United Nations. This led to the foundation of what we today know as sustainable development, which has three important focus areas, environmental, economical and social.
It says ‘The concept of sustainable development does imply limits – not absolute limits but limitations imposed by the present state of technology and social organization on environmental resources and by the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities.’ - The Brundtland Report
The report helped in bringing attention to the aspects of human development. It also allowed a sense of important parameters that could be worked towards in order to create a more balanced way of life that could sustain the growth and development of the future generations. However, in discussions the focus on economics and then the environmental aspects lead the social aspects of development isolated. However over time, architects and planners, through their concentrated efforts tried to better and uplift the social aspects of human life. The elective – Social Sustainability, a part of Fourth year of students of architecture looked at the works of some of the planners and architects like the likes of Francis Kere, Elemental, Sameep Padora and others who strived to focus on the social needs to bring balance and equity in their projects. The elective focused on the rural, urban and city planning challenges, the three of them are presented here, and solutions that were learnt through case studies and research.
RURAL SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
WHAT IS RURAL SUSTAINABILITY ?
Rural sustainability can be defined as a continuous search for development strategies(aimed at a general improvement in the human condition) to maintain and produce“healthy” rural communities in which economic, socio-cultural, political and environmental values are compatible and which respond to any imperatives in these dimensions, at least in the long run. Rural sustainability, like urban sustainability, is a social construction. This perspective stresses the point that the search for rural sustainability is therefore a dynamic one, as information, understanding and values concerning the different dimensions evolve overtime.
Human population density (both urban and rural) serves as an important study tool, necessary to measure the balance between the total capacity of the physical environment necessary to support the perpetually rising global population, especially in the context of the developing or underdeveloped nations.
The density of the human population has long been a fundamental and key integrative concept in geography and forms a crucial link between human populations and their physical environments, acting as a principal factor mediating the extent and intensity of their mutual impact. The studies on population density have primarily focused on the constantly increasing human population and subsequent impact of this increase on the physical environment and the resources available. Since the idea of sustainability embraces environmental, economic and social issues and the complex interdependence between these dimensions, a broad approach needs to be adopted at the planning and management level to shed light on this multi-dimensional picture.
ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS BY THE COMMUNITIES
Vastu-Shilpa Foundation – INDIA (Gujrat)
Gandhi Nu Gam
A devastating earthquake struck the state of Gujarat in India in January 2001 leaving 20,000 dead and millions homeless. The worst hit area was the region of Kutchchh. This is a hot arid area with hamlets spread over the remote areas of the desert. The traditional houses here are circular, built with adobe bricks and a conical thatch roof and are richly embellished with clay and mirror relief work. Art, culture and architecture are symbiotically interwoven. Each dwelling consists of two to three bhungas (circular dwellings) on a plinth compound. Younger people have abandoned these in favour of rectilinear stone and concrete houses. After the earthquake it was found that the circular houses were still standing whereas the rectilinear ones were completely destroyed. Many villages and hamlets were devastated in the earthquake. Gandhi Nu Gam was one of these.
Vastu-Shilpa Foundation (VSF) for Studies and Research in Environmental Design took up the initiative and involved itself with the rehabilitation processes for thirteen earthquake affected villages including Gandhi Nu Gam
The local people were involved throughout the planning process. This included a reconnaissance of the existing settlements and a discussion of needs, aspirations and requirements. These were then translated into plans for discussion by the local community. Feedback and redesign continued until all the residents were satisfied.
Surveys were carried out to ascertain the existing conditions and a site plan was developed based on the traditional patterns of clusters around open spaces.
Training and provision of tools and other facilities were provided to encourage the restoration of local income generating opportunities after all previous infrastructure had been destroyed in the earthquake. Improvements to the farming system (check dam and pond, new farming methods) were introduced to ensure higher levels of agricultural output.
All materials used in construction are locally produced. The adobe blocks are made from the local earth and dried in the sun. Windows and doors are made on site using local timber. The design and production of the adobe blocks using a ram was informed by government guidance on appropriate technologies.
The total cost for 455 houses, community centre, infrastructure, health and education facilities was US$630,000. The cost of each dwelling was US$740, of which 20 per cent was met by the resident in terms of land, labour and materials.
The project constructed 455 traditional bhungas together with three schools, a grass bank, community buildings, production centres, religious shrines, the electricity network and a water harvesting system. Sixty of these dwellings were on a new site situated centrally among the existing settlements in the area; the remaining dwellings were in the existing hamlets spread over a 10 km2 area. Each dwelling was provided with its own individual dual pit latrine system and a bathing cubicle.
The project aims included:
The redevelopment of an entire village devastated by an earthquake in a holistic, sustainable and participatory manner.
To maintain the local socio-cultural traditions.
To improve the economic conditions and opportunities for the local community.
What is the social impact?
The entire project was predicated on the participatory process with all villagers involved in the designing and planning of their new village. Residents were involved in all key decisions including choice of relocation site, settlement patterns and the dwelling type.
There are further indications that the traditional low status role of women is changing. These include the fact that women are active partners in the economic base of the family due to their handicraft skills and as the primary earner their status, dignity and self-esteem have all increased
Yasmeen Lari – PAKISTAN
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In 2005, when an earthquake hit the Northern Areas of Pakistan killing 80,000 people and leaving 400,000 families displaced, Lari’s life and work changed forever. Lari used her experience of working with mud on some of her earliest projects – the barracks in Bahawalpur of the early ’80s, and a couple of schools built near Karachi – to rehabilitate the earthquake victims. Building traditions were eschewed in favour of prefab housing, concrete structures and galvanised iron sheets. Using mud, lime, stone and wood from the debris to make houses that were both cost-effective and eco-friendly, Lari worked with a large number of people who had lost everything. With a team of volunteers she taught people to use indigenous materials to build better and safer, encouraging the victims to work on a self-help basis rather than depending on government assistance.
Over the years, Lari’s experience of working in mud, lime and bamboo in disaster areas has enabled her to hone her skills to an art form. With the outbreak of conflict in Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2007, Lari started working in bamboo to provide facilities such as community kitchens in refugee camps. When in 2010 floods hit the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces, Lari diverted her attention to this area, using her knowledge of working with bamboo to make shelters with mud, lime and bamboo – all sustainable materials with a zero carbon footprint – and community centres on stilts, allowing the flood waters to flow through without any damage or harm to those sheltered within.
By 2014, 40,000 zero-carbon shelters had been constructed. The result was that, in the floods of 2012 and 2013, there was no loss of life, livestock or property in the areas in which she had worked. Similarly, when earthquakes hit Pakistan – in the Balochistan province in 2013 and then in Shangla in the north in 2015 – Lari designed earthquake-resistant shelters using earth, lime and bamboo, tested to resist movements many times greater than the Kobe earthquake.
The project aims included:
Shunning the weak, mass-produced houses offered by international organisations.
Vernacular techniques used and local materials like lime and bamboo, with a tiny carbon footprint and simple enough for people to build themselves.
Why are these projects innovative?
Participatory design and development
Continuity of tradition as well as using the opportunity for change
Sustainable development (environmental and social)
Integrated development – provision of infrastructure, opportunities for income generationUse of technologies appropriate to an earthquake-prone/ flood-prone areas.
URBANIZATION
It is the growth of cities, brought about by a migration of the population from the rural areas and small communities to the large and concentrated habitation of the cities. The change from a largely an agriculture driven economy to an industry driven society. A society that later on developed a service based society with a lot of infrastructure both human and urban was needed to support this growth. This resulted in the development of cities and towns on formerly agricultural or natural lands. Globally –
* Roughly 39-50% of land has been converted to human uses.
* The world’s urban population was 50% in 2000 and is estimated to be 70% by 2050.
THE IMPACTS (CHALLENGES)
DENSITY
The huge shift of population from the rural to the urban areas for livelihood and a better standard of living has had a huge impact on the density and concentration of population. As urban areas were planned and a focus on providing infrastructure, they were attractive destinations. However, the scale and size of the cities were planned for a certain population. As cities welcomed more people then they were planned for, a crisis of population density unfolded.
The overall spaces in the city have reduced. The extreme density in the cities do not allow for horizontal development leading to highly dense vertical growth. This has further fuelled to accommodating a larger number of people in a relatively smaller region leading to lack of open spaces and congestion. In turn this has led to high density of traffic and pollution.
POVERTY
With the increase in urbanization, it has led to an increase in poverty, as the costs of living and fulfilling the basic needs have reached the skies. People who migrate from villages for work to earn the living, cannot afford the high rent of houses in the city and end up living in slums.
This brings the need of incremental or social housing, which they can afford easily and help them live a stable and good life. It also gives rise to affordable housing which can be easily occupied by lower income group people and give them a healthy social life.
LACK OF OPEN / SOCIAL SPACES
Urbanization is the development of cities, taking them to a higher level with increasing population, growing construction, career opportunities and civic infrastructures like healthcare, education and recreational facilities. However, urban centres rely heavily on efficiency in its overall performance and thus end up focusing on only the economic aspect. As the space in the city is less, each inch of the city should try to achieve an economic achievement to justify investing in it. As the economy comes to focus other aspects like social and cultural fabric take a back seat.
Apart from this urbanization is almost always at loggerheads with the environment. A growth of city centres is usually synonymous with deforestation, pollution, poor air and water quality.
But the impact which it causes on our social lives is heartbreaking. With the busy lifestyle and this race to move forward and achieve our goals, we have lost our social life or rather left it far behind us. A common phenomenon in the city is being extremely self involved and aloof to being a part of the society. So much so that we have no clue about the things happening around us, no clue of who our neighbours are or what exactly it is to sit with people and spend time. We are caught up in our small niches that we call life.
Hence, comes the concept of social housing to deal with isolation or incremental housing to deal with density or affordable housing to deal with poverty. It is not only affordable but social housing also brings in people together in a way that they can communicate and spend time together. Social housing projects are designed in such a way that they create community spaces which might bring people together and give them a chance to express themselves in a safe environment and communicate. It gives people a chance to come together.
CASE STUDIES
CASA HILO- a contemporary social housing type for a rural environment.
The development is based on a modular system of volumes, allowing for flexible arrangements and the ability for homes to be extended in size. The project focuses on external spaces that help blur the boundary between indoor and outdoor environments while also providing natural light and ventilation.
The units are also created as a separate space, each one having a front door and a covered terrace. By doing this, the residents can access different parts of the house via the garden areas rather than using typical corridor spaces to circulate. for ‘casa hilo’, the program includes two bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room, and a bathroom.
The prototype is designed with a great importance placed on garden space.
Udan Low Cost Housing, India
Rather than consolidating the 10% amenity into the de-facto clubhouse disconnected from daily use, the design integrated it as a series of dispersed common social programs throughout the building. Since residents would pass by these on a regular day to day basis, the chance of these being maintained well were also much higher.
Vivazz, Mieres Social Housing – Asturias, Spain
Designed by French-Belgian design studio Zigzag Architects, the Vivazz, Mieres project maintains a connection to nature. While the outward-facing sections of the structure are made of corrugated steel, their inward-facing counterparts feature a ‘double skin’ featuring large windows and wooden shutters and the open spaces in the design allow natural light to enter and air to circulate. Complementing the views of the surrounding mountain scape, the development makes use of solar power and passive solar energy.
URBAN OR CITY PLANNING, WHY DO WE NEED IT?
Urban planning and city planning have a significant role to play in the overall functioning and aesthetics of a city, representing the economic, social, political and environmental growth and well-being. A well planned city aids in making the city more resilient, efficient with public transport, comfortable and transparent with ease of access and making itself more equitable with pedestrian friendly infrastructure that is for all and for motored transits alone.
Thriving cities have a vision and follow it through with a framework to develop in an orderly manner. A framework is not about centralized command and control but a way to anticipate needs, coordinate efforts, and draw a path to a horizon that is collectively held.
An appropriate urban form is very important and housing, employment, accessibility and safety are key concerns for urban dwellers. The topics that are strongly correlated to urban form are the right policies on density, land use, public space and the layout of infrastructure and services can make a difference in delivering quality of life at the right price point. Continuity generates credibility and successful cities have ensured continuity of plans through political cycles, realizing that a stable road map would make them more credible. Spatial planning is an asset to reduce uncertainties and thus its continuity contributes to the creation of transparent opportunities for an engaged society.
Effective city development strategies need internal consistency, targeted scope, measurable achievement, incentives to drive performance, a flexible framework and constant vision.
CURRENT CHALLENGES AND TRENDS TO BE MANOEUVRED
Urbanisation and rapid growth in urban fringes has led to development of new set of challenges to be taken care of. Sporadic growth in population in different locations around the world has in itself added to tertiary set of challenges, wherein while designing the city space; subsets of – context, climate, traditions, culture, economic development and many other factors need to be on a constant updating mode.
Accommodating houses, amenities and ample amount of green spaces altogether makes it another challenge. Modern times need modern amenities and solutions and same reflects on the city planning. A city should have the nodes, edges, paths, vistas planned in such a way that it makes it viable for the citizens. Connectivity of open green spaces with the commercial complexes, residential as well other amenities needs to be stressed upon; especially in a country like India. A systematic segregation of roads, pedestrian pathways, cycling tracks is something that needs to be implemented in more of South-Asian countries.
The European city planning strategies can become a key learning factor in most of the South-Asian countries. Strategies include reduction in CO2 emission, use of renewable energy sources, net zero-waste standards and sustainable means of living with pedestrian friendly streets and infrastructure that promotes and supports cycling.
Majority of the European countries have started practising more of sustainable means of lifestyle which is rapidly being prototyped in many parts of the world. The recent case studies insist the rapid change and adaptability around the world.
CASE STUDY – NUREMBERG, GERMANY
Nuremberg was recently recognized for as the #1 Sustainable Large City in Germany for 2016. Nuremberg West has excellent locational and development potential and is well suited for the development of a viable and liveable city both from an economic and social perspective. The highlight of the city planning is the community involvement into the design convocations and implementation of various design briefs. Measures included in plan energy efficiency, building refurbishment, use of renewable energy in transportation.
With all this “green” going for it, Nuremberg is home to many sustainable technology companies and research institutes which in turn draws major sustainable industry events and conferences to the city. In Nuremberg, the city wanted to lead by example: every February, Biofach, which according to organizers is the world's largest trade fair for organic products, takes place in the northern Bavarian city.
SALZBURG
The city has been using a trolleybus system since 1940. The Salzburg trolley bus is here to stay and the system is quiet, efficient, exhaust-free, and well-used.
The city recently tested a driverless minibus in the city center. Salzburg's foray into driverless transit isn't aiming for transformational changes to the current transit system. Instead, the city's goal is to simply connect those nagging first and/or last miles of one's commute, a key factor in getting people to use public transit. According to an article in The Local, the autonomous minibus is really "a supplementary mode of transport to help people get from the bus or train stop to their homes." It can transport up to 15 passengers and drive safely up to a maximum speed of 45 km/h and is perfect for narrow streets.
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CONCLUSION
Residential standards need to be improved to appeal broad standards of population. The mix and density of uses should be supported and enhanced. The quality of stay in the open spaces and streets should be improved while simultaneously creating new green spaces and integrating the green/recreation spaces. Improving the links between open spaces and reducing the numerous barriers that exist are essential to achieve these objectives. Local mobility concepts should generally be upgraded while creating high-quality space for new, resource-efficient forms of mobility. Long-term retrofit strategies for buildings and infrastructure must be initiated promptly and can have a lasting impact in becoming energy efficient.
The case study and the literature learnt from the elective – Social Sustainability, enhanced our thinking towards the intricate city planning details with respect to sustainable materials, technological advancements, planning requirements and architectural growth in general. Services getting automated is attracting more crowds with passing years and it is said that by 2030 about 60% of the world’s population will be residing in the cities. The goalpost for architects and planners is to accommodate the population and its needs not only by constructing concrete structures but also making them equally efficient. High-rise buildings are a good option to this task.
The solutions may sound easy but come along with a larger multitude and factual data to be analysed and calculated.
By: Shivani Golatkar, Mansi Mehta, Niyati Gosrani and Faculty - Smit G
This is an amazing analytical coverage. Nice assimilation of thoughts very well articulated, kudos to the team of Mentor and Students. Well Done!
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