Low-income housing : alternative strategies for building construction and project control

Housing low-income groups, who cannot afford even the most minimal shelter, remains a dominant issue in most developing countries. However, all the solutions advanced so far depend on large investments, either by the Government or by the individuals concerned, which neither of them can afford. This thesis examines squatter settlements in Aurangi, Karachi (Pakistan) and identifies issues related to housing and the policies currently being implemented. The results of that investigation indicate that housing the low-income, given the economy and housing policies in most developing countries, can most effectively be realized by encouraging self-help methods. before self-help methods. can be realized construction techniques have to be simplified. This thesis proposes an alternate construction method which promises to simplify some of the building tasks in construction of low-rise dwellings, and hopes to reduce the overall material costs in construction. This method relies on using fabrics as formwork in construction. This formwork is used in making walls, beams, and domes. A cost comparison is made with the current construction techniques in the country and the proposed building strategy is found to be highly competitive.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1982

Author dc:creator

• Sultan, Javed

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Waclaw Zalewski and Robert D. Logcher.

• Architecture.
• Civil Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79932

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/79932