A ‘Dream-House’ For Luanda’s Low Income Population: Analysing Perceptions, Aspirations and Reality through a Participatory Post-Occupancy Assessment (PPOA) Framework

Luanda is one of the fastest developing and more prospective growing cities in Africa. Such view of economic development is frequently associated to a sharp population increase and subsequent physical expansion of cities' footprint. A phenomenon also observed in Luanda, especially as a result of successive rural-urban migration waves in search of safety during the many years of civil war. Although the armed conflict ceased in 2002 this upward demographic trend remains present today, putting extra pressure on an already saturated urban infrastructure. Luanda now accommodates more than 6.5 million people, although still partially relying on services and infrastructure dating back to the 1970s when it was planned for an approximate number of 475,000 inhabitants. In light of the above a renewed Luanda is taking shape whilst the capital’s periphery is gradually populated with thousands of new houses destined to the low-income population, some of whom were previously residents of informal areas (musseques) within the city. As a consequence presently and probably more than ever, the last decade has witnessed an increasing awareness of general housing issues in Angola. Topics such as urban growth, homelessness, and housing conditions, are now frequently raised and widely debated by academics, the media, national and international NGOs, local authorities and the general population. Moreover, and in line with international initiatives towards rethinking the urban agenda and improving the living conditions in slums worldwide, these discussions have been gradually translating into national policy making towards development of infrastructure, including provision of housing and intended improvement/upgrading of urban fabric. This is reflected for in the National Urbanism and Housing Programme - NUHP (Programa Nacional de Urbanismo e Habitação), a nation-wide programme set up by the Government in 2008/9 with the aim of mitigating housing scarcity by providing 1 million houses throughout the country. This government programme is also known as "My dream, My house" programme, a vague but catchy phrase alluding to the fulfilment of a dream of ownership and adequate living conditions, also supported by the article 85.º of the 2010 revised Constitutional Law of Angola which states that “every citizen has the right to appropriate housing and to a decent quality of life”. This research emerged from within this context and focused on issues of occupant perceptions and acceptability regarding quality of dwellings, especially in newly built low-cost mass housing developments located in the periphery of Luanda. It explored whether current proposals to alleviate high demand for housing are meeting people’s aspirations and needs, and ultimately improving their quality of life. Furthermore, it also explored whether the government’s goals to improve the quality of the urban fabric and infrastructure of Luanda are being met. Amongst promises of fulfilment of a "dream" of ownership and adequate living conditions, this research investigated the low-cost housing sector of Luanda as experienced and perceived by the inhabitants/occupants themselves. By carrying out a Participatory Post-Occupancy Assessment (PPOA), this work combined the technical framework of a building appraisal tool with a participatory approach to research. By doing so this thesis offered a contribution to knowledge arising from two perspectives, one focusing on methodological aspects and that of contextual nature. This research demonstrated that using PPOA as an appraisal tool may contribute to overcome issues often associated with importing methodological strategies disconnected from context-specific circumstances. Moreover, focusing on a capital city within the Global-South, it opened a door to further explore discussions around adaptation and tailoring of research approaches to development contexts. PPOA demonstrated potential to shed light into people's appropriation of space in an informal settlement and within a mass-housing setting, thus also creating knowledge around the wider process of socio-spatial urban transformation in Luanda. Although not intending to be statistically representative, this research highlighted what appears to be a gap between intentions and actual capacity of the NUHP's "dream-houses" to meet resident's aspirations. It suggests that the fulfilment of such goal relies on an holistic approach to housing that takes into account a variety of factors beyond the dwelling as a structure. One that also contemplates and acknowledges owner-driven adaptation strategies, whilst guaranteeing the contextual conditions and support of a fully functional planning and legal framework.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Macedo, Célia Maria Correia

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ogden, Ray
• Baiche, Bousmaha
• Sanderson, David

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/n07d-5e11

OAI identifier oai:identifier

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