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Space Design for Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in Summer: Passive cooling strategies for hot humid climates, inspired by Chinese vernacular architecture
Get PDFPassive cooling for thermal comfort in summer is a big issue in low-energy building design. An important reason is global warming because global warming increases the number of cooling degree days. In addition, the energy demand of buildings has increased rapidly due to both the improvement of living standards and the globalisation of modern architecture. And finally, cooling a building is especially a challenge in countries where few resources are available. Passive cooling techniques, where solar and heating control systems are applied, largely depend on the design of the urban morphology and the building shape. The first research question is therefore: What is the relationship between spatial configuration, thermal environment and thermal summer comfort of occupants and how to apply spatial configuration as the passive cooling strategy in architectural design?
Space is the empty part of a building, but its volume is important for the activities of occupants. Architects define the general spatial structure of a building mainly in the early design stages. There they define the spatial properties of a building, i.e. how the spaces are connected and what are the boundary conditions between the spaces. The final research question of this research therefore is: What is the relationship between spatial configuration, thermal environment and thermal summer comfort and how to apply spatial configuration as passive cooling strategy in architectural design in the early stages?
In order to answer this research question, this dissertation is divided into two main parts.
Part I is the theoretical research phase. The goal is to clarify the relationship between spatial configuration of buildings, the thermal environment and thermal comfort of occupants in summer. In this part, a literature review of the fundamental theoretical background knowledge of thermal comfort and passive cooling technology is summarised. As the author got his inspiration from Chinese vernacular architecture, the second step was conducting surveys and performing analyses of the spatial design, thermal environment and thermal summer comfort in Chinese vernacular buildings. Contemporary residential buildings were also investigated. A challenge was to find examples of contemporary buildings with appropriate spatial designs and thermal comfort as well as contemporary buildings with less successful spatial designs and thermal comfort. The third step was to find correlations between the occupants’ spatial and thermal perception through questionnaires. Questionnaires were held among Chinese as well as Dutch architecture students.
The main research outcome of part I is the definition of “building microclimate”. Building microclimate is defined as “a type of microclimate which involves indoor spaces and spaces surrounding the indoor spaces in a particular building”. It is not just the microclimate around the building; it also includes the indoor climate. A suitable building microclimate is important for the occupants’ thermal comfort in summer. Another research outcome of part I is the revelation of the relationship between spatial perception and adaptive thermal comfort. Combining the relationship between spatial perception and adaptive thermal comfort with the new definition of building microclimate leads to the conclusion that the spatial configuration of a building plays an important role in creating a particular building microclimate.
Part II is a practical research phase. The goal is to explore the possibility of using a spatial design method as a passive cooling strategy for thermal summer comfort and to demonstrate how to apply this method in the early design stages.
As a first step, the potential of using a space analysis method for passive cooling and thermal comfort was investigated. A convex spatial analysis method was developed from the traditional space syntax method to analyse the natural ventilation potential. Both the logical relationship between the spaces and the boundary conditions between the spaces can influence the accessibility of a particular spatial configuration, and thus influence the potential for natural ventilation. The convex space analysis method is chosen for the preliminary analysis to show the logical relationships between spaces. It cannot completely predict natural ventilation, but it is a graphical method that is easy to use. Architects conceive design solutions generally through graphic methods, making the convex space analysis a good design tool. The extended visibility graph analysis (VGA) method is the best choice for the natural ventilation potential analysis for a spatial configuration. The isovist measure can be used for the natural ventilation potential of a single space.
Two case studies were performed to demonstrate the proposed method for architectural design in the early design stages. The main finding of part II is the potential of using spatial indicators to predict the airflow performance of buildings. New applications of the developed space syntax methods are proposed to help architects in designing a contemporary building that is thermally more comfortable and that has a lower energy demand for cooling.
This research is performed at the cross disciplines of architectural spatial design, passive cooling and thermal comfort. This research proposes several ideas for the first time. The term “building microclimate’ is one. The application of a spatial design parameter for thermal comfort is another. This research can contribute to the sustainable development of buildings, Chinese ones in particular. It can help design residential buildings for occupants with low and medium incomes by decreasing the necessity of air conditioning and improving the living environment for thermal comfort as well. This research is also valuable for passive or zero-energy design of houses in the Netherlands and the Mediterranean area. This research will enrich the green building science by introducing enhanced space syntax methods for adaptive thermal comfort and for passive cooling by means of spatial design.
This thesis is mainly composed of a collection of the author’s published papers
Stations as Nodes: exploring the role of stations in future metropolitan areas from a French and Dutch perspective
Get PDFAt the main point of intersection between the railway and the city, stations are key elements in the organization of the intermodal transport as well as catalysts of urban developments in metropolises, medium and small cities. The focus of this publication is to explore the enrichment of a renewed approach of railway stations as intermodal nodes, therefore acting as breeding grounds for both urban and social developments.
This book has been initiated and built upon several activities currently running at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute), Delft University of Technology (DIMI, Delft Deltas Infrastructure Mobility Initiative and Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment) and University of Paris-Est (l’í‰cole d’Urbanisme de Paris). These activities have been framed within the context of two rapidly developing metropolitan areas: Randstad in the Netherlands and Mí©tropole du Grand Paris in the Ile de France. This volume forms the basis for a research on the ‘role of stations in future metropolitan areas’ with the ambition to link the two countries, learning from their different cities and distinct geographical context through comparable mobility challenges on the levels of the inner city, suburban and peripheral areas.
In line with these considerations, in 2018 AMS Institute, TU Delft/ DIMI and the Dutch Embassy in Paris with Atelier Ní©erlandais organized a successful workshop: ‘Stations of the Future’, in collaboration with La Fabrique de la Cití©. Together with Dutch and French planning entities, involving mass transit operators and railway companies, this workshop focused on several case studies in both metropolitan areas to understand the role of station hubs as intermodal nodes. During this joint French-Dutch event that took place in Paris, we spoke on topics like Station as intermodal node, Station as destination and Station as data center, including a debate on the relation between public space and architecture, densification and programming of station areas, pedestrian flows management and the integration of data.
Following the Paris workshop, the summer school ‘Integrated Mobility Challenges in Future Metropolitan Areas’ was organised by AMS Institute and Delft University of Technology/DIMI with the collaboration of the ARENA architectural research network, University of Paris-Est and the City of Amsterdam. This 8-day workshop extended the debate among international young professionals, academics and master students by looking at an important rail-metro node in the metropolitan area of the city Amsterdam: Sloterdijk Station — a crucial hub in a bigger urban area for mobility and exchange, and for urban growth. The main question was: which approaches and scenarios can be tested and applied to these intermodal nodes, particularly when dealing with lack of space and growing number of users? The results were four very different plans to improve the Sloterdijk Station area and to make the station a ‘future proof’ intermodal hub.
In this publication, invited experts from practice and knowledge institutes in France and the Netherlands share their common experience and draw on specific aspects and problems of conception, management and development of stations. A brief overview of the results of the two initiatives ‘Stations of the Future’ and the summer school ‘Integrated Mobility Challenges in Future Metropolitan Areas’ is here illustrated, accompanied by photo reportages of both events and by a curated reportage of the Amsterdam Sloterdijk station area
New ideals in the Planning of Cities, Towns and Villages: John Nolen
No full textJohn Nolen’s New Ideals in the Planning of Cities, Towns and Villages is the most thorough assessment of city planning written by an American practitioner before 1920. It records the interplay of urban reform in Europe and the United States, the rise of the planning expert, the design of new towns, and the technique for directing urban expansion on systematic lines. Most importantly, it documents the blueprint for investing the “peace dividend” of the Great War to make urban life “more fit for democracy.”
Written for men fighting to make the world safe for democracy, New Ideals revealed how the domestic part of the peace program could justify their sacrifice. The federal wartime housing initiative had improved the living conditions of industrial workers and the same public regulation and control of the layout and character of residential neighborhoods could provide what “men of service expect to find on their return, a new and better type of workman’s home.”
While New Ideals strained towards the utopian, experience tempered Nolen’s expectations and the high aims of the book were not immediately realized in a post-war society seeking a return to pre-war normalcy. However, in the last decade, Nolen’s planned communities have been closely studied as the demand for pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods set on sustainable lines has moved from novelty to policy. New Ideals is an important text not only for its design template, but also its aspirations. Nolen’s call to “make cities that will serve the needs–physical, economic, and spiritual–of all people” lays at the heart of the city planning profession and the lessons Nolen imparted inform a new generation planning cities to be both resilient and just
Corporate Real Estate alignment: A preference-based design and decision approach
Get PDFOne of the long-standing issues in the field of corporate real estate management is the alignment of an organization’s real estate to its corporate strategy. In the last thirty years, fourteen Corporate Real Estate (CRE) alignment models have been made. In some of these CRE alignment models it is indicated that they strive for maximum or optimum added value. Even though extensive research into these existing CRE alignment models has provided us with valuable insights into the steps, components, relationships and variables that are needed in the alignment process, these models still fall short in two ways. Most models pay little to no attention to
1 The design of new CRE portfolios;
2 The selection of a new CRE portfolio that adds most value to the organization.
How a CRE manager is able to design and select an optimum alternative in an operational way remains a black box in many alignment models.
In CRE alignment models, the authors generally use either the stakeholder or the shareholder approach. Both approaches received criticism in the past. Kaplan and Norton (2006) state that the shareholder approach with purely financial measures of performance are not sufficient to yield effective management decisions. Jensen (2010) criticizes the stakeholder approach and states that managers in an organization need to define what is better and what is worse which forms the basis of making decisions. In his view, putting them in opposite positions is not correct because both are of a different nature. In fact, Jensen (2010, p. 33) states “ ... whether firms should maximize value or not, we must separate two distinct issues;
1 Should the firm [organization] have a single-valued objective?;
2 And, if so, should that objective be value maximization or something else ...?"
I agree with Jensen’s view that a single-valued objective function is needed, but argue that in our CREM domain a financial measure is not fully suitable. A financial measure is not suitable, because values (also referred to as qualities) of buildings fall in two general categories.
These categories are often interrelated and overlap in practice as explained by Volker (2010, p. 17), the categories are:
—— “technical, physical, hard, functional, objective or tangible qualities;
—— perceptual, soft, subjective, judgmental or intangible values.”
These intangibles are vital to CRE management but often suppressed. Real estate decision making therefore needs to be able to include all of these values in order to be purposeful. If they are treated separately, the restriction is that one effect can be more difficult to monetize than the other effect, as shown by Mouter (2012) and if multiple measures are used as in the stakeholder approach ”if you take one set of quantifiable impacts and one set of non-quantifiable impacts in an appraisal, one set will dominate” (Mishan, in Mouter, 2012, p. 10).
Research aim: The aim of this research is to enhance CRE alignment by improving CRE decision making in such a way that corporate real estate managers are able to determine the added value of a particular corporate real estate strategy quickly and iteratively design many alternative real estate portfolios.
Conclusions about developing the Preference-based Accommodation Strategy design and decision approach
This research successfully developed, tested and evaluated a new design and decision approach in corporate real estate alignment that makes it possible to design alternative CRE portfolios and then to select the portfolio that adds most value to the organization. The originality of this research to (1) define value as technically equivalent to preference and (2) use a design and decision approach for the alignment problem. This new approach is called the Preference-based Accommodation Strategy design and decision approach (PAS). PAS was developed and tested in accordance with the five stages of an operations research project. PAS is constructed upon fifteen basic concepts and definitions from management science, decision theory and design methodology.
Preference Measurement and Preference-Based Design are the most important basic concepts. By using the overall preference (value) score as overall performance measure, based on a single-valued objective function, CRE managers are able to select a new CRE portfolio that adds the most value to the organization. Following Barzilai (2010), all tangible and intangible values are categorized either as physical or nonphysical properties of an object. To enable the application of mathematical operations to these non-physical properties, such as preference, Barzilai (2010) developed a theory of (preference) measurement as well as a practical evaluation methodology Preference Function Modeling for constructing proper preference scales. To enable the design of alternatives the Preference-based Design method (Binnekamp, 2011) is used as particular technique in the domain of design and decision systems. By adjusting this method it can be used on portfolio level.
PAS is structured around three decision making rationalities (Kickert, in De Leeuw, 2002). The three components are; the steps (procedural rationality), the stakeholders & activities (structural rationality) and the mathematical model (substantive rationality) as shown in Figure S.1. The substantive rationality enables the decision maker to choose an alternative based on the bounded rationality perspective. The procedural rationality enables the decision maker to take into account the time perspective when selecting an alternative and the structural rationality enables that more than one decision maker is involved. By using all concepts past experience has benefited the development of PAS. For PAS to be operational all components are connected coherently.
The coherence between the components is shown in a flowchart in Figure S.2. In the steps, decision makers define decision variables representing accommodation aspects that make the accommocation stratgy tangible and iteratively test and adjust these variables by designing new alternative real estate portfolios. The alternative design that adds most value to the organization, i.e. has the highest overall preference score, is the portfolio that optimally aligns real estate to corporate strategy. The activities that the participants perform are a series of interviews and workshops, while the system engineer builds the accompanying mathematical models. The approach overcomes the problems inherent to the current models and uses explicit scales for measuring preference, i.e. value, defined by stakeholders themselves.
Conclusions about testing PAS
PAS is tested successfully in three pilot studies. All pilot studies show that the stakeholders were able to perform all the steps and activities, including the steps to determine preference curves (step 2) and the design alternatives themselves (step 5). The stakeholders were able to design an alternative CRE portfolio with a higher overall preference than in the current situation Table S.1. An added value of 54, 17 and 5 (out of a 100) was achieved either by the stakeholders (in step 5a) or the optimization tool (in step 5b). In the last step, all stakeholders accepted that alternative as the final outcome. Next to that, there is an indication, based on the third pilot study, that the use of the preference curves in PAS improved the representation of the stakeholders preferences than in their current scorecard system.
In the first and third pilot, alternative CRE portfolios have been generated with an optimization tool (step 5b). Due to the nature of third pilot the brute force approach was used successfully in generating a global optimum (see Table S.1). In the first pilot, the algorithm (step 5b) was not able to generate a local optimum because a subset of the alternatives was infeasible. The feasible set of alternatives could not be characterized mathematically and was not available to the algorithm. The brute force approach is preferable to the search algorithm as it finds a global optimum instead of a local optimum but has as disadvantage that it often cannot be used when a pilot is too complex. In PAS, stakeholders design alternatives (step 5a), and use the PFM algorithm to rate them as has been done for the first two pilots.
Conclusions about evaluating PAS; iteration is the key
In all three pilots the stakeholders as well as the observers evaluated PAS very positively. According to the stakeholders, determining preferences and refining and adjusting them in collective workshops is the attractive part of PAS. The participants indicated that, whilst the method of determining preferences is easy, accurately determining which preference is related to a certain decision variable value is not.
Assigning preference scores to decision variable values can be arbitrary at first. By repeating the cycle of determining preferences and making designs a number of times, the stakeholders see the effect of the decisions made in the design, and how their preferences affect those decisions. In all pilot studies the decision makers used the opportunity to either add or remove decision variables and change curves, weights or constraints. The use of such a learning process in the context of work practice and problem solving is described by Schãn (1987) as reflection in action.
Conclusions about reflecting upon PAS
PAS as design and decision approach can be used as add-on to existing CRE alignment management models. However, using PAS as add-on in these models creates methodical difficulties. The structure of these models is often not congruent with the PAS structure. To avoid these difficulties, PAS is also described both from a systems’ management perspective (De Leeuw, 2002).
The three pilot studies showed that PAS can be applied in different organizations, and for different types of problems with a different level of complexity. In comparison, the first two pilots were more complex because more stakeholders were involved and more interventions were possible. Applying this approach to multiple context-dependent cases has yielded more valuable results than just applying it to one case. Based on the results of this study, it is justified that PAS can be used for a wide range of real estate portfolio types
Campuses, Cities and Innovation: 39 international cases accommodating tech-based research
Get PDFThe locations of technology campuses determine where innovation takes place. In a knowledge-based economy, the future of cities increasingly depends on the presence of universities, their industry partners, talent and (start-up) businesses. The relationship between (technology) campuses and cities was a central theme in Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel’s doctoral research, which was defended and published in September 2016. During her PhD study, she collected data of thirty-nine technology campuses, which we — as her promotor and co-promotor — considered worth a spin-off publication.
This publication “Campuses, cities and innovation” contains descriptions of 39 international cases that accommodate tech-based research activities. These case descriptions (in part B) are introduced with background information about concepts and methods (in part A) and reflected upon in conclusions and recommendations (in part C).
Based on our experience - after more than twenty years of campus research at TU Delft — we identified a demand for case study references to support decision making at both universities and municipalities. TU Delft’s campus research team aims at generating management information on all campus levels: from the changing academic workplace and new concepts for university buildings to the sustainable campus and the knowledge city. This book is part of a book series that combines insights from theory with references from practice, to contribute to smarter campus management.
With a large number of facts, figures and maps this book “Campuses, cities and innovation” is relevant for board members and (campus) management staff at universities as well as policymakers at municipalities and regional authorities. Additionally, decision-makers of industry partners, (start-up) businesses and (other) members of the campus community could be interested in comparing their campuses with worldwide examples.
“Innovation is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” was one of the propositions that Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel defended in September 2016. With this book, we wanted to take the opportunity to support the preparation process and hope to stimulate innovation
Work Floor Experiences of Supply Chain Partnering in the Dutch Housing Sector
Get PDFThe construction industry is known for its waste of money and materials, low innovative capacities, and low productivity (Cox and Thompson, 1997; Vrijhoef, 2011). One reason is that the relationships between client and contractors is often perceived as a problematic one (Tazelaar en Snijder, 2010; Vrijhoef, 2011). Since decades, attention has been paid to supply chain partnering (SCP) in the construction industry, as a promising strategy to decrease waste of time and money and increase quality and address the problematic relationships (Boukendour and Hughus, 2014; Bygballe et al., 2010; Eriksson, 2015; Hong et al., 2012; Vrijhoef, 2011).
Despite the attention, it is hard to exactly pinpoint the concept of SCP. Many definitions, synonyms and related concepts circulate and it seems that SCP has increasingly become a buzz-word that represents ‘good practices’ in the construction sector. Nevertheless, applying SCP may involve ‘hard’ factors, such as early involvement of the contractor in the project, open book accounting, re-allocation of risks, and working with preferred partners. SCP may also involve ‘soft’ factors, such as increasing mutual trust between partners, increasing competences of conflict resolution or trying to establish more effective communication between partners. Some scholars argue that SCP should be considered as an emergent practice which can take on many different shapes (e.g. Bresnen, 2009; Hartmann and Bresnen, 2011; Marshall and Bresnen, 2013a; Marshall and Bresnen, 2013b). This study focuses on SCP as an emergent strategy. An emergent strategy, contrary to a deliberated strategy, is a strategy that arises in ongoing daily complex responsive processes between individuals. While a deliberated strategy looks forward and prescribes what people should do, an emergent strategy looks back and describes what people already do.
Studies that dig deeper in those work floor practices and truly consider SCP in construction industry as an emergent practice is relatively scarce. It is said that current literature on this topic is stylized and too abstracted from daily work practice. Individual experiences are averaged away in an attempt to develop a general theory. There is too little insight in what people actually do in daily work practice and how they form a strategy such as SCP. Work floor experiences of SCP should be studied, because without the insight, it is difficult (if not impossible) to intervene in an efficient and effective way and to improve performances.
To study work floor experience of SCP, a specific part of the construction sector was chosen. After all, experiences in different fields may differ. This study focuses on Dutch housing associations. Dutch housing associations own a third of the total Dutch housing stock. Being one of the biggest clients, they dominate the sector. Due to several reasons, Dutch housing associations have to cut back expenditures. Supply chain partnering is one way to try to do this. Within the context of Dutch housing associations, we chose to study the work floor experiences of the project leaders, because project leaders are important in translating principles of SCP into daily work floor routines.
Thus, the problem is that not enough attention has been paid to what goes on at work floor level when project leaders try to apply principles of supply chain partnering. This insight is necessary, because supply chain partnering is formed by ongoing processes of interactions between professionals in daily work practice. Therefore, to improve performances and intervene effectively, insight in work floor practices should increase. This research aims to describe work floor experiences of professionals who work for Dutch housing association and who attempt to apply SCP. To reach this target the following question will be answered:
What are work floor experiences of project leaders that work for Dutch housing associations who try to apply principles of SCP?
Just one broad open research question was formulated, so that work floor experiences could be studied holistically. By not formulating specified sub-questions beforehand, the right circumstances were created for themes to emerge inductively. These themes are:
The importance of the intra-organizational supply chain in effective collaboration
Leadership.
Inconsistent use of values that are associated with the concept of SCP.
Power dynamics and ethics.
This study relies on the assumption that current literature about construction partnering is too abstracted from daily work life. In order to justify this assumption, a literature review was conducted.
Another assumption on which this research relies, is that all knowledge is socially constructed and that this knowledge can only be known from an individual subjective frame of reference. Therefore, every notion of reality that people have is non-objective and limited by the boundaries of language. That means that this research presents a researcher’s interpretation of a social construct, which is in this case work floor experiences of supply chain partnering.
This research consists of a literature review, three case studies, and an overarching study in which the insights that are gained in the three case studies are synthesized. Although the research approach in each case differs slightly, in each case study narrative techniques are used.
The main method to gather data was conducting open, semi-structured interviews in which the participants were asked for their experiences with SCP and the context that enabled or restrained them for applying SCP. The main method to analyze data in each case study was constructing a narrative about and with the participants in the case study. For each case study narratives were created and validated by presenting the narrative to the participants. The cases were brought together in two ways. On the one hand, predetermined dimensions were used to compare the data and on the other hand themes have emerged inductively. Not surprisingly, the results of both ways overlap and interrelate.
RESULTS
The first case study presents the results of a study in which a work floor professional together with a researcher tried to contribute to the implementation of SCP within renovation processes of a Dutch housing association. The managing director purchased and introduced BIM-software, and some project leaders began to organize ‘BIMsessions’. That means that the project leader invited internal as well as external supply chain partners, to a develop plan for a housing complex. It appeared to be difficult for the project leader to lead this conversation. There is a lot of discussion about many topics, structure lacks and discussions end without conclusions. Questions about the organization’s policy about for example sustainability remain unanswered, even when the project leader asks his colleagues within his own organization. Finally, the project leader and the co-makers managed to develop a plan for the housing complex. However, while a lot of time was spend on developing the plan, a misunderstanding with the internal client caused serious uncertainty whether this project could continue at all.
The second case study followed multiple project leaders in a Dutch housing association who try to apply SCP. The department had just been reorganized. Among other structural differences, a new department of Purchasing was founded. Some project leaders considered this new department as an extra chain in the supply chain. One of their tasks was to select contractors, which was something that the project leaders used to do themselves. The narrative tells that a duo started to develop their own selection procedure and selectively ‘forgot’ to involve the department of Purchasing. Also other intra-organizational dynamics are described, for example the relationship between project leaders and their team leaders was not always easy. It was found that key values of SCP as understood by the project leaders - such as sharing responsibilities and addressing feedback towards each other openly - are applied inconsistently.
The third case study evaluated a team of professionals from a Dutch housing association and a contractor who perceive themselves as a successful supply chain. The collaboration grew in an organic way, because the contractor was selected multiple times in multiple selection procedures. The perceived successes seem to be based on the repetition in their collaboration. Remarkable in this case was that the individual interviews show that some people of the client organization within the successful supply chain, were considered as not so successful after all. About these people it was said, for example, that they try to control the contractor too much. Those people were aware of their image, but a conversation about it never took place. Instead, as one of the contractors said, they try to work around those people. The narrative also describes that during this case study, within the client organization it was decided not to work with preferred partners. That means that in the future the contractor still has to go through selection procedures and that makes continuation of the success in the future insecure.
CONCLUSIONS
Before conclusions of the case studies are detailed, first the results of a literature study about the nature of qualitative construction partnering research are discussed. Current literature about construction partnering research is said to be too abstracted from daily work life. Reviewing the nature of qualitative construction partnering research identified the following gaps. 1) Literature underexposes processes of data analysis. 2) Reflection on the role of the researcher(s) in the research process is underexposed. 3) The individual level of analysis is underexposed. 4) The way in which the results are generalized remain somewhat opaque, especially reflections on internal generalization are underexposed. All identified gaps have in common specific time and place dependent details that may have influenced understanding of studied individuals are underexposed and that may explain a feeling that current literature is abstracted from individual work experiences.
WHAT ARE WORK FLOOR EXPERIENCES OF PROJECT LEADERS WHO WORK FOR DUTCH HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS AND WHO TRY TO APPLY THE PRINCIPLES OF SCP?
The narratives describe that with or without a managerial intervention, some of the project leaders start experimenting with applying SCP. Individual initiatives have risen, albeit in a somewhat patchy and uncoordinated manner. The number and nature of supply chain partners is large, diverse, complex and dynamic. It appeared to be difficult to unify all the participants with different agendas and frames of reference. The cases address many issues in intra-organizational relations that hamper the collaboration with external partners. The work experiences also show that key values associated with SCP are applied only to some groups and individuals within the supply chain.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE CASES IN TERMS OF STRENGTH, SCOPE, DURATION AND DEPTH
The cases were compared using four dimensions that were provided by Eriksson (2015). The dimensions are strength, scope, duration and depth of SCP. This resulted in multiple observations. None of the project leaders worked with preferred partners (by-passing expensive and time-consuming procurement and selection procedures) in any case, and there is no indication that this will change in the future. In all three cases, it was expected that applying SCP would reduce costs, but there was no agreement as to what those costs were specifically. In general, pricing and cost remained a complex topic, and all project leaders referred to different aspects of this topic. Formally, the duration of relationship with the contractors was one project only. Informally, the respondents acknowledged that they expected to cooperate again with most of the contractors in the future. One reason for this could be the limited size of the regional market. The maintenance phase was not involved in the collaboration in any of the cases. The contractor’s timing of involvement varied between projects. However, in all cases, the outlines of the project, such as approximate budget and main technical interventions, were predetermined, and difficult and time consuming to change. Implementation of SCP (especially when applied for the first time in a project setting) was not perceived as something that necessarily leads to shorter duration of (parts of) the project. In all three cases, the managing directors of the departments of renovation supported SCP. However, the managers’ actual involvement in daily work practice was limited. Moreover, the support did not lead to changes in the formal strategy for the other departments in the organization outside the department of renovation and maintenance.
As described in the introduction of this thesis, this research deliberately started with one broad open research question for themes to emerge inductively. These four themes are: 1) the importance of the intra-organizational supply chain in effective collaboration. 2) Leadership. 3) Inconsistent use of key values that are associated with the concept of SCP. 4) Power dynamics and ethics. The four themes are elaborated below.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTRA-ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN IN EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION
All three cases show the importance of the intra-organizational supply chain on relationships with external partners. All three cases show examples of project leaders who try to collaborate with contractors, but were hindered by intra-organizational issues. For example, the first case study shows that a serious misunderstanding with the internal client caused uncertainty of the progress of a project in which a time was invested by the contractor. In the second case study, the newly founded department of purchasing was perceived by some project leaders as an extra chain in the supply chain, which makes processes of selecting partners more complex instead of lean. The third case study shows that continuation of the success was insecure, because within the client organization it was decided not to start working with preferred partners. Based on these examples, it was concluded that different types of non-functional intraorganizational dynamics slowed down the collaboration processes with the external partners, or made continuation of perceived good practices insecure.
LEADERSHIP
From the perspective of the project leaders, it seems that their managers’ focus is not on facilitating daily work practice of SCP, neither on designing and communicating a deliberate SCP-strategy. It seems that some project leaders feel victims of contextual vagaries, not always able to get a grip on managing the supply chain effectively. Interventions that were undertaken by project leaders and their managers, are patchy, contradictory, and/or unfinished. Many individual initiatives have arisen, but continuation of good practices appeared uncertain. In all three cases, the project leaders’ managers (in different hierarchical levels) initiated and/or supported the implementation of SCP. For example, BIM-software was purchased, a presentation was organized, or the project leaders are supported with words. And in each case a procurement policy still prevailed and management’s expectations of what project leaders should do or aim for were not clear. The social relation between the project leaders and their managers appeared to be problematic in many individual cases. Especially the project leaders in the first and second case experience that the managers have too little insight and ear for what the project leaders do and the problems they encounter in daily work life. When those project leaders try to discuss their experiences, they often feel unheard and misunderstood.
INCONSISTENT USE OF KEY VALUES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONCEPT OF SCP
The cases show that certain values were associated with applying SCP. In the first case trust and trustworthiness are discussed. In the second case values such as ‘sharing responsibilities’, ‘pro-activity’, and ‘you must give each other open and honest feedback’ were discussed. In the third case, among other things, informal evaluations and expressing appreciation from the client’s project leader towards the building site workers were mentioned as important values. The exact formulation of these key values always differs slightly, but there is no reason to assume that the mentioned key values differ significantly from what has often been mentioned in literature about construction SCP. It could be argued that these key values are similar to general ideas of professional behavior and should therefore be applied in non-SCP-situations as well. But that debate falls outside the scope of this study.
New insight that this study provides is that the key values that are associated with SCP were applied to limited parts of the supply chain only and applied inconsistently. For example, the internal client was not involved in the application of SCP at all, and therefore the values of SCP were not applied to this party. Another example, in the third case study, people who were perceived as ‘not that far in their thinking’, were not provided with a short informal evaluation, although that was mentioned as a factor of success. Especially the intra-organizational supply chain seems to be treated differently than the inter-organizational supply chain.
This dynamic of shifting application of values and the actions that provokes, seems not to be a matter of bad intentions. There is no reason to question individual intentions. Rather, possible reasons could be that project leaders are not always (fully) aware of the extent of the supply chain they are working with, or they feel unable to apply the key values, or they do not believe in a positive result of doing so, or they fear the consequences.
POWER DYNAMICS AND ETHICS
Whatever the reason for the shifting application of key values of SCP is, the participants together have created situations that provoke ethical questions. Related to this discussion, is the discussion about power dynamics. In this study power is not seen as something that one possesses, rather it is something one gains through interactions. A constant power shift is ubiquitous in all normal daily social interactions. The cases show that in normal daily work life, people constantly negotiate, construct, conduct process of trial-and-error, and in those processes, they may gain or lose power. Power arises in normal social interactions at work floor and power dynamics can be visible or hidden. An example of a form of visible power is when the client’s project manager claims that contractors are not allowed to make money on smart purchasing of materials. He proposes a system involving a risk buffer, something which the contractor’s head of the regional branch agreed to, although he does not think this is fair. An example of hidden form of power is when a purchaser might have formal power over project leaders in terms of selection of contractors, but the project leader might gain back his power by selectively ‘forgetting’ to involve the purchaser in a selection procedure, and so on. It is well possible that an internal client, who appeared to be not engaged and informed about the change of the department of renovations and maintenance towards SCP, does not even realize the power he may have on the process. That means that certain people unexpectedly and unconsciously may appear to have a great power in the process of collaboration.
It seems that, although perhaps unintendedly and unconsciously, supply chain partnering is used strategically to gain power. The word ‘SCP’ (or one of its synonyms) can be used as an argument to easily convince somebody else to do something that one would otherwise not do. After all, SCP is a buzz-word that seems to represent ‘good practices’ in the sector, rather than it is a deliberated strategy. Key values that are associated with SCP are hard to not agree with. By strategically referring to key values of SCP power can be gained. Perhaps the clearest example of such an issue is shown in especially the first and third case studies. A possible interpretation of the case studies is that applying SCP leaded to a situation in which the contractors still go through time consuming and expensive selection procedures, are involved in earlier phases of the process (thus provide extra work), still have limited influence in the technical interventions, have more responsibilities, and are supposed to (gradually) save 20% of the costs (although it is undefined how this cost-reduction is calculated). It is highly questionable whether this is fair and whether all the effort that was put in applying SCP will solve the problems that people expect. This also feeds the impression that despite the attention, engagement, and effort put into applying the principles of SCP, intraand inter-organizational collaborations have not improved fundamentally.
REFLECTION ON RESEARCH, ACADEMIC AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Before implications and recommendations of this study are discussed, the study should be reflected and limitations should be acknowledged. The first point of reflection concerns finding the right position of the researcher in the field. Whatever position the researcher has in the field, the most important aspects are awareness of that role in the field, and awareness that the researcher is just as well part of the ongoing complex responsive processes. Another methodological quest was what it means to analyze at an individual level of analysis. Throughout this study, it was experienced that abstracting from direct experiences happens gradually. Based o
Design and development of a system for vario-scale maps
Get PDFNowadays, there are many geo-information data sources available such as maps on the Internet, in-car navigation devices and mobile apps. All datasets used in these applications are the same in principle, and face the same issues, namely:
Maps of different scales are stored separately. With many separate fixed levels, a lot of information is the same, but still needs to be included, which leads to duplication.
With many redundant data throughout the scales, features are represented again and again, which may lead to inconsistency.
Currently available maps contain significantly more levels of detail (twenty map scales on average) than in the past. These levels must be created, but the optimal strategy to do so is not known.
For every user’s data request, a significant part of the data remains the same, but still needs to be included. This leads to more data transfer, and slower response.
The interactive Internet environment is not used to its full potential for user navigation. It is common to observe lagging, popping features or flickering of a newly retrieved map scale feature while using the map.
This research develops principles of variable scale (vario-scale) maps to address these issues. The vario-scale approach is an alternative for obtaining and maintaining geographical data sets at different map scales. It is based on the specific topological structure called tGAP (topological Generalized Area Partitioning) which addresses the main open issues of current solutions for managing spatial data sets of different scales such as: redundancy data, inconsistency of map scales and dynamic transfer. The objective of this thesis is to design, to develop and to extend the variable-scale data structures and it is expressed as the following research question: How to design and develop a system for vario-scale maps?
To address the above research question, this research has been conducted using the following outline: 1) Investigate state-of-the-art in map generalization. 2) Study development of vario-scale structure done so far. 3) Propose techniques for generating better vario-scale map content. 4) Implement strategies to process really massive datasets. 5) Research smooth representation of map features and their impact on user interaction. Results of our research led to new functionality, were addressed in prototype developments and were tested against real world data sets. Throughout this research we have made following main contributions to the design and development of a system of vario-scale maps. We have:
studied vario-scale development in the past and we have identified the most urgent needs of the research.
designed the concept of granularity and presented our strategy where changes in map content should be as small and as gradual as possible (e. g. use groups, maintain road network, support line feature representation).
introduced line features in the solution and presented a fully-automated generalization process that preserves a road network features throughout all scales.
proposed an approach to create a vario-scale data structure of massive datasets.
demonstrated a method to generate an explicit 3D representation from the structure which can provide smoother user experience.
developed a software prototype where a 3D vario-scale dataset can be used to its full potential.
conducted initial usability test.
All aspects together with already developed functionality provide a more complex and more unified solution for vario-scale mapping. Based on our research, design and development of a system for vario-scale maps should be clearer now. In addition, it is easier to identified necessary steps which need to be taken towards an optimal solution. Our recommendations for future work are:
One of the contributions has been an integration of the road features in the structure and their automated generalization throughout the process. Integrating more map features besides roads deserve attention.
We have investigated how to deal with massive datasets which do not fit in the main memory of the computer. Our experiences consisted of dataset of one province or state with records in order of millions. To verify our findings, it will be interesting to process even bigger dataset with records in order of billions (a whole continent).
We have introduced representation where map content changes as gradually as possible. It is based on process where: 1) explicit 3D geometry from the structure is generated. 2) A slice of the geometry is calculated. 3) Final maps based on the slice is constructed. Investigation of how to integrate this in a server-client pipeline on the Internet is another point of further research.
Our research focus has been mainly on one specific aspect of the concept at a time. Now all aspects may be brought together where integration, tuning and orchestration play an important role is another interesting research that desire attention.
Carry out more user testing including; 1) maps of sufficient cartographic quality, 2) a large testing region, and 3) the finest version of visualization prototype.
 
Cities for or against citizens? Socio-spatial restructuring of low-income neighbourhoods and the paradox of citizen participation
Get PDFUrban renewal has evolved into an ambitious and sophisticated urban strategy, recognised as urban revitalisation in America and urban regeneration in Western Europe. This new urban strategy, which tends to be area-based and state-sponsored, claims for the most part to coordinate a wide range of resources, partners and public agencies to bring about social, economic and spatial improvements in underdeveloped and impoverished city areas while improving the livelihoods of the local residents. However, as this study asserts, the objectives behind this new urban strategy have considered, for the most part, the interests of those formulating and implementing such efforts rather than local residents and stakeholders, and produced in turn ‘attractive’ neighbourhoods increasing city revenues, boosting real estate prices, attracting new investments and alluring new residents. Most importantly, citizen participation and gentrification have been concurrently promoted in urban restructuring policy and programmes bringing about a paradox. Citizens have been devised as both subjects and objects of governance (Uitermark, 2014). Urban restructuring programmes have called for residents’ involvement in decision making frameworks while imposing urban revitalisation and regeneration approaches guiding the fate of their neighbourhoods and putting communities at risk of displacement.
This study uses comparative research to investigate the way that urban renewal targeting low-income neighbourhoods has evolved into a new urban strategy involving principles and tactics ingrained in neoliberal economic principles. The study shows that this applies in cities led by market-driven development where governments facilitate more than regulate urban growth, and in cities partially exposed to market-driven development and led by interventionist governments which regulate and guide urban restructuring transformations. New York City and The Randstad Holland have been selected as study areas. Above all, the role public policy, instruments and institutional frameworks have played in facilitating citizens’ involvement in decision making in these contrasting contexts is particularly scrutinised looking at two neighbourhoods in the municipalities of Brooklyn and Rotterdam; Bushwick and Tarwewijk, respectively. The study exposes the motives, successes and drawbacks of public programmes and instruments fostering citizen participation and community-led change, in an effort to both create awareness of potential risks in the case of unsuccessful initiatives, and envision the exchange and adaptation of some of those successful schemes for the production of more equitable neighbourhoods.
This thesis asks to what extent urban restructuring trends converge in the two contrasting geographical areas since both territories have been exposed to the same global agents and influences that have impacted urban restructuring policy and interventions (i.e. neoliberal economic policies, global financing, interurban competition, etc). However, it recognizes that the outcomes may manifest differently due to differences in welfare programmes, urban policy, implementation frameworks, local and global housing markets at the neighbourhood level, as well as variations in local governance structures and instruments facilitating civic participation in urban and housing restructuring programmes.
Citizen participation in urban restructuring in America and Western Europe
Citizen participation was widely recognised in urban and housing public programmes in America and Western Europe during the 1960s and 1970s. In a time of political and economic shifts and as a result of citizen struggles and social movements, the democratisation of decision making in planning became a political act. Feeling alienated from the urban transformations taking place in their own neighbourhoods, citizens organised and demanded to be part of the production of cities. Citizen demands were gradually adopted and institutionalised by public policies and programmes. However, such progressive approaches did not last for long. Citizen participation in urban renewal and housing programmes lost agency as liberal urban policy was gradually overthrown beginning with the recessions of the late 1970s and the conservative governments that followed in the 1980s and beyond. National states and municipalities began withdrawing from those endeavours while coordinating efforts to attract private partners and investment to pursue larger and more ambitious urban restructuring interventions in cities. Certainly, the community-driven scope of a number of public programmes shifted to a more ambitious one that sought to achieve economic growth and profitable urban development bringing about shifts in urban restructuring policy, programmes, funds and leadership over the following decades. Evidently, as neoliberal economic agendas became more and more ingrained in urban policy and programmes guiding urban restructuring, uneven development and segregation became more stark bringing new urban challenges across cities. What is interesting is that in a context of increasing decentralisation, privatisation, and deregulation of urban restructuring interventions that have impacted directly citizens and particularly low-income communities, national states began once again promoting citizen participation. As national states have increasingly devolved decision-making and resources to lower government levels, municipalities and their partners, from the private and not-profit sectors, have been more involved in making and implementing local policies and addressing citizens and community needs. However, the motive, scope, impact and outcome of current local policies and programmes fostering the involvement of low-income and minority groups in urban restructuring programmes have left many questions unresolved. A number of studies assert that the deliberate activation of specific community groups by national states and their partners in urban restructuring programmes has been promoted: (1) to deal with the unprecedented economic and social consequences that emerged out of the neoliberal project through socially interventionist and ameliorative public policies and programmes (Peck & Tickle, 2002; Uitermark, 2014); (2) to control and discipline vulnerable and deprived groups who have been victims of the byproducts of the current neoliberal urbanisation and who should be ‘integrated’ through highly engineered measures (Albers & van Beckhoven, 2010; Brenner, Peck & Theodor 2009; Schickel & van der Berg, 2011; Uitermark, 2014; Uitermark & Duyendak, 2008); and (3) to build coalition politics by assembling strategic alliances in areas undergoing political and socio-spatial restructuring while seeing themselves as symbols of the community to legitimise their powers and in turn assert control and gain support to fulfil ongoing plans without opposition (Harvey, 1989). This study delves into these claims by scrutinising recent urban restructuring approaches in two different geographical contexts and investigating policies and programmes advocating for citizen participation.
Research content and questions
This study is structured in five sections: (1) introduction (2) theoretical framework; (3) politico-institutional historical context; (4) case study research; and (5) final analysis of comparative research. The first section, Introduction, outlines the research framework of this study including problem statement, aim, methodological approach and selection of case studies as well as the design and structure of this research. The second section, Cities for or against Citizens, includes Chapter 2 which provides a theoretical understanding of the way urban restructuring discourses, objectives and strategies have evolved in America and Western Europe. It introduces the right to the city as one of the main demands citizens, academics, activists, advocate planners, civic and grassroots groups have called for, and mobilised around, to fight the injustices produced by contemporary neoliberal urbanisation. It then explains the way that economic restructuring has led to new socio-spatial configurations and politicoeconomic relations in cities with impactful outcomes, such as uneven development and segregation and new institutional policy and governance frameworks. In relation to such new developments, the shift of urban renewal into a more ambitious and coordinated global and economic strategy is presented in conclusion to section two, enquiring about the state’s continuous promotion of participation and integration of citizens in urban restructuring policies and programmes targeting low-income neighbourhoods in both geographical areas.
The third section, The Evolution of Urban Restructuring, provides the politicoinstitutional historical context of urban restructuring in New York City and the Randstad Holland. It encompasses Chapter 3 and 4 which carefully explain public policy, programmes and instruments involving or facilitating citizen participation in urban restructuring and housing programmes in low-income neighbourhoods from the postwar years until today. Chapter 3 focuses on policies and programmes bringing about urban restructuring in New York City, from the urban renewal programmes calling for 'citizen participation ’for the first time and the War on Poverty programmes which institutionalised the 'widespread participation of the poor' for the improvement of deprived inner city areas, to the tenant-led sweat equity housing management programmes that emerged after the city’s nadir of the 1970s, and the public policies and instruments of devolution which gave way to the professionalisation of grassroots movements, and in turn, the growth of the non-profit sector currently in charge of community and housing development. On the other hand, Chapter 4 explains the evolution of social oriented policies and participatory programmes promoted for the restructuring of low-income neighbourhoods in the Randstad Holland, from community work [opbouwwerk] with specific goals and targets and Building for the Neighbourhood [Bouwen voor de Buurt ], a collective and politicised urban renewal effort bringing about political and social change, to more recent policy programmes promoting the integration and participation of low-income and marginalised communities. The historical account of these two chapters provides an overview of the endeavours national states have undertaken at different levels facilitating citizen participation and community-led initiatives, as well as their successes and shortcomings. Both chapters offer a policy context useful for the analysis of the most recent urban restructuring frameworks and trends, which are examined in the following chapters. The ultimate objective of this section is to answer the following question: How have public policy and programmes targeting low-income and minority districts evolved with the decentralisation of national state’s power and resources?
The fourth section, Socio-spatial Restructuring in Low Income Neighbourhoods in New York City and the Randstad Holland, involves case study research. Composed of Chapter 5 and 6, it delves into the socio-spatial restructuring of two lowincome neighbourhoods in New York City and the Randstad Holland; Bushwick and Tarwewijk, respectively. The way urban restructuring policies and programmes depicted in the previous two chapters have evolved and transformed socio-spatial configurations through shifts in housing provision –including planning, funding and development schemes– and local urban governance are illustrated in detail. Above all, policies, programmes and local initiatives promoting the involvement of citizens in decision making processes are particularly examined. Additionally, the role of local stakeholders in the implementation of those policy frameworks is presented considering decentralisation, privatisation and deregulation trends in housing and urban restructuring. Lastly, a critical analysis of the purpose, evolution and outcomes of public policies, planning strategies, participatory endeavours and trends facilitating the restructuring of low-income income neighbourhoods is offered. The central questions in this section are the following: How have changes in public policy and programmes played out in cities with liberal governments and unregulated market-driven development and in cities with interventionist governments and regulated market driven developments? How and why have national states promoted the integration and participation of residents of low-income and minority groups throughout the evolution of urban restructuring processes?
The last section, The New State-Led Urban Restructuring Strategy: Analysis and Alternatives, offers a final analysis and a reflection on the comparative research. It is composed of Chapter 7 and 8. Chapter 7 provides a summative analysis of the previous chapters by delving into the way urban revitalisation and regeneration in low-income neighbourhoods in America and Western Europe, respectively, have evolved into a new urban restructuring strategy with clear objectives, locations, and approaches. The urban restructuring trends outlined in this section depict current state-sponsored policies, strategies, tools and measures promoted in disinvested areas to integrate these segregated sites into the new economic functions of cities. Additionally, it lays out the way citizens have been concurrently perceived by policy and public programmes as part of the new urban restructuring strategy. This section concludes with Chapter 8 which reflects on the rise of urban mobilisations and counteracting urban practices responding to the increasing disability of citizens to be part of the transformation of their own living environments. This last section aims to answer the main question of this investigation: Are cities being restructured for the welfare of citizens or are they being reshaped against the will, needs and interests of their own citizens?
Urban restructuring trends and alternatives
The final analysis of the study, as it was mentioned above, lays out the current directions of urban restructuring that are identified, while examining the evolution of urban restructuring policies, programmes, and strategies of implementation targeting low-income neighbourhoods in New York City and the Randstad Holland. As part of the findings of this study, the following urban restructuring trends were identified: (1) urban restructuring being used by national states as an instrument for speculation, competitiveness and economic growth; (2) an increasing outward diffusion of urban restructuring from urban centres to peripheral areas; (3) a rise of area-base policies, investments and urban interventions; (4) ‘social mixing’ as urban policy to diversify housing opportunities and in turn promote socially and economic diverse neighbourhoods; (5) a generalisation of state-led gentrification in urban restructuring policy and programmes; (6) new regulatory policy and institutional configurations; (7) the waning of housing provision for the poor and the working-class; and lastly, and most importantly for this study, (8) citizen participation being devised as a state instrument for the pacification, control and bargaining of low-income neighbourhoods in transformation. These trends certainly bring to light the fate of low-income communities and neighbourhoods, but also underscore the fields and spaces– from policy, programmes and governance frameworks to urban and housing planning approaches –where intervention is needed to generate more equitable neighbourhoods.
Against this background, and concluding the final analysis, this study also highlights successful approaches and practices facilitating citizen- and community-lead urban restructuring processes in New York City and the Randstad Holland. Historically, as this study shows, progressive policies have promoted and, in many cases, managed to create democratic tools and processes of planning and development, particularly in times of crisis and when the private sector is not willing nor able to intervene. Such policies and their outcomes have proven, even with their shortcomings, that cities for citizens can be produced with a fair distribution of political power, resources and benefits. Alternative forms and models of housing development which have been devised, for the most part, by common citizens responding to the urgency of both creating housing according to their own needs and priorities and producing less alienated dwelling environments are underscored including housing cooperatives, community land trusts, self-management housing programs and other nonspeculative and regulated housing development schemes. Interestingly, just as the policy and planning approaches of the two case studies tend to converge, so do the principles and purpose of the urban restructuring models in many ways. But the effects manifest themselves differently due to the differences in institutional policy and government frameworks in each context. These schemes have been presented throughout this study but are particularly emphasised at the end of this study since they offer a valuable insight into alternative ways of restructuring low-income neighbourhoods, and urban districts in general, so as to produce more equitable cities, in other words–cities for citizens
Towards a new policy direction for an improved housing delivery system in Nigerian cities: Theoretical, Empirical and Comparative Perspectives
Get PDFIn Nigeria, housing units are not adequate for the entire population, especially in cities (Anosike et al. 2011, Makinde 2014). For instance, the deficit grows at an alarming rate, from about 8 million in 1991 to over 16 million in 2000s (Aribigbola, 2000; Aribigbola and Ayeniyo 2012). The challenges of housing provision are not only quantitative but also qualitative and have to be dealt with in a dual institutional perspective: the formal and the informal sector (Makinde, 2014; National Population Census, NPC, 2006). How can the Nigerian housing provision be improved and what are the new roles that policy can play to address the housing shortages in Nigerian cities?
Several researchers have examined the subject of housing in Nigeria and confirmed the existence of shortages. Some have also attempted to advocate that there are challenges without giving an appropriate policy way forward. Also, most of the existing studies are not based on appropriate theoretical underpinnings. Therefore, this thesis contains a diagnosis of the housing problems in Nigeria, based on the nature of the housing provision systems (formal and informal) and a framework for possible policy solution(s), using theoretical, empirical and comparative approaches. Emphasis was placed on the theoretical and empirical perspectives, while an insight was gained into possible solutions adopted in some selected countries through a synthesis of extant studies. To capture the actual contexts of housing challenges, six objectives raised in the form of research questions were pursued. In the first objective, the Nigerian housing situations were examined in the contexts of political, economic and demographic developments in order to identify the nature of the housing shortages. Findings from the first objective indicated that housing shortages in Nigerian cities are both quantitative and qualitative in nature. The major problems were found in the informal sector because the formal sector is not accessible due to changes in government administration, the low income condition and institutional barriers. It was found that the decline in the formal provision resulted in the growth of the informal provision.
Against the backdrop, new institutional economics, NIE theoretical approach was embraced owing to the fact that Nigerian property market constitutes formal and informal institutions, and fraught with non-availability of data (Omirin and Antwi, 2004). This is central to the second objective. With the adoption of NIE as the appropriate school of thought, the structure, institutions, agencies, strategies, interests, and how these elements are connected to housing delivery could be examined, using an appropriate analytical framework, based on factors of production. Subsequently, the structure of housing provision was examined over the pace of time.
Because the influence of government was identified in the structures, objective four elaborates on the actual roles, the units of housing provided by the government and the changing roles of the government.
The research question five is the central focus of this dissertation where the strategies of procuring factors of production, (land, labour, materials and finance) were examined. Housing outputs, its management, institutional environment, structure, transactions, motivating factors and the existing challenges were examined. The main findings include inadequacy of finance and the complexity of securing formal funds are key to decent housing provision by individual formal providers, from the pre-construction to post-construction stage. There are also difficulties of acquiring land and securing it, due to threat of Omo-oniles (families of the customary owners who often lay claims to land). In addition, formal system is only accessible to higher income groups and inaccessible to lower class in Nigeria
Since the formal market cannot be easily accessed by many people, low income groups rely on the informal sector. In the informal finance system, member of a financial association mandatorily saves an agreed amount, within the limit of his/her income capacity, and augments it with personal or family funds. One of the motivations behind these informal group finance systems is that they serve as saving mechanisms for the people. Other production factors, such as human and material resources, are equally procured in an informal manner either through family members or by friendly arrangements and instalment agreements in order to avoid the complex hurdles identified in the formal system, e.g. transaction hurdles.
To gain insight into other countries with similar housing experiences, a review of the situation in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico was done. In South Africa, existing studies and existing policy documents revealed that various policy approaches were adopted. I found in the review that the perceived improved performance in transforming informal housing is attributed to the joint cooperative, participatory approach and political support through legal instruments. I observed that policy approaches in Brazil are channelled towards addressing informal housing. The review of existing literature and documents revealed that legal instruments have been the intervening tool in the context of the regularisation goals, which includes legalisation, recognition of tenure rights, upgrading and provision of services/amenities (urban management). These exercises could only be executed within the broader, integrated, multi-sectoral scope of city and land use planning, concurrently implemented and recognition of politico-institutions, i.e. the involvement of a cooperative government, informal residents, NGOs and private developers with substantial technical, managerial and financial support.
In Mexico, regularisation projects, through an extensive land titling programme, taxation instruments and planning tools, made it a result-oriented land regularisation programme in the developing world, as indicated by Monkkonen (2012). Mexico’s approach is known for its recorded successes, however, it is not without challenges. It was also mentioned that the whole process commenced from the ejido system, which indicates an integration of communities and civil societies into the land system. Mexico has also attempted to incorporate informal housing finance institutions on a limited level into mainstream financial institutions (FONHAPO and SOFOLES). The point is that the land titling process, in collaboration with agencies and NGOs in procuring production factors, contributes significantly to progress in some cities. Nevertheless there is still room for improvement.
Having examined the strategies, their motivations and the challenges, it was recommended that a combination of suggested possible solutions and lessons from the three selected countries resulted in a comprehensive solutions framework which includes the following recommendations:
Review of Land Use Act (LUA) of 1978 to incorporate both customary and statutory systems in order to resolve Omo-onile crisis.
Ensuring prompt tilting of land of existing informal houses at a low cost.
Upgrading the existing informal settlements/housing with joint consent of the owners or the occupiers and ensuring their socio-economic empowerment.
Introducing, implementing and government monitoring of housing subsidies for development and maintenance.
Formulating policies and educating new home owners ( both owner-occupied and rental housing owners) to comply with building codes for safety reasons.
Government should implement and manage affordable housing that can lead to social housing.
Government should be involved in making cooperative societies formal and embraced PPP agenda that can touch low income groups
aE Journal 2011/2012: Architectural Engineering is growing up
No full textIn 2008, the chair of Architectural Engineering welcomed two new professors. From the start Patrick Teuffel and Thijs Asselbergs put a strong emphasis on integration. As such, integration of technology and architecture would be the key theme running through the studio. Three years later, how has this vision held up