Chapter 3: Location of housing

Question 1

What do you think are factors that could affect the location of housing in general?

Answer 1

Main factors: Land prices, Land-use planning, Housing financial support, developers

Detailed Factors: Price of land, safety and security, types of buyers and near to facilities

Question 1

Where is informal housing usually located at and why?

Answer 1

Typically found in areas of locally unwanted land use/
Near landfills, sewage treatment plants, pollution industries etc
Often neglected and lacking infrastructure development

Reasons are because if they live near factories then they can walk and go for work. They will need to start off by living on the streets as they are poor and do not have enough money to live in homes that have favourable conditions.

Question 2

Where is formal housing usually located at?

Answer 2

Formal housing are usually located within city area and city centre where it is more accessible to good facilities and services and it is also cleaner and less pollutive.

Question 3

What are the two factors that influence the location of housing?

Answer 3

Land price AKA Bid-rent theory and Land-use planning

Question 4

Describe in great detail how land price affects the location of housing.

Answer 4

City centre/ central business district (CBD) is most accessible and convenient which provides more services and amenities including shopping centre. Since it is nearer to city centre/ because city centre is very convenient and therefore time, money is saved. This saves transport too. This benefits leads to intense competition between land users as Singapore has a scarcity of land and there is limited land. Also, the government release limited plots of land for development and also regulate the pricing of land. This pushes up land price.

Question 5

Describe how does land-use planning affect the location of housing.

Answer 5

Guidelines drawn up by planning authorities that typically use zoning as a planning control tool. The Sg urban redevelopment (URA) takes a long-term approach to planning with two segments
-Long-term plan (40-50 years)
-Master plan

Specific areas are used for
residential purpose due to the growing population in Singapore as well as land scarcity

Industry work is usually more pollutive and therefore it will be more concentrated at the places further away from residential.

Question 6

What are the two types of housing?

Answer 6

Formal housing and informal housing.

Question 7

What are the similarities of formal and informal housing?

Answer 7

Both are areas which can provide people a place for shelter/ rest.

Question 8

Formal housing is built by whom?

Answer 8

Built by government or also private contractors-> developers

Question 9

Informal housing built by whom?

Answer 9

Built by the locals who are living there (Self-built)

Question 10

Is it legal right to occupy land for formal housing?

Answer 10

Yes it is legal and they have ownership.

Question 11

Is it legal right to occupy land for informal housing?

Answer 11

No, it is illegal as there is a lack of security of tenure (they do not own the right to stay there) Often, when the legal owners of the land discover such occupation, the informal houses may be cleared away and their residents evicted.

Question 12

Does formal housing have access to basic services?

Answer 12

yes. They have access with sanitation, electricity and water supply and these are provided by the government. This provision of these basic services improves the quality of life for residents in these housing developments.

Question 13

Does informal housing have access to basic services?

Answer 13

No. Their living conditions are poor and sometimes have to hook the power lines to have electricity.

The people living in informal housing illegally tapped and they share public toilets with other household. Besides, they would also dispose their sanitary waste into the ground or nearby rivers. Such practices increases the risk of injury and ill-health due to electrocution, consumption of contaminated waters and waterborne diseases. At the same time, pollution would also cause aquatic animals to die as the water is polluted and no longer suitable for the animals to survive, disrupting the ecosystem and may cause extinction in the long term. This also destroys the physical landscape of the environment.

Question 14

What is the type of building material that formal housing is built of? State some examples.

Answer 14

Sturdy and strong, waterproof. E.g. concrete
Permanent, sturdy, stronger
Examples include durable surfaces with strong walls that are made of concrete and steel, waterproof roof provides protection against strong wind and rain, locked doors and window frames provide protection against threats.

Question 15

What is the type of building materials of informal housing?

Answer 15

Less sturdy and weak, not waterproof e.g. cardboard, zinc and flammable hazardous. Make-shift, temporary structures and cannot last for long-term
Informal housing is often constructed from scavenged materials such as repurposed zinc sheets and recycled lumber. Because inform housing is often constructed using inferior building materials, the houses are at risk of collapsing, being flooded on rainy days or catching fire easily.

Question 16

What is the difference between annotating on a photograph and labelling?

Answer 16

Annotate means labelling + with more explanation

Question 17

What is the difference between formal housing and informal housing?
State three criteria or qualities.

Answer 17

1. Building material (poor vs Good)
2. Ownership (own their property vs no security )
3. Services (basic services vs lack of basic services

Question 18

Why do people want to built a slum instead of moving to another country and live there?

Answer 18

this is because they are
-Financially disadvantaged
-migration from rural to urban and they move to urban to find jobs, source of income

Question 19

Suggest how living near dump sites affect the well-being of the slum residents.

Answer 19

Healthcare—> Prolonged exposure to the pollution and have to scavenge for food—> downside, poses a health risk & absorption of toxic diseases—> spread of diseases—> furthermore, slums are crowded which exacerbates the spread of diseases and the situation.
harmful waste is bad for the peoples’ health
Social & economic—> make a livelihood as “socioeconomic ladder come here as their last hope to make a living from scavenging the waste”
Source in OneNote CD3

Question 20

How does developers affect the location of housing?

Answer 20

The location of housing is also affected by whether it is developed by private or public developers.
Private developers, which are individuals or companies that develop a property for profit, tend to pick suites that are commercially viable, while housing built by governments tends to consider people’s needs more than profits.

Question 21

How does housing financial support affect location?

Answer 21

Housing financial support for developers can lower the cost of building houses, which may encourage developers to consider building more houses and prevent housing shortage. Financial support schemes are important because they enable developers to sell houses at affordable prices. Without these schemes, formal housing may be out of reach for many.

Conversely, places without the provision of housing finance support schemes and a lack of formal housing will have more informal housing settlements. This is because the affordability of housing in such areas should be low.

Question 22

What is some terms of well-being?

Answer 22

Physical
Socio-economic
Social
Economic
Emotional
Mental, psychological
Physical

Question 23

What is the difference between the standard of living and quality of life?

Answer 23

Standard of living- tangible, measurable, material possession, wealth
Such as income gdp