Geog chap 8 Flashcards
What is housing?
Housing refers to structures or buildings developed to shelter people from the elements. Housing can be built in a planned or unplanned manner, using a variety of materials and can come in all shapes and sizes.
What is permanent and temporary housing?
In general, housing can be classified into two types: permanent and temporary.
HDB flats in Singapore are considered permanent housing.
Camping settlements built by nomadic tribes, and relief shelters in disaster-hit zones are considered temporary housing.
What are the characteristics of high-rise, high-density housing?
- 6 storeys or higher
- has lifts
- accommodates a large number of people
- usually found close to the city centre
- has shared facilities e.g. playgrounds, exercise equipment and swimming pools
What are the characteristics of Low-rise, Low-density Housing?
- lower than 6 storeys
- lifts may or may not be present
- accommodates fewer people
- usually found close to the city fringe
How can we categorise and organise housing types?
- Density (High or Low)
- Tenure (Temporary or Permanent)
- Spatial Distribution (distance from city centre)
- Technology (material the housing is made of, e.g. brick, wood, concrete, etc.)
- Social relations (built for small families, extended families or entire communities)
- Legal rights (Formal or Informal)
What leads to a housing shortage?
City and urban populations often grow faster than the pace of housing development resulting in a housing shortage.
Define Formal housing.
Formal housing refers to housing that is provided by the government or private developers with legal rights to occupy land as part of urban planning. In Singapore, HDB builds public housing for citizens and permanent residents, while private developers construct condominiums and bungalows. These homes include essential services like easy access to water, electricity, and sanitation, improving residents’ quality of life. Regulated construction ensures they are built using high-quality materials e.g. concrete, metal, and hardwood to withstand strong weather. Formal housing is typically located in desirable city areas with access to greenery, amenities, and quality infrastructure like roads, piped water, and waste disposal.
What are land rights?
Land rights refer to the ability of individuals to freely obtain, use and possess land at their discretion as long as their activities on land do not impede on other individuals’ rights. It addresses the ownership of land - provides security and increases human capabilities.
Define informal housing.
Informal housing refers to self-built squatter settlements built by individuals in an unplanned fashion out of necessity on any available, plot of land, desperate for shelter. They are often constructed from scavenged materials e.g. repurposed zinc sheets and recycled lumber and therefore face many environmental threats such as flooding and fire. The lands where informal housing is built include government land or private property which is undeveloped and unsecured, meaning that residents are illegal occupants of the land and are at high risk of eviction by authorities. As informal housing is built in areas not meant for housing development (undesirable land), the residents lack access to basic services such as electricity, water, and sanitation. Hence, residents resort to illegally tapping into nearby electrical grids, channelling water from nearby pipes and disposing of sanitary waste into the ground or nearby rivers. Such practices increase the risk of electrocution, consumption of contaminated water and waterborne diseases.
What are the problems faced when living in squatter settlements?
Problems of informal housing include:
~ social unrest
~ degradation of environmental quality
~ spread of diseases
Why might someone live in informal housing?
High migration rates cause cities to be unable to cope with the increase in housing demand from the influx of people. As many of these migrants are unable to afford formal housing, they end up living in informal houses.
compare formal and informal housing.
FORMAL:
- Built by gov/private developers
- Legal right to occupy land
- Access to basic services
- High-quality building materials
INFORMAL
- Self-built squatter settlements
- No legal right to occupy land
- Lack of access to basic services
- Poor quality housing materials
Which of the following is true about informal housing?
1. Informal housing is often built by private developers wishing to save construction costs.
2. Informal housing will not be part of housing solutions for cities.
3. Residents living in informal housing often have no legal right to occupy the land on which their houses are built.
4. Residents living in informal housing often have to depend on unsafe well water for their water needs.
3
Where is informal housing found within a city?
Informal housing is typically found:
~ in areas with locally unwanted land use.
~ near landfills, sewage treatment plants and large, polluting industries.
They are often neglected and lack infrastructure development. They are built in such places as these are the only spaces left available.
Slums may also be found near industrial sites as the dwellers want to save on travelling time and cost by living near their workplaces.
State the factors that affect the locations of formal and informal housing in cities.
Some factors affecting the locations of formal and informal housing in cities include:
- Landuse planning (for example, restrictive land use and zoning)
- Developers (such as government and private developers)
- Housing financial support (such as financial schemes for the poor, and improved access to finance for developers)
- Affordability (such as the cost of formal housing).
Describe the factors that affect the locations of formal and informal housing in cities.
Land-use planning
The location of any type of housing is primarily affected by land-use planning, choices made by developers, land prices and the availability of housing financial support. This includes guidelines drawn up by planning authorities. Zoning is practised as a planning control tool by planning authorities to shape the layout of cities and enable various types of developments. e.g. Formal housing occupies zones and areas that are designated for housing development while informal housing can occur regardless of land-use planning guidelines.
Developers
The location of housing is affected by whether it is developed by private or public developers.
Privat developers are Individuals/companies that develop a property for profit. They tend to pick sites that are most commercially viable.
Public developers are government organisations (e.g. HDB) that tend to consider people’s needs more than profits when building houses.\Informal housing tends to occupy locations near large housing or industrial developments to benefit from existing infrastructure (e.g. roads, electricity, piped water)
Land Prices
High land prices will mean houses will be sold at higher prices and informal housing will most likely be built to accommodate the rural-urban migrants or local urban poor. This can affect affordability. Hence, it is important for governments to regulate land prices to allow people to afford houses.
Housing Financial Support
Housing financial support for developers can lower the cost of building houses, which may encourage developers to consider building more houses and prevent a housing shortage. Financial support schemes are important because they enable developers to sell houses at affordable prices. Places without such financial support schemes and a lack of formal housing will have more informal housing as it’s cheaper to build than formal housing.
Define Metropolis.
A large important city
What is a housing shortage?
A lack in the number of houses needed to accommodate the population of an area.
What does a clustered distribution of housing in an area suggest?
The housing may be spatially distributed in a clustered manner as there might not have been a large or vast land area.
What does a linear distribution of housing in an area suggest?
The housing may be spatially distributed linearly as it allows for easier access to roads and therefore makes transportation easy. Additionally, its linear distribution helps to provide space for more amenities and services.
