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Doctoral Degrees (Housing)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/6686

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    Institutional matters: exploring the roles of the state and traditional councils in self-help housing in the peri-urban spaces of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
    (2020) Hlongwa, Mbongeni Eugene.; Myeni, Sithembiso Lindelihle.
    The main aim of this thesis is to explore the roles of the state and traditional councils in self-help housing in the peri-urban spaces of KwaZulu-Natal. This thesis primarily explores the extent to which the roles and power relations of the local state and traditional council impact on self-help housing in peri-urban spaces, considering the history of institutional segregation and the contesting powers introduced by the crafting of the post-apartheid state, land management and government functions in both planning and housing development. The thesis develops an understanding of the multiplicity of planning and housing policies as well as agencies converging around housing development in the urban edge in order to gain insight into the historicity of self-help housing and governmental practices in eThekwini Municipality. More specifically, the thesis traces the historical narrative of housing and its effects on periurban spaces in South Africa; investigates how the concept of self-help housing has a bearing on the production of governable spaces in the context of rural spaces in eMaphephetheni in South Africa; examines how the influence and powers of the state and traditional councils contribute to the mass production of self-help housing in eMaphephetheni; examines the role of peri-urban place-making in generating a culture of suburbia, wealth, lifestyle and new African urbanity; analyses different role players involved in self-housing within the peri-urban areas and their influence in housing products; and develops a framework that will contribute to the sustainability of selfhelp housing in the peri-urban spaces in South Africa. The thesis also interrogates the application of various South African building laws, in particular the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act No. 17 of 2007, and their implications for the self-builder. This thesis has utilised the work of influential post-structural and critical theorists – Foucault, Lefebvre and Gramsci, and that of institutionalists – Pierson, North and Thelen, in order to gain a critical insight into the challenges of self-help housing development at eMaphephetheni. The thesis adopts a qualitative research approach and interpretivism paradigm which offer a research design suited to explore the powers and roles of diverse institutions. Interviews were conducted with 50 respondents that were comprised of 30 local homeowners and the various stakeholders in both the agency of the state and that of the institution of traditional leadership, and documentary analysis from government sources and municipal policies was carried out. These theoretical framing and methodological tools were used in order to triangulate both secondary and primary sources of data. The findings of this thesis reveal that self-help housing development is faced with a variety of challenges of an institutional, economic, social, constructional and architectural nature, among others. The thesis found that peri-urban spaces are governed through constrictive normative planning practices and regulatory control on the one hand, and a firm capture and control of land by the traditional institutions and elites on the other. Overall, this thesis developed a framework that will contribute to the sustainability of self-help housing in the peri-urban spaces in South Africa, while also facilitating the institutional assemblage of the agency of the state and that of the institution of traditional leadership. The essence of the framework is the introduction of a digital platform that seeks to host and harmonise user friendly land data which can be accessed and used by various stakeholders. It is an attempt towards advancing hybridity in land governance using modern technology readily accessible to everyone. The framework further suggests technical advisory support to self-builders through localised housing support facilities. To give effect to the envisaged cooperative arrangement suggested in the municipal SPLUM bylaw, the framework makes suggestions about how the Service Level Agreement between the traditional councils operating within eThekwini municipality and the municipality itself, could be operationalised.
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    Making a business case for green housing investment in Lagos, Nigeria.
    (2019) Odu, Tenigbade Yewande.; Adebayo, Pauline Wambui.
    The construction and occupation of environmentally sustainable buildings, also known as green buildings, rather than the conventional high-energy type, are increasingly being widely accepted as modes of environmental degradation abatement in the built environment. In spite of this, green housing units are not a regular feature in the Nigerian city of Lagos. Global warming, climate change and environmental degradation are some of the most popular phrases in modern day political and non-political discourses. Erratic weather and increasing natural disasters are evidence of the importance of these phenomena and why they must be abated as a matter of urgency. Therefore, this study set out to create a framework for effective green housing investment, by examining the various factors affecting the feasibility and viability of such investment in the Lagos context and using the results as bases for creating the framework. Based in one of Africa’s largest cities, the study objectives included assessing the level of awareness of green housing, especially as a form of environmental degradation abatement, among housing stakeholders in Lagos. Having a largely private-sector driven housing sector, the study investigated the perception of private property developers and their behaviour towards green housing investment. The study also set out to identify the various green housing investment drivers, which are factors that can motivate investment in green housing. Various housing related policy instruments and documents were also reviewed to assess their efficacy in supporting green housing investment in Lagos. The study also assessed the cost and value of hypothetical green housing units, and their viability as housing investment options. The study used the ecological modernisation theory to explain the interrelationship of the state and the private sector to achieve environmental sustainability. It also used the theory of planned behaviour to examine property developers’ behaviour towards green housing investment. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research instruments, including focus group discussions, to survey home users, estate surveyors and valuers, real estate developers, policy makers and architects, and subsequently establish a viable framework among the various property market players all located in Lagos. The quantitative data was analysed using various statistical tools including a structural equation modelling tool, while the qualitative data was analysed thematically. The findings of the study reveal that the paucity of green housing units in Lagos is attributable to a number of factors. These include a general lack of awareness of green buildings among parties that make up both the supply and demand sides of the housing market in Lagos. Also, property developers stated factors such as lack of demand for, and high cost of constructing green housing units as reasons for their lack of interest in such investments. The findings and results of the study were used to create a framework that recommends actions such as the formulation of green housing targeted policies and the creation or adoption of a local green building rating system. The study also recommends that the state government should identify environmentally responsible property investors, actively involve them in policy-making driven discussions and create an enabling investment environment for them in line with the investment drivers identified in this study.
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    Housing delivery systems : an evaluation of public-private partnerships towards provision of adequate housing for the middle-income group in Lagos Nigeria.
    (2012) Alabi, Anthony Sule.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
    This research thesis examined the applicability of the enablement paradigm in the public-private partnership (PPP) of housing delivery systems (HDS) in Lagos among middle-income groups using the periods of changing historic conditions as baseline for the analysis. Nigeria’s postdemocratic Housing and Urban Development Policy for the first time in 2002 recognized the formal private sector as a major stakeholder in its framework. This recognition was in line with the World Bank’s policy recommendation for governments to create enabling environment for private sector participation in housing provision. The major changes by this policy were the grant of access to land with ownership tenure and access to housing finance with low interest rate. This thesis underscores the failure of the Housing and Urban Development Policy framework in Nigeria to achieve real gains in housing delivery. By unbundling the determinants of HDS in Lagos, this research identified the universal objectives of housing delivery in terms of the quantity and quality of housing and its environmental quality. The findings from this research work identified significant correlation between failures in government policies and poor stakeholders’ delineation and roles. The study further associated stakeholder’s delineation and role to PPP optimization: By so, identified PPP as the fulcrum for resource, process and social optimization towards achieving AHD. Through an extensive analysis of historic conditions, theories and policies nationally and internationally, this research drew relevant lessons which informed its conceptual departure for unbundling PPP within HDS. It also relied on empirical data obtained from quantitative and qualitative research instruments drawn from four estate typologies and three categorized stakeholder’s respondents’ frame it used in evaluating HDS. In its contribution, this study developed a project lifecycle framework for housing development, a proposal for PPP effectiveness and an Adequacy Evaluation Technique (AET). Common to these models was the delineation of the universal objectives of housing from which the 3-Qfactor of housing quantity, and quality and the quality of housing environment emanated as a measure of value added contribution. By this, the study established a departure from previous architectural approaches which promised value satisfaction as a functional derivative of design. Through these models, PPP can be designed at the architectural and operational levels towards achieving AHD through the window of the universal objective of housing delivery; and can be evaluated for functional satisfaction and real value (return on investment) based on assessment of profitability of housing development actors/partners. The second major contribution is the delineation of stakeholders in three dimensions namely, the household, the housing development actor/partner which reflects changing roles and circumstances and the housing development experts. Of emphasis are the changing roles and circumstances that this study is able to delineate from its literature and field work through an understanding of the social focus groups which exist within the Lagos settings. This study in conclusion emphasizes the need for delineating stakeholders’ roles contextually as a pre-condition to initiating partnerships. It also posits that there is need to deduce all resources, processes and social context as the framework for PPP before initiating partnerships. It established that, current policy practice already targets the middle-income in its use of PPP, and this can be extended to other social income groups and that the basis for the utilization of PPP should stem from an understanding of specific application of the three-step adequacy evaluation technique (AET) developed by this study as a relevant tool for evaluating the adequacy of housing development projects.
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    An evaluation of housing strategy in South Africa for the creation of sustainable human settlements : a case study of the eThekwini region.
    (2011) Govender, Gonaseelan Barlow.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
    Given that access to adequate housing is defined under South Africa's constitution as a fundamental human right, it is understandable that the post Apartheid government focuses significant time and expense on establishing human settlements intended to redress the historically unequal distribution of wealth and resources. This thesis is concerned with looking at why, in spite of this attention, the government has underperformed in delivering low income housing projects that evolve into socially sustainable and integrated communities. Since there is no substantial evidence that a comprehensive study of the consolidation of human settlements has been done in South Africa, this research and the recommendations it engenders will be an important resource for planning truly sustainable and integrated human settlements in the future. Both theoretical and applied research methodologies were utilised in this thesis to examine specifically six human settlements in the KwaZulu-Natal Ethekwini region, selected for their diversity in terms of social, economic and location characteristics, as well as the differing historical circumstances surrounding their establishments. That the analysis included three settlements with Greenfield and social housing projects developed during the Apartheid regime and three settlements established after the 1994 democratic elections, permits comparisons to be drawn and so facilitates a deeper understanding of the successes and failures of the creation of sustainable housing settlements. A thorough review of the limited literature in South Africa in this field and an assessment of strategies contained in the National Housing Policy, was complimented by a more practical approach, including the use of a Delphi survey method, which was conducted with experts in the housing field, policy makers and settlement inhabitants, and extensive on site data collection. This investigation shows that, paradoxically, the Apartheid housing settlements, designed to entrench racial segregation and inequality, have in fact flourished as consolidated communities, in comparison with post Apartheid housing projects. The thesis draws the conclusion that in the Apartheid settlements inhabitants are using their housing units as an invaluable asset to improve their living conditions and to create a sustainable environment. However, in the settlements developed by the post Apartheid regime, inhabitants are struggling to use their home as an asset to improve their living conditions and to create a convenient and sustainable environment. Consequently, poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability of the beneficiaries of low-cost housing are deepening. While this does not justify the Apartheid policy of enforced removals or the subsequent social evils, the sense of ownership that ensued from forcing inhabitants to thererafter pay for their dwelling based on a calculated proportion of household income, is key to understanding this disparity. In comparison, post Apartheid housing policy, framed within a socialist agenda, does not allow for equitable distribution based on income levels and so for the mainly poor and economically inactive inhabitants, there is an absence of this same ownership incentive to either care for or improve the dwellings that they are given. Furthermore, the current National Housing Policy fails to take a holistic approach to the issue since its priority is simply meeting short-term high demand to eradicate the most visible effects of Apartheid. Subsequently, the National Housing Policy has failed to consider how access to education facilities for children, availability of consumer goods and the proximity to commercial activity, jostle with the need for shelter as high priorities for low income households, which fundamentally affects the success of any housing policy. For this reason, several beneficiaries of post Apartheid housing units have sold their homes to raise income to meet more pressing needs. All social housing settlements that formed the sample of this research study have long term viability issues and so replicating any model is problematic. The thesis suggests therefore, that in the future, legislators and policy makers look towards cultivating mixed use housing settlements centred around vibrant commercial, business and retail sites with connecting public transit and pedestrian networks, and various tenure options, including rentals, rent-to-buy and outright purchase. Development initiatives taking into considerations the reforms and recommendations outlined in this thesis could be implemented on housing projects that use developed buffer zones of land that were left over from the Apartheid era housing policy or on "lost spaces" within existing human settlements. The advantages of such a new approach for creating sustainable housing settlements provides an opportunity to link spatially and economically dislocated communities while ensuring beneficiaries and stakeholders in housing settlements meet a wider variety of needs. The conclusion that this thesis draws is that South Africa needs a post Apartheid approach to create sustainable human settlements. The Delphi Study reveals that the strategy to be adopted should represent the expectations of both policy-makers and beneficiaries. Consequently, this thesis proposes a sustainable housing development model and has developed guidelines and processes that take into consideration the many issues affecting housing policies and so becomes a workable tool for future housing professionals. Consolidated and integrated settlements that evolve into socially sustainable communities then becomes a real possibility.
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    The effects of economic structural adjustment programme and the shelter development strategy on the housing construction industry in Zimbabwe.
    (2001) Mucharambeyi, Kudakwashe Godfrey.; Adebayo, Ambrose Adeyemi.
    The motive behind this dissertation involved the scholastic empirical testing of the impacts of development policy, pursued at macro-economic level in housing and construction industry in Zimbabwe during Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) between 1990-1995. It further explores the understanding of the variety of interconnections between macro-economic in light of structural adjustment and Shelter development Strategy. The introductory focuses on conceptualisation of the dissertation in relation to contemporary policy and academic debates. A historical review of both macroeconomic and shelter industry management policies experienced in Zimbabwe prior to ESAP are examined. Architecture structure of the adjustment programe specifically in the in creating an enabling environment in respect to the overall macro-economic reforms in relation to the shelter industry is sketched. Party Two deals with housing and Zimbabwean construction finance both prior and after ESAP, comparison with other African countries is reviewed-positive impacts of liberalizing a sophisticated financial sector, limited impact in attracting foreign investment and negative impact of reduced government investment on the housing construction industry. The final section deals with the impact of adjustment and shelter strategy on job creation and income levels. Also focuses on the responsiveness of the construction supply to adjustment and enablement policies. The development of ideas surrounding this research and methodology of fieldwork are also discussed. Conclusion and recommendations are drawn to fulfill the dissertation-Scholarly.