Lisa Parkes talks about the Better Living Challenge and affordable solutions for the home at the Growing Green Economies event in Cape Town on 16 August 2016.
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Lisa Parkes
1.
2. The Objective
• Aimed to facilitate the product to market journey
• Promoted alternative solutions
• Long-term goal of increased choice in the low-
income home improvement market
5. Challenge rationale
.Empathise: look
at the issue in a
fresh way, gather
insights by
working with end-
users.
Define: make
sense of all the
possibilities and
develop a clear
creative brief that
frames the design
challenge.
Develop/ ideate
& test : concepts
are created,
prototyped, tested
and iterated..
Deliver: resulting
project (a product,
service finalised,
produced and
launched
6. Research Streams
• Needs analysis
• Upgrading models
• Financial / affordability
• Challenge model / process
8. Engagement at a glance
15 10 70 2515
Government
Departments
DHS
DEADP
DEDAT
DOP
DPW
COCT
CSO’s
CORC
VPUU
DAG
PEP
Habitat for
Humanity
iKhayalami
UBU
SDI
ISN
FEDUP
Residents
Mtshini Wam
Flamingo
Heights
Monwabisi Park
Phola Park
Khayelitsha Site
B / C
Santini, Mflueni
Imizamo Yethu
Sweet Homes
Farm
Philippi
Manenberg
Industry Members
Formal
suppliers
Informal
builders
Contractors
Architects
Tradesmen
African Centre
for Cities
Bertha Centre
Sustainability
Institute
Academia
Isandla
GreenCape
SLF
African Centre
Affordable
Housing finance
Researchers
Jan-June 2016- 6 months
9. Skills Development & Capacity Building
Sub-themes Key Concepts
Do it yourself home
maintenance
• Protection from environmental challenges
• Unique safe & comfortable home
• Alternative materials / solutions
Contractors • Skills beyond building – passive design / architecture 101
• Contracting and entrepreneurial/enterprise skills and support
Community leaders / Role of
intermediary
• Contestation between leaders and rest of community
• Community mobilisation capacity
Place-making
Quality dignified spaces • Homes and communities residents feel a part of
• Learning about one’s home/community
Designing destinations • Community centres/resources
• Livelihood support
• Building local economies
“Permanence” & tenure • Certificate of residence
• Usage rights
• Feelings of ‘my’ home
10. Correct & Accessible Information
Sub-themes Key Concepts
Accessible & correct policy
information
• Mistrust of government from confusing/mixed messages
• Expectations of getting an RDP house
• Entitlement / holding state hostage
• Rules of building
Contractors & Traders • Contractors need more work opportunities
• Local material supply chains
Financing options • Access to financing options
• Instruments supporting incremental building
• Financing options that go beyond cash
Upgrading Process
Emphasis on process • “Preject” of project / foster buy-in
• Bottom up approaches
• Context specific scalable/replicable
Best Practice • Community exchanges / horizontal learning
• Show-case prototypes
• Options beyond ‘re-blocking’
Upgrading Continuum • No clear beginning and end
• What happens after upgrading?
• Upgrading roadmap + stakeholders
11. 3 11 205+ 25 50 155+ 50Streams Models Projects Countries ‘Paper’ ‘Practice’ ‘Experts’
1) Paper
2) Project
3) Place
Research: Upgrading models
Highlighting selected & appropriate precedent
…..‘Surfacing the outliers
….Going beyond the typical precedent
….Finding best practice.
12. Upgrading: Models
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11
Material
Innovation
Greenlite
Concrete
Top Structure
Elemental
(Chile)
Tenure Provision
East Wahdat,
Jordan
Self-help build and mutual
aid projects
Roof Loan Scheme (Ghana)
Re-blocking
Flamingo Crescent, Cape
Town
Transitional
housing/ post-
disaster units
Sri Lanka Tsunami
Shelters) (UNHCR
Community
facilitation/
development
Sweet Home
Farm
Community-led
finance
facilities
Community
Upgrading
Finance Facility
(CUFF)
Public
Infrastructure
Imazamu Yethu,
Hout Bay
Multi-scale
Interventions
Medellin, Colombia
Site and
Service
Honduras
13. Observations
Key Concepts
1. Policy shifting away from dwelling centric provision to human settlement approach
2. Security of tenure is key.
3. Access to well-located land (opportunities) is key to how people see their situation.
4. The complete buy-in of Government, across all levels ( & responsive and pre-emptive).
5. Different upgrading options available: not just one solution for all.
6. Working with existing ‘social’ structures within community: build and strengthen those/ The need for a
prototype to visualize and buy into idea and convince others who are sceptical.
7. Top structure solutions not the first priority: process.
8. Infrastructure and service provision: can be catalytic
9. Need for saving schemes.
15. Income, expenditure and affordability
Highlights: profiling research
Based on Stats SA (2011 Census, 2015 General Household Survey, National Credit Regulator data, Old Mutual 2015 Savings and Investment Survey, FinScope research, W. Cape
Provincial Human Settlement Demand Profile 2015, City of Cape Town report, ISN map, )
Over 300,000households
living in informal dwellings in W. Cape - over
850 000 people
Over 230,000 households spend less
than R400 a month on home
maintenance and utilities
(probably across all their dwellings) (2011)
Less than 40% (100,000) can access formal microfinance
because of lack of formal employment/payslips; even less taking into account poor credit records and affordability
Very small percentage can access mortgages e.g. less than 200 mortgages approved for relevant
income brackets in 2014 nationally - limited legal tenure, affordability vs. available stock of “bank compliant’ housing at suitable
price, issues with 20 year commitment, high initiation and repossession costs
Approx 40% of these living in
backyards; 60% in
informal settlements
Scale of market
Eligibility
Over 95% (270,000) have
household income below R6,400
(with head of household between 18 and 59)
16. Observations
Key Concepts
Seems that most users are trying to retrofit services that were not designed for them…
Low income vs. high income
Informal vs. formal
Incremental vs. once-off
Collective vs. individual decision-making, financial commitments, risk
Multiple vs. single dwelling management
Relational vs. contractual
Expect uncertainty vs. certainty
Spoken/cellphone vs. online/written
Self-build/I self-manage/informal build vs. professional contractor build
17. Key insights
Opportunity Areas
1. Work streams in-line
with organisations’ goals
& Provincial
frameworks
2. Accessible information
process and precedent
3. Community leaders &
contractor capacity
building
4. Innovative financing
models that go beyond
cash
.
18. Vision TO CREATE AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR INCREMENTAL
IMPROVEMENT/ INFORMAL SETTLEMENT UPGRADING
(incl placemaking)
Catalyst
of change
Cross
cutting
stimulant
Finance: Accessibility & affordability
Skills & capacity
building
Information &
networking
Ownership & Use
rights
Enablers
Value/ supply chain innovation
Land
accessibility
&
acquisition
Title/
tenure
Bulk
infrastructure
Home
construction
Sales
&
Transfer
Maintenance
&
improvement
Social
&
Economic
infrastructure
Housing delivery value chain
19. • Identify actionable items that can
feed into ISSP
• Reconvene with province
• Agree on themes- ease and impact
• Outline of a process for roll out
• Share: NUSP and national
• Launch
Next Steps
20. Thank you
www.betterlivingchallenge.co.za
Facebook – The Better Living Challenge
Twitter – @TheBLChallenge
Lisa Parkes | Project Manager: Design
Support
C +27 (0) 83 406 3298
Switchboard + 27 (0)21 461 1488 ext 3628
lisa.parkes@ccdi.org.za
Hinweis der Redaktion
In 2012, the Western Cape Government launched 110% Green,
Premier hosted Smart Innovation on Tour in July 2013, which showcased green innovations to government and business leaders.
launch of the Better Living Challenge, a design competition that aims to surface innovations, to support the improvement of the living conditions of low-income communities in the Western Cape
The BLC was a recognised project of the World Design Capital (WDC) 2014
The BLC takes place over a five-year period (2013/14 – 2017/18), with the Cape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI) being implementing agents.
High-level project objectives:
• Increased engagement by designers, manufacturers, retailers and others in the development of products, services and systems for the low-income housing market
• New/improved products in the market
• Increased sales of local products, services and systems
• Increased choice of a range of home improvement products, services and systems
The BLC 1 called upon manufacturers, designers, inventors and entrepreneurs to submit new or existing solutions that meet these needs.
The BLC 1 aimed to facilitate the production cycle of these solutions from research and concept stage, to prototype, testing and production, through to marketing and distribution of finished product.
The BLC1 stimulated the entry of 130 solutions. Through a selection process guided by 47 experts, these were reduced to 22 finalists and 33 exhibitors for the BLC Showcase held at the Station Forecourt from 28th October to 8th November 2014.
The three winners were chosen through a voting process that included a formal judging panel, facilitated community votes and public votes.
The winners, one in each category, were awarded R500, 000 in support services to help refine their solution and take it to market.
Now in its third year, focus of the BLC 1 is on providing bespoke support to the winners of the first challenge, BLC 1.
rapidly growing cities, informal building and incremental construction and expansion of housing – pay-as-you-go progress – is often the de facto pattern of growth, particularly in low-income areas.
typology -here to stay.
…….measures need to be taken to support the incremental improvement of this form.
dire need & large potential market - for innovative, affordable and environmentally conscious interventions that improve the quality of life in this arena.
focus of the Better Living Challenge 2:
a 3-year project aimed at surfacing design innovations (opportunities, ideas and designs) that
support the incremental improvement/ expansion of low-income homes;
provide better quality and alternative building materials;
increase the comfort and quality of life of residents; and
enable a more densified urban form.
Funded
Challenge approach and methodology -Western Cape Design strategy
Important that its not a top down process, but is rather based on an understanding of needs and desires of residents, and looks at whats already being done by people to improve their homes and make them more comfortable and liveable.
Accordingly we are using a Design thinking methodology based on understanding users’ needs, co-creating solutions
Proven and repeatable problem-solving protocol that any business or profession can employ to achieve extraordinary results
Approach to problem solving that allows us to combine left brain thinking analytical thinking and right brain creative thinking
Design thinking employs divergent thinking as a way to ensure that many possible solutions are ideated and explored in the first instance,
and then convergent thinking as a way to narrow these down to a final solution.
Assist framing BLC2
In-depth analysis into how design can be used to improve lives and living conditions
Understand users’ needs
Come up with insights deliver a Challenge - based on actual need
WE took an action-research approach. The aim of this approach is to generate knowledge through a snowballing effect of data collection, reflection and iteration.
……………. by engaging informal sector users, designers and industry (community)
we aimed to design a challenge process that is inclusive and contextually relevant
and surfaces innovations that embrace informality and allow for incremental improvement….
Limitations:
Those communities we spent the most time in have already been engaged by community based organisations (CBO’s)
Only engaged with a limited number of CBO’s/ research institutes / Corporates / Industry etc out of the dozens working in human settlements
Extension of the last point...Unpacking and understanding the concept of “who is the community” is complex
Often a clash between what experts and residents say
All of the themes and sub-themes naturally overlap as in any complex system
The 4 over-arching themes:
Correct & Accessible Information
Skills Development & Capacity Building
Upgrading Process (know-how / continuum)
Place-making is essential
As mentioned in the data analysis, each of the four themes were accompanied:
By 3 sub-themes
a number of key concepts
and supporting quotes
All of the themes and sub-themes naturally overlap as in any complex system
The 4 over-arching themes:
Correct & Accessible Information
Skills Development & Capacity Building
Upgrading Process (know-how / continuum)
Place-making is essential
As mentioned in the data analysis, each of the four themes were accompanied:
By 3 sub-themes
a number of key concepts
and supporting quotes
WHAT?
“…a focus on models (upgrading, typologies, built forms, participatory planning processes, conceptual approaches etc.) that work (or don’t work) and incorporates international and local examples.”
WHY?
This was intended in order to understand:
1) the different ideas/ conceptual approaches;
2) actual typologies or examples;
3) the different methods employed to implement these
HOW?
Focus on the three broad areas of ‘Paper’, ‘Practice’, and ‘Place’, in order to investigate the topic of ‘upgrading’ (locally and internationally).
But…..‘Surfacing the outliers’Going beyond the typical precedent.Finding best practice.
Critical Question: What do we mean by upgrading?
1) Material Innovation
There has been a recent surge into new building technologies, partly due to the fact that consumers are requesting more ‘green’, durable, and cost effective building products. As a result, certain newly developed or improved materials have come to be associated with, influenced by, or directed towards the lower income living bracket.
Different types of material innovation:
Construction and load-bearing systems/ Insulation materials/ Cladding Materials/ Finishes/ Electrical add-ons
2) Top Structures
A top structure literally implies or refers to any structure ‘on top of the ground’ or above ground level and generally refers to and pertains to the dwelling / living unit. Size and materials used may vary from project to project.
Different types of top structures:
Free-standing or attached, single or multi-storey, self-built or provided by govt.
3) Site and service/ core services
A site and services model typically implies the ‘provision’ of a piece of land that is serviced with basic services. These services may include water point/s, free-standing toilet/s. These services may be distributed individually on individual plots or grouped together.
Note: The provision of ‘site and service’ models does not necessarily imply that occupants own the land or have security of tenure.
4) Self-help build and mutual aid projects
These projects, driven by the notion that homeowners have been successful in building their own homes for generations. Instead of government-built and funded housing projects, government funding is used to support and empower families to upgrade and build their own homes.
Often relies on traditional building methods (collective wisdom). Pre-fabrication and mass-production frowned upon.
‘Give man half a chance and man will solve his part of the housing problem….’
-Hassan Fathy, Architecture for the Poor, 1930’s
5) Re-blocking/ in-situ upgrading
Re-blocking implies the regularisation of informal dwellings (illegal) into more consolidated patterns or forms in-situ (on-site). Reasons for doing so might include to allow for services (roads, water, electricity) and to allow for future expansion and densification and typically accompanies some form of incremental tenure.
Usually happens in accordance to a community-drafted spatial framework.
Often described as a socio-spatial process
6) Transitional housing/ post-disaster units
Why is this relevant in our context? The housing units in the Temporary Relocation areas, as well as the CoCT’s disaster housing unit’s (provided after fires) are both forms of ‘transitional housing’.
Transitional is typically employed instead of ‘temporary’, within the humanitarian sector, to denote the process by which one ‘moves’ to or accesses permanent housing.
7) Community facilitation/ development
This ‘model’ has been included because although not ‘physical’, it describes the process by which communities become involved within upgrading processes. Usually before any physical upgrading materialises, community facilitation takes place.
Most precedent/ projects reveal that the process involved prior to physical upgrading is critical to the shape, success and nature of a project. It can be self-initiated or facilitated or kick-started by outside individuals or organizations.
The role of an intermediary is critical.
8) Community-led finance facilities
Over the last three decades, there has been an evolution in institutions that promote community-based savings, credit and grant-making‘. They have played a key role in empowering people to break free from cycles of poverty.
These institutional arrangements provide support to community-based savings and credit movements in terms of capacity building, expansion, and capital for incremental upgrading projects.
Diverse and locally-rooted initiatives, aim to build on the collective wisdom of organized community groups.
9) Public infrastructure:
There has been a shift in policy and practice, signalling a move away from ‘an individual dwelling’ centric approach, towards a more community-orientated and integrated human settlement approach, in terms of informal settlement upgrading.
Different types of public infrastructure may include services (Water, sanitation, storm-water, drainage), or amenities (community, educational or transport related facilities).
These can challenge typologies or act as catalytic projects (inspire and generate) for future development.
10) Tenure provision
Most informal settlement dwellers do not have any form (or proof) of ‘security of tenure’ or legal tenure.
Security of tenure implies the right to dwell (won’t be evicted) and legal tenure implies ‘ownership’ of the land.
In many cases where individuals have been given some sort of subsidised house, documents showing ‘proof of tenure’ (or title deeds) were never given.
Tenure-ship is often seen as the crucial element to incentivise self-build projects and incremental upgrading.
11) Multi-scale interventions
Often upgrading projects might start small or involve talk about top structure solutions. However, while capacity-building commences and participatory planning happens, different projects and interventions might occur: from capacity building processes, to mapping and surveying, to re-blocking, tenure provision, to in-situ upgrading, to basic infrastructure and service provision, to communal facilities.
In essence, it implies interventions at different scales, either within one community, or span entire cities (when talking about ‘city upgrading programmes’).
TO CREATE AND ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR INCREMENTATAL IMPROVEMENT/ INFORMAL SETTLEMENT UPGRADING Emergent themes/ streams to develop
As an overarching theme that runs through all opportunity areas:
1. How might we...have our work streams in line with w/ CBO’s goals and/or plug-into provincial policy frameworks through partnerships to support their projects
-Supporting particular organisations / group of organisations key drivers / projects
-Clear shared value proposed
-State readiness on the part of government, change required at policy maker or muncipal level
2. Upgrading process and precedent preparedness options + models/ steps toolkit / resources
Who to talk to, how to mobilise community, saving in community, planning, building.
Community exchanges
How to deal with conflict
Stakeholder empathy map to as to see all the cogs / stakeholders involved and where their pain points
Addressing mixed messaging amongst other community versus government dynamics
Accessible information sharing platforms- Conference, Design Workshop, Informal Studio within informal settlement/ townships, Studios within formal educational institutions, Design Build Studios, ‘Design Studio’ workshops within government,
Make research on precedent freely available Exhibition/ catalogue/ website- Creative tender processes
3. Capacity building for Community leaders and contractors / informal traders
Community leaders need community organisation skills (train the trainer) to ensure buy-in and inclusivity (big problem)
Contractors have very basic building skills and no ‘passive’ design skills (have asked for training/certifications
Contractor's capacitated through enterprise support / entrepreneurial development to work with:
Informal suppliers to create new or improved products ( for own build structures by homeowners)
Formal suppliers and manufacturers to explore how existing products can be adapted for the low-income market
4. Financing models that go beyond cash- aspects working already that can be amplified/ Reach/potential to scale and impact on majority of target households/ Institutional incentives/ pain points to improve
Scaling up community housing finance/saving, maybe involving stokvels (possibly integrating impact investors) (partnership with SDI, Corc, Fedup, Kuyasa, Bertha on Impact Investors?), potentially linking to collective equity and collateral
Supporting informal contractor payment terms to customers (maybe linking to technical support, possibly linked to contractor finance / materials financing by materials suppliers/manufacturers, linked to better quality build/design corporate supplier development /enterprise development obligations)
Supporting informal instalment transfers/transactions?
Backyard landlord and small developer/improver finance? (potentially with TUHF, project finance/impact investors/peer to peer lending platforms/Kiva)
Informal and formal employer housing loans – widening formal to lower income employees, piloting mechanism to support informal loans? (possibly with big W. Cape employers of low income workforce e.g. retailers, manufacturers, Bertha Centre and City involvement)
Designing and building training / maintenance / how to incrementally build (upgrade) with money you have Sourcing materials etc. Helping complete a needs analysis so money is spent wisely Designing and building support
Ways of clearing up credit score- Consolidate debt and roll over into market
Sharing / trust economies models of finance / sharing / pooling resources- Could get a lot more creative here
OR SOMETHIING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT e.g. open challenge around disruptive innovation from a different sector/type of player?
Transform the challenge model from a competition-event to co-operative capacitation?
We’ve identified the key enablers that shape the enhancement…..
Land / use right reform
Accessibility of user friendly Information, capacity building & skills development which includes process support upgrading
Accessible finance: support, scaling up or complete disruptive innovation-
Propose we use our skillset to work with those enablers
Also to look at the players in the value chain, drivers and pull them in as partners
Acknowledged that certain preconditions need to be in place- cognisant of the strategic objectives and actions required ISSP, who is looking at the bubbles in the housing delivery value chain
Our economy runs on knowledge, complement these existing structures and radically galvanize knowledge sharing, learning, and change. Want to develop and support the community of practice, especially around the soft skills in the upgrading space-but from the bottom up.
In light of this…..Primary focus
Home construction, Maintenance and improvement- enhancing ability of people to develop basic knowledge and do basic things well/ Modular designs that allow for expansion, support the incremental development of low-income homes and enable a more densified urban form
Socio economic infrastructure informal markets, construction skills and material supply-new or improved products and support offerings
Ownership/ use rights as a lever for investment as it relates to tenure and permanence, placemaking, local economies etc (Land / use right reform- policy issue possibly not an area for us to dabble in)
Financial innovation-for housing improvement, skills development and greasing cogs of materials economy- to stimulate change and open up new markets
identify actionable items that can feed into ISSP, eg materials supply chain innovation and working with greencape or skills and ED in the informal construction sector
Reconvene with province with tangible suggestions on program of action
Agree on themes- ease and impact
Outline of a process for roll out
