Geography: Chapter 8 & 9 Flashcards
What is formal housing and informal housing?
Formal housing is legally built housing often by the government or private developers.
Informal housing is illegally built by individuals who are unable to access formal housing.
Developer, legal right, access to basic services, quality of building materials
Formal housing is built by private developers or the government. All public housing in SG is developed by the HDB. Land rights refer to the ability to use and possess land at one’s discretion, and addresses the ownership of land. Formal housing also has access to basic services such as water and electricity. Improves quality of life for the residents. Formal housing is also built with high-quality building materials (e.g. concrete, hardwood). Can withstand elements e.g. heavy rain and strong winds, threats like fires and lasts for a long time.
For informal housing, people settle as squatters in squatter settlements. Built by individuals in an unplanned fashion. Constructed from scavenged materials such as zinc sheets and recycled lumber. Those inferior building materials can collapse, flood, and catch fire easily. May occupy undeveloped and unsecured land and is at risk of being evicted or cleared. The residents lack access to basic services and illegally tap onto nearby electrical grids, siphon water from nearby pipes and dispose waste onto the ground. Increases risk of ill-health and injury due to e.g. electrocution, consumption of waterborne diseases in contaminated water.
Describe the distribution of housing locations
o Formal housing: desirable land.
Near greenery and amenities. Desirable land.
o Informal housing: Locally unwanted land use (LULU).
Locally unwanted land use. Near landfills, sewage treatment plants. Neglected and lack infrastructure development. Slums are sometimes found near industrial sites to save on travelling time and cost by living near their workplace.
What is land-use planning in cities?
Guidelines drawn up by planning authorities. They practise zoning as a planning control tool to ensure land is well developed. Zoning restricts the type of activities and land-use permitted on specific sites.
What are the developers for housing?
Private developers develop a property for profit and tend to pick commercially viable sites. Housing built by government instead consider people’s needs more than profit.
Land pricing in cities
High land prices → high housing cost → hard to afford. Hence the government regulates land prices. High housing cost may lead to more informal housing for rural-urban migrants.
Housing financial support
Can lower the cost of building houses → encourages developers to build more houses and prevent housing shortage. Finance support schemes can increase affordability.
Describe the relationship that housing has on the environment
Housing developments increase resource demands. To meet the needs of people, natural resources need to be extracted and used. Natural environment is repurposed for human use. This leads to negative environmental impacts.
Use of natural resources
Building homes → land cleared → deforestation. About 18.7mil acres of forests are lost each year. As the population grows, more resources like food are needed. Large cities also use 504 billion liters of water a day.
Environmental pollution in cities
Cities also pollute the natural environment. Pollution is the introduction of substances that do not belong in the environment and can harm plants, animals and humans. E.g. land pollution like soil contamination which makes land unsafe for homes. A lot of waste is disposed onto the land. Surface runoff from streets carry oil, rubber, heavy metals and other contaminants from vehicles, and dumping untreated waste from factories into water bodies.
The burning of fossil fuels contributes to air pollution. It is a risk to human health and the environment. It can be reduced by increasing public transport and using solar power.
Impact of provision of basic needs
Shelter is a basic human need to protect them from the elements. Sanitation is essential on improving quality of life and reduces the outbreak of diseases and improves people’s well-being and overall health.
Impact of presence of amenities
Amenities are desirable or useful features of a place that make life easier for its residents. E.g. access to food via grocery shops, medical services in clinics and hospitals.
Presence of communities to meet social needs
Interactions and community spirit amongst neighbours leads to a sense of belonging and inclusivity.
Integrated land-use planning strategy to sustainably manage housing
Integrated land-use planning is the process by which the needs of different groups and their competing demands can be resolved to ensure sustainable development of the city. Amenities and infrastructure need to be built nearby. However, this requires coordination of many stakeholders as there are different perspectives.
Provision of inclusive public housing strategy to sustainably manage housing
It is important to provide a range of housing to cater to different groups. E.g. some residents have bigger families. Some have physical disabilities and housing developments have to cater to people of all ages and all physical conditions. E.g. an inclusive playground with equipment designed for those with physical disabilities.
