RESEARCH ARTICLE
Flexible Design and Construction Strategies for Self-Help Housing in Botswana
K. Jobe*, C. J. K. Williams
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2016Volume: 10
Issue: Suppl 3: M2
First Page: 381
Last Page: 394
Publisher ID: TOBCTJ-10-381
DOI: 10.2174/1874836801610010381
Article History:
Received Date: 30/4/2015Revision Received Date: 11/6/2015
Acceptance Date: 5/11/2015
Electronic publication date: 28/06/2016
Collection year: 2016
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
In an effort to coordinate the housing schemes from different departments, Government of the Republic of Botswana took a decision to establish Single Housing Authority (SiHA) through a Presidential Cabinet Directive CAB20 (B) 2010 in July 2010. Previously, these schemes were designed and built by the local councils, with the help of the local builders and house owners. A review of the architect designed and contractor-led housing projects under this scheme, demonstrate the shortcomings of a standardized housing design approach and the need to develop a flexible design strategies that can respond to the inevitable changes associated with low-income housing. A qualitative case study research of Self-Help Housing Agency (SHHA)’s built houses was conducted in Mochudi (Botswana) to explore potential strategies of improving the current self-help housing design processes. Using case study examples from Mochudi, a systematic and flexible design framework is suggested as an economically viable approach to improve the quality of self-help housing design processes that reduce costly changes which are associated with the current government-funded housing schemes.