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This study is addressing the widespread transformation activities made to government-built housing intended for low income urban households. These unauthorised self-help transformation activities indicate not only people's willingness to become actively involved in the housing process but also demonstrate the potential for low income families to invest to improve their living conditions. In this paper we examine the changes made to the internal layouts of multi-story walk-up flats in the recently implemented satellite town of "Ali Mendjeli" in Constantine which is one of the newly adopted solutions to ease Constantine saturated city centre, and also to respond to an acute housing shortage. These transformation activities have an effect on dwelling size, cultural norms, and internal maintenance. A survey has been conducted in selected projects and socio-economic data has been collected from a sample of dwellings. The findings of the study point to the factors, which encourage these transformations, help to understand the motives and means used by the residents in the transformation procedure, find out the characteristics of these transformations, and assess means, which can be used to plan for future transformations in proposed housing schemes. Thus, this paper tends to understand the alterations carried out by the users, and to propose recommendations in order to attenuate this phenomenon.

Housing transformation is not part of the Ethiopian urban housing policy, but it is a reality for city dwellers. The objective of this study was to find out what, why, and how aided self-help residents transformed their core house in Bahir Dar city. The focus was specifically on the transformations that resulted in changes to the floor area.

The case study research design is ideal for empirically examining socio-physical dynamics. The study employed three aided self-help housing cooperatives as case studies in Bahir Dar city. Information was gathered from cooperative members, committees, relevant government bodies, and the physical environment through field observations, interviews, photographic surveys, and questionnaires.

The findings showed three types of housing transformations that resulted in a change in floor area and are influenced by the building features of the original core house, motivation, and participation of residents. As a result of the housing transformation, residents became housing producers and suppliers, and their neighbourhood changed into a more socially and functionally diversified settlement.

The findings of this study have practical implications for policy makers to institute mechanisms that help planners and architects in preparing plots of land for residential use and in designing housing typologies. The findings will have an impact on the housing policy of Ethiopia.

The findings of this study will impact planners and architects when it comes to preparing plots for residential land use and designing housing typologies. In addition, the finding will have an impact on housing policy of Ethiopia.

The study of the resident’s housing transformation that brought floor area change provides further insights on the consideration of housing transformation as a housing production and supply strategy.

Within low-income communities in urban slums, access to housing is limited because individuals in these communities cannot afford to purchase homes. One area of Indonesia with these conditions is Kampung Kajen, Danukusuman, Surakarta, where, oftentimes, a single house is inhabited by several families and is passed down from generation to generation. This causes a change in space, a narrowing of that which is inhabited by the next generation. This paper aims to examine the transformation of space within low-income homes in Kampong Kajen.

The research method was a qualitative case study approach, and data were collected through direct interviews and field observation. Informants in this study were classified into three groups: residents, non-residents and government agencies.

The space transformation that occurred in the studied samples was partial. The transformation continued to occur as the new families grew, and the area of space used by the new families experienced a narrowing for future generations.

The novelty of this research is in regard to the findings about the partial transformation of the house from generation to generation, which details changes in the layout and the extent of the house interior, the narrowing of the house, the change of owners and the changing behaviour of the house inhabitants. Partial transformation continues to occur in line with the addition of new families living in one house.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework to contextualise the formation and transformation of three major medinas in North Africa, namely, Tripoli, Tunis and Fez. The framework is designed to identify key factors that formed these medinas in the first place, and key causes of transformation in reference to three distinctive forces: colonisation, modernisation and globalisation, which include political, economic and social changes that influenced the transformation process.

Colonisation, modernisation and globalisation changed the physical appearance and urban fabric, introduced new architectural styles and at the same time changed the social structure, lifestyle, and the inhabitants’ perception and use of spaces within their medinas. Physical aspects of the transformation process are investigated using comparative case studies, while social aspects are studied through interviewing three main actors in housing: users, decision makers and professional architects.

By identifying key factors of formation and main drivers of transformation, together with analysing the physical and social aspects associated with the transformation process, the framework aims at developing a holistic, complex picture of housing transformation within a specific context: the medinas of North Africa. However, the framework is introduced as a valuable tool for exploring the transformation of other cities with relevant and similar context.

Through the use of comparative case studies and interviews, the study focuses on capturing the essence of traditional medinas, understanding the reality of social change within housing transformation and contextualising the physical aspects of housing transformation.

This chapter addresses the related questions of how to assess housing redevelopment and what constitutes a successful redevelopment project, based on the HOPE VI transformation of Boston’s Orchard Park from one of the city’s most notorious, crime-ridden public housing projects into a mixed-income community that remained overwhelmingly composed of low-income residents.

The analysis is based on a unique set of interviews with a sample of residents before and after housing redevelopment occurred. In addition, we draw upon interviews with housing authority staff, official agency file documents, and archival materials.

We find increased residential satisfaction after redevelopment but lingering concerns about safety and security despite marked declines in crime. Although the redevelopment process displaced some households, residents attributed improvements in living conditions to changes in tenant composition prompted by the housing transformation.

The results suggest an alternative model of public housing redevelopment that accommodates a majority of poor, subsidized households with some displacement. Still, loss of housing units, tenant selection, and social problems complicate notions of successful redevelopment.

This chapter contributes to the literature by showing how some low-income families may benefit from housing displacement induced by the redevelopment process. We analyze an overlooked but frequently implemented approach to housing redevelopment under the HOPE VI program to keep the majority of redeveloped units for low-income residents. It is the only study of which we are aware that has collected public housing resident opinions both before and after HOPE VI redevelopment occurred.

This paper examines the transformation of the housing typology in informal neighbourhoods located on the periphery of Dakar, Senegal. More specifically, it documents the spatial logics and factors guiding the construction of new multi-storey houses called “villas”, which are significantly transforming the landscape of the city. Studies have thus far examined villas through the lenses of migrants’ investments and lifestyles, associating these houses with new functions and decorative elements and materials inspired by time spent abroad, with innovative ways of building and dwelling that disrupt more popular housing practices. Based upon an architectural survey of seventeen houses and the detailed stories of their construction, this paper argues that while the Senegalese villa is influenced by global networks and symbols of success, it is also deeply rooted in popular housing forms and building practices. Moreover, because house-building processes are predominantly incremental, the construction of this new house type is not limited to migrants and other privileged dwellers. Although at different speeds, most residents are building and transforming their houses according to spatial and constructive logics characteristic of villas. These results have implications for housing policies and programmes because they contribute to challenging assumptions about residential production, new housing typologies and the pivotal actors of these urban transformations.

The need to speed up and simplify the practice of transformation and the topic of reuse is crucial in Italy. The purpose of this paper is to compare successful cases of reuse into housing in Italy and the Netherlands, in order to suggest improvements to the Italian situation.

Previous research at the University of Pavia showed the need to change living standards for new residential buildings. This research focusses on existing buildings and gives a comparative analysis of the Italian and Dutch legislation for residential buildings. Interviews with professionals have been conducted in Italy and the Netherlands to better understand the differences and problems related to housing regulations. Good examples of reuse into housing have been studied to define common guidelines for intervention.

The findings describe the building regulations in Italy and the Netherlands concerning adaptive reuse, and reveals differences between the two countries. Furthermore, the possibilities and barriers for the reuse of existing buildings are highlighted.

Lessons are drawn from both contexts, and finally suggestions for improvement of the regulatory system are made for Italy and the Netherlands.

This paper aims at revealing the opportunities and barriers of reuse in Italy and the Netherlands. So far, studies were performed to reveal the feasibility of adaptive reuse, though none of these focussed specifically on legal issues. No sufficient studies are performed so far on reuse into housing in Italy, and the comparison of the regulatory systems of the two countries is novel.

Across use adaptation is a possible way of dealing with long term vacant office buildings, albeit previous research shows that there are many obstacles to be thrived. In The Netherlands several successful transformations of offices into housing were completed. Nevertheless, transformations do not take place on a large scale. High building costs are the main reason. Hence, new office developments should anticipate future programmatic transformation. This paper seeks answers to the questions: Is it possible to anticipate future programmatic change? To what extent will anticipation on future possibilities influence building costs?

The authors reviewed existing studies to gather information about transformation building costs and the critical success factors of transformations. The building design and costs for new office buildings were then studied, designed with enhanced transformation potential, focussing on two standard office building types, the central core tower and the single corridor slab, using the cost model PARAP.

The outcome of this research proposes an approach to office development that deals with adaptability as a means of realising enhanced future value.

To limit the research, only two standard office building types were studied.

Next to changes in the construction method of standard office buildings, the research suggests consciousness in the design phase of office developments to improve adaptability.

Based on studies of completed across use adaptations, the paper gives recommendations on how to improve the adaptability of new office buildings.

This study aims to gain a qualitative understanding of the residents’ perspective on the complexities of built environment management in Turkey. In addition, facility management (FM) is a newly emerging field in Turkey and therefore the paper contributes to the existing knowledge base on the global status of the field.

In-person surveys with the residents in the North Ankara and Dikmen Valley urban transformation projects were evaluated. The data have been collected from 660 residents through surveys using the random sampling method. Chi-square tests were used to examine the frequency and percentage distributions of the data, as well as the relationship between categorical variables. If the expected values in the chi-square analysis were low/insufficient, the Monte Carlo simulation method was used. A value of 0.05 was used as the level of significance, and it was stated that there was a significant relationship/dependency in the case of p < 0.05, and that there was no significant relationship/dependency in the case of p > 0.05.

The research identified that there was a prevailing opinion that professional FM services would likely increase the overall cost of maintenance, but satisfaction was lower in areas where management was carried out by a resident management group. It has been observed that there is a significant dependency between the regions with the answers given to the statements “Management by professional management companies causes an increase in costs” and “Management by the homeowners is more advantageous than working with professional management companies.”

The concept of “gecekondu” is unique to Turkey and the operation, maintenance and quality expectations of gecekondu owners and those of the more affluent residents can be significantly different. This fascinating process of illegal housing-to-urban transformation and the current need for many more urban transformation projects in the country distinguished the Turkish urban transformation approach from other countries. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no other study in Turkey regarding the FM of urban transformation areas with data of this size.