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Affordability and lifestyle choices in housing are critical to meet basic human needs for shelter, security and wellbeing. The meaning of a house for a particular group of people and what is ‘affordable’ for a particular community is the critical issue. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has greater population density and rate of expansion compared to almost any other mega cities of Asia. The historic core of the city known as old Dhaka is a combination of several traditional neighborhoods. Houses in these traditional neighborhoods are not only places to live, rather an integral unit of a social system, having a good mix of place of work and individual expression in living. They also show flexibility and adaptability (with more scope for personalization and individual life style choices) compared to the contemporary housing stock. One of the success factors in these traditional houses is the healthy mix of the income ranges to avoid a ghetto effect of low cost housing. The recent rapid urbanization has led to a discontinuity of the traditional housing form of old Dhaka, leading to a disintegration of the mix of lifestyle choices and affordability. Following popular market trends, they are often replaced by housing blocks in a higher density ignoring the need for a diverse mix. This paper studies the traditional housing of old Dhaka with two case study neighborhoods. Several elements of housing like the common price, materials and construction, space layout, scale, social space, facades, street interface, etc are selected for a qualitative study. Local residents interview, archival records, maps, Plans, figure-ground, aerial images are used to analyze, identify and demonstrate the elements that made them socio-culturally sustainable and affordable for the community. With the analysis, lessons from the traditional housing form that may contribute to the new housing in Dhaka are identified.

Housing completions in the UK have fallen to 125,000 annually, while government targets have risen to 300,000. This dramatic shortfall raises concerns as to whether current traditional construction approaches remain appropriate. This study aims to compare the traditional approach with modular construction, with a view to assessing whether a shift in construction systems offers the potential to alleviate the UK's domestic housing crisis.

A comprehensive interpretivist review of the available relevant literature is undertaken on construction methods within the UK; advantages and disadvantages. A bibliometric analysis is conducted to extract trends and findings relevant to the comparison at hand. The database is Web of Science; the analysis software is the VOS viewer.

The research illustrates that the UK housing market is in a state of crisis. A toxic combination of a rising UK population combined falling rates of housing delivery has resulted in an ever-widening housing supply gap. The construction industry’s capacity to meet this observed dearth in supply is further exacerbated by a number of chronic factors such as: falling participation in the construction sector workforce; lowering skill levels; reducing profitability; time to delivery pressures; and cost blow-outs.

While much information on the various construction methods are available, including comparative material, this study is the first to assemble the various comparative parameters regarding traditional and modular UK residential construction in one place. Thus, this study provides a definitive assessment of the relative advantages and disadvantages of these forms of construction.

The purpose of this paper is to explore academic papers and reports and present a chronology of the evolution of British low-rise prefabricated housing. The paper provides chronological information for construction and surveying researchers undertaking research in associated areas.

This is a qualitative literature review, providing an exploration and analysis of academic papers and reports on low-rise prefabricated housing.

A substantial literature was discovered. However, there are gaps in the available literature. The history of British construction technology is a rich research area but is under-researched. Prefabricated housing has a long history dating back to the eleventh century. Stigmatised from the failures of housing in the twentieth century, it is being increasingly used again in the twenty-first century when considering mass housing supply.

This paper provides researchers with an overview of the history of low-rise prefabricated housing in Britain. It is not a comprehensive in-depth study; such would require numerous larger individual studies.

From reviewing literature it was evident that there was a broad literature, but there was no single journal publication exploring the evolution of British low-rise prefabricated housing. The research provides an overview, exploration and analysis of the literature while providing a chronology. The evolution of prefabricated housing is chronologically presented. Areas for further research are also recommended.

This paper focuses on the potential applications of eco-features in Vietnamese traditional folk houses to contemporary high-rise housing. One of the main characteristics of traditional folk houses is that they are designed with a deep understanding of and respect for nature. This type of housing also expresses the way of life of its users, having evolved over generations while adapting to their needs, culture, and environment. Whereas the traditional Vietnamese houses can be an important source in the creation of a Vietnamese architectural identity, the design-with-nature approach and its unique characteristics are, however, scarcely found in the contemporary high-rise housing in Vietnam.

The objective of this research is to investigate the potential applications of eco-features in Vietnamese traditional folk houses to contemporary high-rise urban housing. Initially, this study examines the unique spatial characteristics of the traditional folk houses typical in northern Vietnam. In particular, four houses at the Duong Lam Village in northern Vietnam are reviewed. Some of the ecological design elements are extracted from the spatial composition of the typical Vietnamese folk houses in relation to the local climate conditions and the Vietnamese lifestyle (vernacular culture). Finally, this paper attempts to develop new housing models in urban Vietnam, employing the ecological elements learned from the preceding assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to test and present the level of introversion/extroversion of the urban housing in Istanbul in three periods – traditional, modern and contemporary. It intends to examine changes in the boundaries between housing and urban environment in the city by evaluating housing interfaces and their components.

By adopting literature review, observation and comparison methods, the hypothesis that houses in Istanbul are becoming introvert in contemporary period is stated and tested. The qualifications of housing interfaces and their components are examined in the context of three different periods of housing – traditional, modern and contemporary. Common components of interfaces in all periods are identified and different housing types from all periods are compared accordingly.

The results of the comparison made within the study shows that contemporary housing units are much more introvert than previous periods in Istanbul, while housing units of modern period have the most potentiality to be extrovert. It is seen that the analysis method comparing interfacial components and its results are compatible with the hypothesis of the study.

Considering recent and great number of urban problems in Istanbul, the subject of introversion–extroversion in contemporary urban housing gains importance, which lacks in the literature and needs studying. Introversion of housing units affects both domestic life and their urban environment. Developing contemporary housing projects with a human ecological perspective would cure both interior and exterior of urban boundaries.

The purpose of this paper is to compare rural houses reconstructed by core housing method after the Manjil earthquake in 1990 and traditional housing. Also, other factors such as residential space needs of residents, the role of the used structure in building the core units and the role of climatic conditions in the expansion of residential units have been investigated.

Some rural houses which were reconstructed by using core housing method – 86 rural houses – in 20 different villages were investigated using quantity and quality method. Also, the rate of satisfaction of inhabitants with their reconstructed houses was evaluated.

Although rural houses were reconstructed with inhabitants' participation and with use of local technology and materials, those houses had some characteristics contrary to traditional houses. Another problem was in the gradual expansion of spaces, which led to disharmonious and unbalanced growth and converted the houses into a complex and closed entity. It caused trouble in privacy and connections of family members and in the use of spaces.

The paper reports research generally done on rural houses which were reconstructed after the Manjil earthquake in 1990 and shows that this reconstruction experience was done by using core housing method. Also, how the core units were expanded was analyzed and advantages and disadvantages of this reconstruction experience were extracted. These results can be useful in planning and designing shelters for survivors of future disasters.

One of the most important issues arising from the 2006 Java earthquake is that many of the Javanese houses were easily collapsed or badly damaged due to the quake. The failure of the vernacular houses was also believed to be a principle factor in causing the casualties. As a replacement, the government built reconstruction houses which differ in form, size and structure to the earlier houses. Intensive campaigns were conducted to encourage and support the construction of compacted dwellings with brick walls and concrete frame systems. In view of the fact that the collapsed houses were comprised of many of the various types of Javanese vernacular structures in the area, including the recent well known reinforced concrete frame type, uncertainty in deciding which house is really fulfill the need of the people has emerged. Even though the new houses are thought to be more stable in respect of earthquake safety, the other values in housing should be examined and reassured.

The comparative study presented in this paper, is based on a housing quality assessment method, which employs using an adaptation of Maslow's theory. Here, an interpretation related to the housing aspects in respect of the specific grading method is proposed. Following the earthquake, all Javanese house types were examined from the old traditional housing to the newly built houses. Aspects of evaluating the quality are considered according to local requirements and needs in respect of how the houses had been built according to the climate, needs, customs, safety, security, utility and comfort. This was done in order to compare the developments and changes in quality of the various types of housing. The result of the assessment applied to the houses shows that the Javanese housing quality is constantly changing over time for particular reasons. Unfortunately, according to this study, the overall quality of Javanese houses is currently, for some reason, in a downward trend.

This study aims to explore and analyze the disparities in the distribution of housing types and characteristics among households in Saudi Arabia, taking into consideration the regional perspective.

This study uses quantitative data obtained from the General Authority for Statistics, specifically from the Saudi 2022 Statistical Census. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentages) as well as inferential statistics, including correlation analysis (Pearson correlation) and t-tests.

The study found a distinct preference among Saudis for villas, with 85.3% choosing this housing type, while only 14.7% of non-Saudis opted for villas. The statistical analysis confirmed the significance of housing type for Saudi citizens (t = 2.561, p = 0.037), while non-Saudis did not show a statistically significant preference (t = 1.703, p = 0.132). The Pearson correlation results revealed a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.641, p = 0.009) between regional landmass and the number of houses, and a very strong positive relationship (r = 0.984) between population and the number of houses across the 13 regions. As expected, with increasing population, there was a significant increase in the number of houses (p = 0.001).

This study fills a research gap by investigating regional disparities in housing characteristics in Saudi Arabia. The findings are valuable for policymakers, housing developers and the housing market in understanding these disparities. The insights from this research can inform decision-making to promote equitable access to housing types and foster social inclusivity in the housing sector.

In an urbanising world, neighbouring is perceived to be steadily losing significance and a remnant of the past. The same belief can also be found in China where rapid urbanisation has had a tremendous impact on the social networks and neighbourhood life of urban residents. This chapter challenges the common perception of neighbouring in demise and argues that neighbouring remains an important form of social relationship, even if the meanings and role of neighbouring have changed. This chapter first charts the changing role of neighbouring from the socialist era to post-reform China. It then provides an account of four common types of neighbourhoods in Chinese cities – work-unit estates, traditional courtyards, commodity housing estates and urban villages – and considers how and why neighbouring in different ways still matters to them. In pre-reform socialist China, neighbourhood life and neighbouring comprised much of the daily social life of residents. Since the reform era, with the proliferation of private commodity housing estates, middle-class residents prioritise comfort, security and privacy, such that neighbouring levels have subsided. Nevertheless, in other neighbourhood types, such as work-unit housing estates, traditional courtyards and urban villages, neighbours still rely upon one another for various reasons.