Eco-Incremental Housing: Researching Typologies and Systems in Pursuit of a Community-Based Approach to Housing Upgrades in Informal Contexts

Abstract

This paper examines the socio-spatial contexts of the Kya Sands informal settlement, documents existing housing typologies, and proposes in situ, user-focused housing designs. Through constituent interviews and field research, the designs aim to be responsive to resident desires, needs, and capacities. Goals for the project include a more efficient, in situ delivery system that allows residents to remain in their homes and customize their self-built structure. The research-design team, made up of faculty and students from Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Thomas Jefferson University (United States), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and City of Johannesburg planning officials, embraced the self-built ingenuity of residents in solving immediate design problems with local resources while recognizing the support government can provide. Following extensive research on the processes of incrementality, from tectonic to social and economic dynamics, the group developed incremental design solutions buildable by residents, to be supported by governmental intervention.