Customization of Public Housing Schemes in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

Transcription

1 Proceedings ofcontinuous Cnstomization in Houshig October 2000 Tokyo, Japan Customization of Public Housing Schemes in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) Dr Falah H. Mustapha, Buildinq Management Expert, Works Department, Abu Dhabi Eng. Nadhim Asaad Taher, Quality Manager, Works Department, Abu Dhabi. Contact Author: Dr Falah H. Mustapha, P.O. Box 3, Government Buildings, Management Section, Works Department, Abu Dhabi, UAE Tel , , Fax falahmus@emirates.net.ae Abstract The government of Abu Dhabi has made every effort to provide quality dwellings for its citizens as part of the overall welfare strategy. Different schemes were built over the last ten years in an attempt to satisfy the ever-growing social and economical needs of the society in addition to the huge population growth. However, no attempt was made to assess the effectiveness of such schemes and their appropriateness to the locals. This paper reports the findings of a research assessing two different housing schemes which were built by the government of Abu Dhabi. The research uses the model developed by one of the authors (Mustapha et al 1995) with the necessary alterations to fit with the conditions of Abu Dhabi. The mentioned model is tested by combining both subjective measures (users satisfaction) and objective measures using housing adequacy (quality). Results show that users are dissatisfied with many aspects of existing schemes and spend substantial Sums of money to modify certain parts of the dwelling to cater their needs. It is anticipated that the outcome will provide some useful guidelines to the government of Abu Dhabi regarding the appropriateness of its housing strategies and the best way to customize its housing schemes. 1.O. Introduction The United Arab Emirates government, since its establishment in 2" of December 1971, has been very keen to set a comprehensive housing strategy in order to provide suitable accommodation for all its citizens. This strategy was implemented directly through public housing construction programs and indirectly through granting soft loans to individuals to build their own houses and also by encouraging private investment in the housing sector. Dramatic changes took place in the region after the successful exploitation of oil. The government adopted a regional development policy with the aim to stabilize and settle local populations, mostly Bedouins (the life style of local Arabs hing in the desert in a simple fashion in tents) in their territories and achieve social justice through equitable distribution of oil income among citizens. However, the housing problem in Abu Dhabi is not just concerned with supplying large numbers of new dwellings; other matters need to be given high priority in seeking an overall effective solution. The size and nature of the problem is reflected in qualitative, as well as in quantitative, considerations. There is therefore an urgent need to adopt an approach to housing programming, design and construction, which is consistent with qualitative as well as quantitative considerations. This should include an emphasis on the fulfillment of functional needs, on environmental quality and on people's perceived residential requirements, in order to increase the effectiveness of housing provision. In this respect, monitoring and an evaluative mechanism are essential in order that housing scheme plans are assessed and modified accordingly, such that future projects can benefit from the lessons learned. The primary concerns of monitoring and evaluation should include the level of customer satisfaction, an appreciation of the problems which residents have experienced, the quality of the dwellings and the quality of the external environment (Mustapha et al 1995).

2 This research reports the findings of the assessment of two public housing schemes that were built in Abu Dhabi in the past ten years. This have been achieved through utilizing a model that was developed by one of the authors (Mustapha et al 1995) and involved the measurement of satisfaction of the occupants of the dwelling together with its adequacy level (quality). Satisfaction or appropriateness exists when needs are being provided for and are fulfilled. In other words, satisfaction exists not just when supply matches demand but also when the customer is satisfied with the product (Turner, 1976). Thus the quality of housing provision in relation to the satisfaction of the Users is important, as it will provide certain guidelines for the formulation of housing policies and programs for the country, However, this is only one indicator of the overall effectiveness of a housing scheme. Effectiveness can be defined as the relationship between the actual standards of the built dwelling (within its total context) and the level of satisfaction with it, set against the objectives and goals set down prior to building (Mustapha 1990). Most of the literature related to measuring effectiveness confirms the view that it should be a multi-determined measure (which includes some objective and some subjective measurement tools). Therefore, this paper attempts to measure the effectiveness level of two different housing schemes in Abu Dhabi by combining both subjective and objective indicators which will be discussed in detail later. This method is called Post Occupation Evaluation Method (POEM) (AI-Abid & Mustapha 1996) The development of Public Housing Schemes in Abu Dhabi: The Works Department (WD) as the main government body implementing the housing policy in Abu Dhabi, build over the years more than (14000) units in the whole of UAE including Abu Dhabi, Western region, Eastern region and Northern Emirates. Currently (2262) housing units are under construction in various parts of the UAE plus (3763) units that are scheduled for execution in the near future (Mustapha & AI Mazrooi 1999). The WD has always been very keen to provide suitable accommodation for all the citizens in order to establish prosperous and stable living conditions. Every effort was made to achieve a gradual change in the transformation process in order to protect, as much as possible, local values, religion and culture. Thus the developments in the design of public housing units in Abu Dhabi over the years were a true reflection of the mentioned approach (AI Abdooly 1989). The preliminary design of housing units built in the mid sixties included limited number of rooms and space, but was developed in the seventies due to increase in the requirements and the size of locai families. In mid seventies the need for houses had increased rapidly so the WD had decided to build 5000 prefabricated units for speed of construction. Directives were given to use some Arabic and Islamic features in the mentioned scheme, which satisfies the life style of local families. These units were constructed in groups, each unit consisting of two rooms with two toilets, a front hall, a majlis (main sitting and gathering room), a kitchen, a store, yard for men and another one for women with separate entrances and access for cars. In spite of the reasonable cost of these houses and its suitability for the local families from social point of view, their construction were stopped due to their several disadvantages such as the difficulty of making modifications or additions to the unit plus their structural risks (AI Kinzi 1985). So the use of prefabricated housing was ruled out in any further schemes. In the eighties, directives were issued to make some modification to the design of houses in line with the social and economical developments of the society which involved mainly the addition of a front garden and rear yard for the cars and the enlargement of areas of the rooms in general. Finally, the designs of the houses were further developed to cater for the modern needs of the local families and the obvious increase in their size. The new design of a typical housing unit is built on a large land with an overall dimension of 40m X 40m, with 4 to 6 large bed rooms, a large majlis, service rooms, huge kitchens, stores, several toilets and servant accommodation. Local cultural and religious tradition is considered in the design by dividing front areas and spaces of the house (yard and garden) according to its usage - by men or women. The selected two schemes for assessment, namely Bahia and Rahba, fall under this final design. These two schemes were built outside Abu Dhabi Island on the highway linking Abu Dhabi with Dubai and represent two districts that are not far from each other. However, it is important to note that this paper concentrates On the method of assessment of the public housing schemes rather than the assessment of its detailed design Housing Satisfaction Studies Numerous studies have evaluated housing provisions by dealing with problems of occupant satisfaction. In different studies, a positive correlation was found between the occupant's satisfaction with hislher apartment and various specific factors (sanitary facilities, washing facilities, cooking facilities, size of apartment, living rooms, ventilation and noise factors) (S0en.D. 1979).

3 Indeed, the concept of satisfaction has been utilized in at least four different ways: One) It has been used as a key predictor of an individual's perception of general "quality of life" (Campbell, et al. 1976) Two) It has been used as an indicator of incipient residential mobility, and hence has altered housing demands and affected neighborhood change (e.g. Speare, et al. 1974, Varady, 1983). Three) It has been used as an ad hoc evaluative measure for judging the success of housing developments constructed by the private sector (e.g., Lansing, Zehner, 1970) and by the public sector (e.g. Onibokun, 1974 ; Marans,I 975; Francescato, et al. 1976). Four) It has been used to asses residents' perceptions of inadequacies in their current housing environment so as to direct forthcoming private or public efforts to improve the status quo (e.g. Michelson, 1977 ; Francescato, et al. 1976). Studying the satisfaction models mentioned above leads to the conclusion that the essential variables that have an impact on housing satisfaction are contained within the following four main headings: a) Personal characteristics. b) Dwelling unit. C) Neighborhood. d) Community services. As there is some disagreement between researchers as to the relative importance of these four different variables this research will assess all the housing satisfaction variables and measure them all, and will also take into account the impact of the cultural factors imposed by the UAE society. 4. Measuring Housing Adequacy All the models mentioned in the previous paragraph assess the level of occupant satisfaction subjectively and this is only one indicator of effectiveness as defined by this research, therefore, an objective measure of housing adequacy is essential to complete the research model. The main objective method in assessing housing provision quality was noted by Morris et al. (1972), who classified it into three areas: 1. Structural quality, which refers primarily to durability of the shell; 2. Services quality, which is concerned with the kinds of equipment, facilities, and conveniences which the dwelling provides; and 3. The state of maintenance and care taking. Their measure of quality consisted of 26 items that measured the three identified areas. The presence or absence of a score characteristic was the prime basis for the assignment of a score to the various items. The resulting item Scores were summed to provide a measure of housing quality. Morris, et al. (1972) emphasized that the procedures are based on traditional scaling techniques, Duncan (1971) presented a number of different models for measuring housing quality in the U.K. and the U.S.A. These vary considerably in their origins and scope. To encompass a more flexible and practical approach, Duncan (1971) developed the Housing and Environment Defects Index (H.E.D.l), which has been used in the Scottish Development Department. Similar to the work of Morris, et al, (1972), Duncan (1971) categorized three dimensions of housing quality which are: One) Basis of the dwelling interior schedule. Two) Basis of the dwelling exterior schedule. C) Basis of the environment schedule. This method involves a weighting scheme to distinguish between defects of greater and lesser significance so that the cumulative result can be meaningful and capable of comparison. Duncan adopted the following weighting pattern with a maximum of 30 penalty points and minimum of 5 penalty points: (High defects) (Very low defects) 30 penalty points 20 penalty points 10 penalty points 5 penalty This technique is flexible for measuring quality under different housing standards. Because of the setting, the specific indices developed by Duncan (1971) are applicable to developing countries. Duncan's method of assessing the quality of housing schemes has been used in the current research with the necessaw adaptations to fit with the conditions of Abu Dhabi. This was achieved through pilot studies conducted on different housing schemes in Abu Dhabi and by talking to the residents to check the validity of indices developed by Duncan (1971).

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