Better living through surfacing innovation
Getting into gear to turn housing dream for many into a reality
TWO weeks ago, the Department of Human Settlements shared a platform at the Nyanga Arts Development Centre with its collaboration partners, the Cape Craft and Design Institute and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, to launch the second iteration of the Better Living Challenge (BLC 2).
Unlike the first challenge, which was conceptualised, developed and launched in a very short period of time to form part of the World Design Capital projects portfolio in 2014, BLC 2 had the benefit of an extended research and conceptualisation phase.
The advantage of this is that the conceptualisation and planning of this challenge were both informed by and helped inform the development led by my department of the Living Cape Human Settlements Framework and the Informal Settlements Support Plan (ISSP). The result is that this challenge speaks directly to the vision, strategic aims and core focus areas of those frameworks. The Living Cape speaks to three shifts that need to occur, from: Housing to human settlements; Low value production to an urban dividend; State as provider to state as co-provider of infrastructure and enabler of housing.
Better Living Challenge 2 will contribute to each of these shifts. The first shift requires us to recognise that human settlement development is about investing in people, communities and neighbourhoods in a sustainable, co-ordinated and efficient manner. In particular, BLC 2 will build on the social fabric of neighbourhoods – the relationships and networks within and between communities – by providing opportunities and platforms to share knowledge and learn from each other about upgrading processes, innovative housing and housing finance solutions.
In order to reap the urban dividend, it is important to maximise economic development, knowledge creation and social capital in the way we plan and develop neighbourhoods. Again, BLC 2 will create and capture knowledge in the form of case studies and user-centred tool kits, and make it available via a knowledge sharing platform that is responsive to the needs of a variety of users – individual households, small-scale construction entrepreneurs, NGOs, and public sector role players.
And perhaps the strongest alignment is the contribution of content which responds to the Living Cape’s third shift, which requires the state to shift its role to:
Creating conditions which support communities and the private sector;
Focusing its efforts on aligning important public investments;
Enabling markets to function by allowing communities and the private sector to play a more prominent role in housing provision, including enabling these actors to:
Invest in housing and businesses, leveraging the public value created by state investments;
Adapt state investments to suit local needs and demands; and
Create employment opportunities at the local level.
The primary focus of BLC is on skills development and capacity building of informal contractors operating in informal settlements and backyard shack provision, as well as seeking to address some of the obstacles and cost drivers, such as incremental housing finance and materials supply chains.
The ISSP developed by my department advocates for mobilisation of communities, participatory planning or co-design and incremental development – putting people at the centre of all developments.
It also focuses on a programmatic and areabased approach that will benefit a community as a whole and improve the living conditions and quality of life of the inhabitants of informal settlements.
BLC 2 builds on the ISSP as the initial focus is on creating an enabling environment for citizens to improve their housing conditions over time. It starts the process of looking at ways in which this can be achieved.
The ISSP Implementation Plan advocates for the establishment of “resource centres” that will serve as technical support, access to materials and skills development, which aligns directly with the aim of BLC 2. Not only will a virtual resource centre be established; but through the various design-led workshops, the team will capture lessons learnt that will be directly applicable to the roll out of physical resource centres in future.
Since I first came to office in 2009, I have consistently maintained that the current approach of providing free houses is unsustainable. The state simply does not have the resources to meet the growing demand. I have advocated an approach that reaches more people – providing people with improved access to basic services and other amenities that make a settlement functional and liveable.
This project responds to the need that arises from that approach. It will provide insights which allow for the support of households, working with informal contractors and other role players, to incrementally improve their housing after the state has made its investment in developing resilient, sustainable, quality and inclusive neighbourhoods.
Bonginkosi Madikizela is Human Settlements MEC
THIS PROJECT WILL ALLOW FOR THE SUPPORT OF HOUSEHOLDS, WORKING WITH THE INFORMAL SECTOR TO IMPROVE HOUSING