UN Committee gives top priority to housing
TOMORROW'S houses in developing countries may use sulphur instead of cement, or compressed vegetable mat- ter and garbage for wall panels. These are some of the projects United Na- tions scientists believe promise a breakthrough in the race to meet the growing demand for new homes in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The scope of the problem is vast - 1.4 billion new houses are needed by the year 2,000 according to a United Nations estimate. For every 1,000 per sons on earth, 10 new dwellings will have to be built every year, a consider able increase over the current rate of between 2 and 3 per annum in the de- veloping world.
The use of unconventional mate- rials, like compressed garbage and vegetable matter, are among a wide range of proposals approved by a 24-man panel of eminent scientists which met in New York recently. Housing is one of 15 priority projects adopted by the panel - the Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology to Develop
ment.
The Committee's recommendations are set out in a World Plan of Action for the 1970s (Document E/AC.52/ XIV/CRP.4-5).
Scope of housing report
The overall demand for housing is examined in the plan. Many of the proposals follow guidelines set up in current housing research in which United Nations assistance plays a part.
In an effort to apply the latest science and technology to the housing shortage, the report selects two areas as promising the most hope for de- velopment. Firstly, research into in- digenous building materials is consider ed particularly important. Also, re- search centres and pilot projects to im- prove building design and introduce more efficient techniques through mass production are advocated.
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The housing proposals, and the other priority projects in the action plan, will be submitted to the Econo- mic and Social Council in July this year. It is expected that the plan will then be sumitted to the United Na- tions General Assembly towards the end of the year for final action.
Need for applied technology
Adequate shelter is a vital human need. A United Nations survey in 1970 stated that the development of human settlements is full of paradoxes. One of the most astonishing, it said, 'is that housing - the oldest technology — is today one of the most retarded'.
Science and technology offer the best hope for meeting the enormous demand for new homes in the develop ing world. The World Plan notes that around 90,000 people a day are mov- ing into the urban areas of Latin America, Africa and Asia. That means a total of 325 million new town dwell- ers by 1980.
By the turn of the century more than one half of the world's popula- tion is expected to be living in urban areas. The plan considers that only applied technology can have the cata lytic impact needed in the effort to provide new houses both in the towns and in rural areas.
Current projects
The scientific committee considers that research should concentrate on finding the most economic ways of using local materials - some of which may be quite unconventional.
In the office of the United Nations Housing, Building and Planning Centre in New York, for instance, is one ex- ample of the unusual use of indigenous materials. It is a yellow panelling which uses sulphur ore plastered over a wickerwork frame.
This material is light and durable. It has been tested in Guatemala with the help of United Nations technical
assistance. Bricks can be bonded to- gether with sulphur replacing cement - and this imaginative approach indi- cates how scientists can help develop- ing nations best use the resources close at hand.
A Japanese technique for com- pressing garbage into building material also offers hope. And in India veget- able husks and other agricultural waste are proving useful in making building blocks and panels. The cereal and vegetable matter is crushed and mixed with resin and adhesives to make it water and termite proof.
Sugar cane fibre is another poten- tially important construction material. In the Soviet Union slabs of pressed reeds stitched together with wire are already being produced at more than 70 factories. This system will have many applications in tropical countries.
Research institutes
The World Plan sees regional and national building research centres play. ing a critical role in the drive to bring new technology to the problems of housing. At least four new institutes working on a regional basis in Latin America and Africa are recommended.
The role building institutes can play in developing countries is illus- trated by the research centre set up with United Nations help in Togo in 1968. Already the centre has develop- ed new types of bricks which use local clay and soil and do not need to be fired in a kiln. Technicians and profes- sionals are being trained at the centre.
Similar progress in developing local materials has been made at centres in Iraq, Syria, Indonesia, Colombia and Pakistan, which are receiving, or have received, United Nations assistance in building technology.
Pilot projects
The scientific panel has underlined the importance of pilot projects to en- courage research into building design
Far East BUILDER, April 1971