Architecture Master Thesis - Shared Living for the Floating Population by Chan Li Yu

Master of Architecture . / Thesis Preparation

shared living for the #crazy poor expat

Master of Architecture . / Thesis Advisor

Professor Michael Budig

Master of Architecture . / The Student

Chan Li Yu

00 . / Background story Introduction Thesis overview

01 . / high dense cities 1 Understanding urban density and what it means to urban dwellers 2 Factors contributing to growing urban density 3 Implication of high urban density

02 . / housing in cities 1 Implication of high urban density on housing 2 Case study: Dhaka, Bangladesh Jakarts, Indonesia Manila, Philippines 3 Strategies and policies to ease housing issue 4 History of housing for workers, internal migrants and growing urban population 5 Does one size really fit all ?

03 . / sharing economy 1 Understanding sharing economy 2 The rise of sharing economy and the decline of ownership 3 Ownership vs. Sharing vs. Access

04 . / living together 1 Understanding co-living 2 One Shared House 2030 Survey 3 Case study of co-living projects: Commonspace Roam WeLive Share House Lt Josai GAP House 4 Spatial decomposition of a unit 5 Spatial layout and movement

05 . / jakarta ; city of dream 1 Internal migration in Jakarta 2 Urban mapping of Jakarta 3 Thesis statement ; redefined

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big city dream; capsized. For many decades, millions of people have been dreaming about big city life, walking along busy streets lined with fancy shops, having a stable job sitting in an airconditioned office from 9 oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock in the morning until 6â&#x20AC;&#x2122;o clock in the evening with two Starbucks coffees every day, ending the week with a glamorous night out at rooftop bar or exotic clubs. This is what people see from the screens of television programmes, movies and Internet about how people is living their dream life in big cities. But, how many people in the city is actually living the life described in all the media ? In this technologically-advanced postmodern societies, we are constantly fed with endless stream of information that initially had no relevance to our personal life yet now every decision of ours is influenced by the the visual representation of life of other people.

Words and visuals become the puzzle that made up the glistening front of big city living that invisibly promised a better life ahead.

Moving into city was once considered as an upgrade of social status, a symbol of freedom, an escape from rural poverty, a gateway to endless opportunities and basically, a new and better life envisioned by every cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dreamers based on what they saw and what they heard from people.

Now, moving into city is no longer regarded as a place where better life can happen. Moving into city means you are more likely to be able to earn the means to live a better life, and most of the time it means improved life in your hometown where the cost of living is cheaper and

However, with millions of people moving into city for the lights, action and glimmers of opportunities that they were hoping for, things get tougher for everyone. It can be explained by simple scenario ; the more the people sharing a pie, the smaller the pie everyone will get. Competition for jobs and places to stay become increasingly vigorous because these two things are mostly stagnant in numbers yet the rate of urban population growth definitely still outpaces the growth of employment and housing supply. The city cannot keep up with so many people, causing the city to slowly fall apart and some people to live miserably.

more affordable. Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream starts to die to a little every day as they slowly give up on the things based on different priorities due to limited capability. Why does the place that offers hopes and dreams become a slaughterhouse that butchers them in the end ? Do we really have to sacrifice our standard of living while working in city for the sake of making more money for a better life that we have no idea whether when and where it will happen ? Is there a way we can live and work proportionally ? Can we live better so that we can work better instead of live worse so that we can save more ? Perhaps, asking for a fully-furnished apartments for everyone in the city is absurd and nonsensical because equality comes in so many forms and transcends beyond so many levels. But, a basic form of quality dwelling should be what we aim to achieve, setting it as the basis of all urban living, a place where every dreamers can settle down and rest, bond with other city dwellers and grow together with the city.

The lure of that apparently happy crowd has transformed the face of many emerging cities, from sleepy towns into bursting human hives, shiny from the outside but decayed on the inside. By saying â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;happy crowdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, I mean people who feel better solely because they are earning more money for the same working hours as compared to working in their hometowns. Happiness has gone down from improving quality of life to merely earning more for doing the same amount of work, despite having to live in squalid conditions. Are people blinded by supposedly short-term urban migration in exchange of consumer materialism ? A city can only hold so many dreamers after all. Every city has a carrying capacity. If it is over-burdened, it will capsize.

“Lodgers in a Crowded Bayard Street Tenement-’Five Cents a Spot’”. Photo by Jacob Riis.

A city can only hold so many dreamers after all. Every city has a carrying capacity. If it is over-burdened, it will capsize.

00 . /

introduction: ./1

There are three primary type of distance that have been shortened tremendously over the last 20 years. Namely, the physical distance between you and strangers, the travelling distance between living, working and leisure and the social distance between strangers. The boundaries between what we used to call as private space, workplace and social space has blurred with the evolution of mixed-used development and multipurpose programmatic spatial zoning. This drastic movement of human relations is most vigorous among high dense cities, with programmes and the corresponding spaces being highly condensed. Therefore, rapid urbanisation and the rise of sharing economy have collapsed multiple spaces into one, resulting in a live-work multi-unit dwelling type, a new hybrid form of spaces. This results in an evercomplicated interrelation between people who traditionally will not cross path with each other due to geographical constraints and social class separation.

to lack of space. Maximising sharing of resources and living amenities will free up for space to accommodate the increasing population, while reducing the cost of living at the same time. Increasing urbanism, geographical mobility and economy fluidity have also speed up the rate of rural-urban migration, resulting in more people moving to urban centre permanently or travel between places more frequently. People who are in frequent transition start to develop a growing preference towards subscription-based living that offers ease of accessibility, higher flexibility and improved adaptability to their changing needs. However, the quality of living are often compromised for the group of people who are ghettoized, financially constrained or racially marginalised because high dense cities in both developed and developing countries have prioritised economy goal over social benefit. Hence, future housing solution needs to be flexible to meet the dynamic urban change in order to strike a balance between large scale housing Exponential growth of human population and intimate human interaction in landin high dense cities have urged for more scarce urban cities where land and cost of smaller living and communal living due living are increasingly expensive.

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thesis overview: ./2

This research intended to study the scale, extent and possibility of shared-living in high dense cities in the context of increasing urban population of foreign workers due to the growing trend of sharing economy across both physical and digital objects. The exponential urban population growth increased geographical mobility and economic fluidity have caused land-scarce high dense cities to face problem of severe housing shortage and posed challenge to home ownership, or even ownership of anything. This research will be analyzed between existing high dense housing in urban cities, the advent of co-living as alternative

short-term accommodation such as WeLive, Common and The Supershared Loft and the possibility of a wholly-shared urban living. Coupled with a study on advanced material usage and sustainable construction, the thesis aims to produce a framework that examines future urban housing in both global and local perspectives, providing an alternative architecture solution in term of flexibility, adaptability and modularity of housing with sharing culture as the backbone approach.

high dense cities

City as an organic process, a living, mutable entity, not a physical destination as it continued to grow and renew itself through a series of change of states. Book of I Ching (Book of Transformation)

understanding urban density and what it means to urban dwellers 14

01 . /

high dense cities:

How do we define density and what does it mean to urban dwellers ?

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Cities are essentially about density â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how many people occupy a particular amount of land? It can be generally understood as the number of people divided by the land they occupy. On this basis, the current 7.7 billion of people divided by the land surface of the Earth means there is a world population density of approximately 59 people for every square kilometres. Evenly spread over all the cities, forest, deserts, mountains and other terrains, we would be standing only about 150 metres away from our neighbour. According to World Population Prospects: The 2018 Revision launched by United Nation, the current world population of 7.7 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. In 2018, 55 per cent of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68 per cent by 2050. (United Nations, 2018) Projections show that urbanization combined with the overall growth of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban populations by 2050, with 35 percent of project growth concentrated in developing countries

such as India, China and Nigeria. (United Nations, 2018) With roughly 70 million people being added to the urban population every year, cities need to respond flexibly to the infinite growth of urban population within the realm of limited physical environment. However, we also observe substantial increases in the urbanisation rate in other countries despite persistent poverty and limited state capacity. This relationship is commonly observed in developing economies, where changes in income correlate only weakly with changes in the rate of urbanisation. This relationship is commonly observed in developing economies, where changes in income correlate only weakly with changes in the rate of urbanisation. Cities nowadays see groups of strangers agreeing to spend their lives in close proximity, whether for protection, mutual benefits or simply the need to be together. Geographical mobility and economic fluidity further boost international and rural-to-urban migration, resulting in exponential growth in urban population.

The rate of urban population growth will continue to outrun the rate of urbanization, widening the gap between attempting to provide effective urban solution and accurately responding to dynamic demographic shift. As the world continues to urbanize, sustainable development depends increasingly on the successful management of urban growth, especially in low-income and lower-middle-income countries where the pace of urbanization is projected to be the fastest. Many cities will encounter challenges in meeting the growing demand for housing, transportation, energy and infrastructure as well as employment, affordable education and healthcare.

In 1960, most countries with a per capita income of less than 1000 dollars had urbanisation rates of less than 10 percent. By 2011, urbanisation rate of less developed countries stood at 47 percent. (Glaeser, 2013) Substantial increases in the urbanisation rate has been observed in mostly developing countries despite persistent poverty and limited state capacity because the increase in income only correlate weakly with the changes in urbanisation rate. Urbanisation has outpaced development, resulting in the creation of teeming but dysfunctional low-income megacities, and this is what poor-country urbanisation looks like.

01 . / high dense cities / 1

What is the optimum population for a quality city? How many more people can a city hold in order to still provide comfortable living? Can architecture provide sustainable urban solution ranging from micro to macro scale, and maybe expand a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population capacity in a proportionally healthy way?

01 . /

factors contributing to growing urban density

high dense cities:

Why are cities growing indefinitely ?

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The world has witnessed massive demographic shift in the last 60 years, with currently about 4.3 billion people residing in urban areas as compared to the urban population of only 750 thousand in 1950. (United Nations, 2018) Rapid urbanization not only speeds up social and economic development in cities, but also causes satellites cities to proliferate due to suburbanization. A large number of people move from rural to urban areas, both temporarily and permanently, for better job prospect, quality education and as a gateway to freedom and a movement towards social status upgrade. Migration is defined as the long-term relocation of an individual, household or group to a new location outside the community of origin. Recently, ruralurban migration has seen the most significant growth. Although international migration is very insignificant comparing the internal migration; it is still increasingly steadily with enhanced geographical mobility. International migration includes labour migration, refugees and undocumented migrants. (Bhatta, 2010, p. 19)

Increased geographical mobility enables more people to travel across states and countries for job, vacation and education. Sophisticated advancement in transport technology made long distance travelling faster and cheaper, which become the primary driving forces of the transport industry. Various types of transports, offering single or combined mode of transports, allow people to customize their journey based on their respective financial capability. Coupled with law deregulation and economy liberalization, the migration process starting from applying for visa, planning mode of transports to reaching the destination has been tremendously simplified and accelerated, making it easier for people to move beyond geographical boundaries. Moving to city has never been easier. Expansion of economic base (such as higher per capita income, increase in number of working persons) creates demand for new housing or more housing space for individuals (Boyce 1963; Giuliano 1989; Bhatta 2009b). Economic fluidity encourages big enterprises to expand their business globally, placing anchor point in

The concentration of investments in cities attracts large number of migrants looking for employment, thereby creating a large surplus labour force, which keeps wages low. This situation is attractive to foreign investment companies from developed countries who can produce goods for far less than if the goods were produced where wages are higher. Thus, one might wonder if urban poverty serves a distinct function for the benefit of global capital. (Bhatta, 2010, p. 28) Experts from various fields and countries are hired to work abroad, primarily in cities characterized by their specific roles in global economy development. For instance, Hong Kong saw a population growth from 2.2 million

in 1950 to 7.4 million in 2018. This tremendous population growth can be attributed to its role as the core financial hub in China and Asia and its strategic geo-political position in facilitating both the Belt and Road Initiative and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. (HK retains role as Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading financial center, 2018)

Cities are where fortune are made and where social mobility is made possible due to geographical mobility and economic fluidity. This greatly accelerated the development of built environment in response to growing economy, resulting in high population and building density in compact cities.

01 . / high dense cities / 2

multiple cities in order to capitalise on international market liberalization and multinational expertise. This is one of the interesting phenomenon whereby company decentralise physically and recentralise digitally. The economyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s independency of location has witnessed an increasingly intense human movement into urban cities, causing the urban population and building development to swell tremendously.

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high dense cities: What has this density done to our cities ?

implication of high urban density

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People nowadays are being in transition more often than ever. Social mix in the city increases significantly and the physical distance between strangers is vastly shortened. Clearly this will create even greater demand for housing, but new patterns of work in the globalised economy also mean that many workers Housing shortage has already become one of the major challenges faced by many high dense cities, especially in the developing regions such as Dhaka, New Delhi, Mumbai, Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Guangzhou. How can a standardized housing design in a limited urban areas adapts to such eclectic mix of different people who will land softly between places and prefer an asset-light living condition? Do the one-size-fits-all approach offer a flexible solution for a sustainable future?

hosehold size due to family life disintegrating and an increase in divorce rate, single-person or 2-3 persons household is projected to increase steadily in the future. Therefore, a conventional house with standard number of bedrooms and interior living layout is too rigid for accommodate such dynamic changes in family composition because a house is still designed with the basis of family as the fundamental socio-economic unit.

With tremendous economic growth being the backbone of rapid urbanization, more office buildings and commercial development are being built, leaving less space for affordable housing and adequate transport and infrastructure to support urban population. Proliferation of business concentrated in cities brings about more vigorous property development and international migration, Households as the fundamental socio- directly increasing housing demand and economic unit, are the centers of indirectly increasing labour demand for demographic, social and ecoÂŹnomic construction and services. processes. It can be defined as a group of persons who make common provision of food, shelter and other essentials for living. With an average decline in

Urban gentrification and market privatisation further price out marginalised group, forcing them to squeeze in and to share small living space in order to stay in the cities. Land use and urban zoning that are primarily designed based on political and economic goals, making housing in the cities even more expensive and inaccessible to the majority of the urban population. Restrictive landuse policies in one political jurisdiction may lead development to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;jumpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to one that is favourably disposed toward development or is less able to prevent or control it (Barnes et al. 2001).

The rapid urban growth strains citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capacity to provide services such as energy, education, health care, transportation, sanitation, and physical security. Since governments have less revenue to spend on the basic upkeep of cities and the provision of services, cities become areas of massive sprawl and serious environmental problems. (Bhatta, 2010, p. 20) With more office buildings and commercial developments concentrated in the city, how can we then provide adequate and quality housing on limited amount of land for an ever-growing urban population?

Modern society with new technology provides various tools of transports and mobility that free people from their attachment to land, it demands new physical layouts and social constitutions compatible with such new mobility.

01 . / high dense cities / 3

A city may be planned with exclusive zoning policies; this means separation of residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional, or other land uses.

housing in cities

A 400 sq ft flat can be subdivided to accommodate nearly 20 double-decker sealed bed spaces. Photo by Benny Lam.

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implication of high urban density on housing

housing in cities:

Living in the cracks of high density of peoople and objects.

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Private developers and builders form a powerful lobby to monopolize and capitalize on real estate development due to the increasing land value. Through land privatization and market commercialization, the supply of affordable housing in city decreased tremendously, pricing out the lowerincome or middle-income group of people. This forced them to stay in low quality housing, with limited space and lack of infrastructure at an unreasonably high price. In Hong Kong, the struggle to find housing impacts nearly half of the population. (Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2017) People are forced to stay in subdivided housing such as “bedspace apartments” or “cage homes,” which are bed-sized rental spaces resembling animal cages that are often found in dilapidated factories and abandoned buildings. (Wilk, 2017) Most of the time they rent-share a room with another person, or rent-share an entire unit with other people. The personal space they have for themselves are mostly small and limited, ranging from a room to merely just a bed space. Privacy has become a luxury.

Capital investors, planners and the government appear increasingly disconnected from the human need for decent, affordable shelter. This has become a familiar story to Londoners and residents of other cities such as New York, which have been touched by investment capital lacking a sense of social mission or responsibility. According to UK’s governments statistics agency, approximately one in twenty homes in Central and West London are left vacant. Almost 89 per cent of all new buildings in London is apartments and this hardly brings any benefit for those seeking a decent home because these developments are for-profit and are too expensive for those in dire need of housing in city. The proliferation of expensive apartments is putting a strain on the affordable housing market, as developers capitalize on cheap land and resources that can be converted into expensive and profitable housing construction. Many public housing estates have been demolished, while others threatened with demolition may be replaced by expensive rented housing and units for sale at eye-watering

Standardized housing is inflexible due to its programmatic strictness. Standardized mass housing plans applied throughout the city is rigid, do not adapt to the future of change in term of household size, lifestyle and technology. Most of the living amenities such as kitchen, toilet, bathroom, living room and working space are not used as frequently as they used to be, and all these spaces are common space in a private home which mean they are shared. In a house rent-shared by different people, all these common spaces are collectively shared among the tenants thus this makes easy access to space more important than owning them. With increasing number of people eating out and less people cooking every day, it reduces the need for a kitchen to be in a house. Imagine a few households share a large communal cooking and dining area, the space of a kitchen can

be freed up in every household for other essential living activities. Living in a city means rubbing shoulders with millions of people every day â&#x20AC;&#x201C; on public transport, in apartment buildings, in the lifts and on the streets. At first glance, it might seem like an antidote to loneliness because you are constantly surrounded by thousands of people every day. Yet, cities can be an isolating places for most of the migrants, be it transient or permanent migrants because many of them live entirely anonymously. According to a survey in 1982, 60% of the residents of a Moscow residential compound had no contact with their neighbours. (Yankova & Rodzinskaya, 1982) The human interaction has been reduced to mere eye contact or an awkward smile when people bump into each other along the corridor, in the lift or while waiting for the lift, or in circulation space within a house. Even though low-rise, high dense housing intensified community living, it has been proven to be inefficient land use and worse in providing sufficient housing in land-scarce cities.

02 . / housing in cities / 1

prices. Hence, those who cannot afford the expensive housing are forced to move to the fringe of the city or stay in small apartments shared with other people at a relatively higher price.

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housing in cities: case study : dhaka, bangladesh

Case study: Dhaka, Bangladesh

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In Bangladesh, from Dhaka to Chittagong and even to Khulna, there is no turning back. Every three out of five (59.2%) internal migrants in Bangladesh are fighting for a place in Dhaka City (Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU)) and the number does not cease to grow, people just keep moving into cities. Dhaka is receiving 400,000 migrants every year (KABIR & PAROLIN, 2012). These drastic demographic changes within the two principal cities, Dhaka and Chittagong has caught the already sluggish administration unprepared. The capital city of Dhaka that was originally designed to accommodate one million people at best in the 1960s, is now swelled with more than a 100 million people with a population density of 44,500 persons per square kilometres (UN Habitat, 2018). Every day, there are 2000 people moving into Dhaka, causing Dhaka on the brim of bursting with extreme overpopulation and poor urban management (Cronin, 2012).

Out of 164.7 million Bangladeshi, one in four live below the poverty line (World Bank Group, 2017). Over 3 million people are estimated to live in the slums of Dhaka alone. Dhaka, suffering from growing pains, has officially became the most crowded city in the world. Currently, there are 603200 mechanised vehicles plying on the city streets, choking the city in grey noxious fumes that are highly hazardous to health (Iffat, Islam, & Siddique, 2012). Dhaka City has only 220km primary roads, if automobiles were to lined up bumper to bumper in single file, they would stretch longer than 220km. There is hardly a decent walkway or pavement for pedestrian walking. Almost half of the Dhakaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population are below 22 years old and approximately all of them are unemployed. About 45 percent of the urban population are slum. Dwellers, with 4 to 6 persons, mostly underage, living in one room in ramshackle sheds made out of plastic sheets and crate lumber.

With a quarter of a million pavement. Dwellers and the quota of the poor, Dhaka city epitomises the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban nightmare and bitter poverty. Tourists may marvel at the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gleaming glass skyscrapers such as City Centre Dhaka or admire the modern high-rise apartments such as Red Crescent Rupayan Tower. However, the average family income is a horrific 1 dollar a day for most of the workforce.

In the last two decades, the government hardly took any measures to decentralize urban growth beyond the city boundary. In many ways, the cities are self-feeding monsters, perpetuating their own growth in some selected areas by devouring the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resources. With mass migration going unbated and the number of vehicles steadily increasing, the uncontrolled urban growth is killing the city.

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figure ground 1 : 3000

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housing in cities: case study : jakarta, indonesia

Case study: Jakarta, Indonesia

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In Jakarta, urban poverty has caused many urban dwellers to suffer in deteriorating living environment because the governments are strained beyond their financial budget to build adequate infrastructures for the growing urban population. Low income, substandard sheltering, crowding air population, insufficient safe water, inadequate sanitation and lack of waste management and increased traffic are common problem faced by the urban poor. Therefore, a large number of urban population lives in illegal settlements with limited access to basic facilities. Yet, more and more people from the rural Java are still attracted to Jakarta or other big cities which further aggravated the quality of life in urban slums. Jakarta are over-stretched. Although the city does not have massive sprawling slums such as Dharani in Mumbai, Ciudad Neza in Mexico and Orangi Town in Karachi, the urban poor fills in the crack. Between massive, luxurious cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development. For example, construction site, along the river banks, behind luxury apartment towers, under the bridge, beside the road, back alleys of

high-rise developments. These pockets of poverty are ubiquitous in the city, built mostly by people from outside of the city. 53 % of the people who live in urban slums are from rural Java and the remaining 47 % are from Jakarta. With a steady influx of internal migrants into Jakarta, the government estimates that 250,000 people live in Tambora slum that has an area of only 5.48 square kilometres. That means approximately four people share every one square meter. Due to the limited space and increasing number of internal migrants, it is very common for 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5 families to live in one house so they have to take turn to sleep. As a result, most of them arrange their schedule or working time in shifts to decide who will occupy the house.

Currently, there are about 30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 40 % of internal migrants renting makeshift houses in slums like Tambora. Theses temporary housing are crowded together and built on state or tenured land. In order to maximise the space they have, many of them utilize the house to run small-scale business such as stalls, workshops, home industries or food vendor. Most of the houses in the neighborhood are small and made of dilapidated structures. The lack of proper drainage system and sanitation are putting a huge strain on the safety and health of the residents. During rainy season, the area will be heavily flooded, with the worst case whereby the water level would rise all the way up to knee level.

Government has ordered several forced evictions to clear the urban slums and relocate the slum dwellers to low-cost subsidized apartment blocks know as rumah susun â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a term that roughly translates to vertical housing. However, these affordable housing options are only eligible for people with Jakarta identification cards. For the slum dwellers who mostly are not from Jakarta, they are forced to pay for rental unit offered by the government. Most of the rental housing sre located at the peripheries of the capital which are distant from their workplace.

02 . / housing in cities / 2 / 2

figure ground 1 : 3000

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housing in cities: case study : manila, philippines

Case study: Manila, Philippines

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Philippines has an urbanization rate of 45.3 % with a steep increase in urbanization that has contributed to an increase of 300 % in inequality across country. The Philippinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capital is Metro Manila, also known as the National Capital Region or NCR. Metro Manila is the 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of 12,877,253. Currently, more than 33 % of Philippinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; urban population reside in slums. Among the 5 millions informal settlers, 2.2 million are receiving government subsidy. Due to the lack of urban infrastructure, less than 10% of household has access to proper sanitation and sewerage system which jeopardise their health and living environment. The extremely low financial expenditures for urban infrastructures and inefficient municipal services have caused most part of the city to deteriorate rapidly. With less than 1 % of the total government budget being allocated for housing sectors in recent years, many urban dwellers are forced to live in deprived living conditions in both informal settlements and relocation sites. The absence of state participation in the execution of urban

execution of urban and land use planning further aggravated the housing shortage issue in Manila, resulting in large number of internal migrants to settle in slums areas. The prospect of higher incomes and better future prospect continued to be the primary pull factors that attracts large number of migrants to migrate into big cities. The demand for housing increases significantly with the current total housing need estimated at about 5.56 million, attributed to the steady growth of ruralto-urban migration. Local Government Unitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lacklustre performance in term of technical, financial and managerial to plan and implement large-scale urban renewal and housing development programs caused housing shortage to persist. The private sector, on the other hand, invests mainly on higher-end estate development that is more profitable rather than building affordable housing that is often only marginally profitable. Urban Development Housing Act (UDHA) mandated 20% of balanced housing provision but this is only a drop in the ocean of housing backlog.

Slums in Manila can be found along the rivers or creeks, in garbage dumps, along train tracks, under the bridge, beside factories and other industrial settlement. Some are located beside private residence in wealthy residential estates. The pattern of informal settlements in Manila are relatively dispersed and scattered all in the gaps of cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s developments. In terms of building materials used, slum housing can be broadly categorised into 3 main types which includes temporary shelters made

of salvaged materials, semi-permanent shelters and permanent shelters. Due to limited space and financial constraint, most of the structures are built using steel and wood, located very closely to one another, forming narrow lanes that are often only wide enough for motorcycle or pedestrian movement. The lack of proper sewerage, electricity supply and clean water have further worsened the alreadyfragile life of the urban poor.

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Many cage home residents awake to the cruel reality that all the shimmer and prosperity of Hong Kong is out of reach. Photo by Benny Lam.

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housing in cities: strategies and policies to ease housing issues

Strategies and policies attempted to ease housing issues.

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There are several strategies implemented across architectural and urban, socioeconomic and political scale in order to solve housing shortage in high dense cities. Firstly, government draws up policy and procedure to control the distribution of land ownership between public and private and to specify particular periods of land lease. For example, India put a cap on private land ownership through Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (UCLA) 1976-2007, in theory provided for expropriations to build apartments for the poor even though rarely enforced. Whereas in Singapore, the Housing Development Board (HDB) provides only 99-year lease flat to home buyers as this leasehold system allows the land to be recycled and re-developed, to meet the needs of future generations of Singaporeans. (Ministry of National Development , 2017) Over 80 per cent of the population reside in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats of which 10% are nearing the halfway mark of their 99-year leases. This causes depreciation of value which jeopardizes people who see it as an investment

and sparks controversial discussion on decrease in home ownership. Given that only 4% of HDB flats have been identified for SERS since it was launched in 1995, and that it is only offered to HDB blocks located in sites with high redevelopment potential, the remaining 96% of such flats will have zero when it reaches 99 years and owners will have to vacate their homes. (Philemon, 2018) Hence, people start to question what will happen to the aging flats. What can be done to improve them, to extend their shelf life or to simply redesign for adaptive housing? Secondly, land use and programmatic zoning at district, state and national level has been adopted to demarcate space for housing and the type of housing. This attempted to ensure that everyone can afford a place to live with their varying income. Public transport network are built more extensively and are further integrated with housing estates. Every city in Indonesia has a Land Use Zoning (LUZ) plan for its residential. Unfortunately, until now, there is no clear boundary zone

Thirdly, many countries have also implemented urban decentralisation through development of satellite city. Satellite City Theory originated from Garden City Theory developed by Ebenezer Howard, a British social activist. At the suburbs of big cities or other places nearby, the towns, with relative independence, are newly built or expanded to decentralize the population and industry of the central city. According to the Greater London Plan initiated and composed by Patrick

Abercrombie in 1944, eight towns were to be built in Outer London so as to evacuate the excess population; they were called satellite towns first and new towns later. It is generally considered that satellite towns can block the free population influx into big cities to some degree although it is relatively inefficient to evacuate the overcrowded urban population. This is testified too by the experience of many countries that it is difficult for satellite towns with a single urban function to achieve any desirable effect. (Shao, 2015) For example, population growth in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have reached alarming proportions that they can be said to be brimming to the rim. Satellite cities are built to provides citizens working in the main city a feasible option for availing of affordable housing options. This includes Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad in Delhi and Navi Mumbai, Dombivli and Thane in Mumbai. (Significance of Satellite Cities in India, 2014)

02 . / housing in cities / 3

of land earmarked for different types of residential buildings, such as a group of similarly designed houses or apartment buildings. (Tutuko & Shen, 2016) However, the regulations have tended to reduce the supply of housing, including multifamily and low-income housing. For example, many U.S. cities suffer from housing affordability problems due to reduced supply caused by uneven land use. (Calder, 2017) Bureaucratic inefficiency has further aggravated the housing shortage issue as the tedious paperwork and long process of obtaining approval caused huge delay in delivering affordable housing to the growing urban population.

Photo by danist say peng.

Housing is what creates the very fabric of the city. It is what is all around us; it forms boundaries of public space. We can say, therefore that when we design urban housing, we design cities. Housing schemes should never begin as housing schemes but as urban designs. Designs for housing should be driven in the first instance by an idea about the city. Book of I Ching (Book of Transformation)

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housing in cities:

Housing for the workers, internal migrants and growing urban population.

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02 . / housing in cities / 4

history of housing for workers, internal migrants and growing urban population

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case study : prefabrication & mass housing : khrushhchyovka 46

KHRUSHHCHYOVKA Russia

Khrushchyovka, a commonly found fivestorey mass housing in Russia. They were built in great haste by Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950s-60s in order to ameliorate the severe post-war housing shortage and to bring the benefits of socialism to average people. It represented an early attempt at building industrialization and prefabrication, with prefabricated concrete panel manufactured at concrete plants and trucked to sites as needed. Panel house could be assembled without mortar and topped out in 12 days. The disposable series had a life span of 25 years, and they would be demolished in the following decades when the Soviet government could provide better housing for its people. (Urban, 2012, p. 129)

It can be classified by three distinct elements; construction method, the number of openings (point, corridor or arcade), and the number of floors, no more than five due to Soviet regulations regarding elevators. (Arnold, Pisani, Faulks, Medakovic, & Siamphukdee, 2014) In Khrushchev, central heating, cold water supply and sewerage are obligatory. Bathroom is usually combined with a toilet. To maximise spatial usage, residents had to pass through the living room to reach the bedroom as hallway was removed. These apartments were planned for small families, but in reality it wasvery common for three generations of people to live together in two-room apartments.

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case study : prefabrication & mass housing : plattenbau 48

PLATTENBAU Plattenbau, a mass produced, prefabricated modernist apartment complexes built in large numbers during the Communist era. Approximately 1.9 million apartments were put up across the country. (Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;SULLIVAN, 2018) After the World War II, mass destruction followed by a large population increase due to the influx of refugee has caused the city to be in dire need of scalable low-cost highdense housing. produced in one design

The Plattenbauten were produced in one design at a time and that design would be used replicated until a new design was deemed necessary. It was built using prefabricated concrete panel for the exterior and plastic with chrome and timber fittings for the interior.

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case study : prefabrication & urban housing : habitat 67 50

Montreal: Habitat 67. Photo by Wladyslaw. 15 September 2018.

HABITAT 67 Montreal, Quebec, Canada Moshe Safdie

Consisting of 354 concrete modules, Habitat 67 demonstrated that a single primitive shape can be strategically accumulated and organized to create a dynamic set of unique private spaces while simultaneously allowing for circulation and social public spaces. The 12-storey prefabricated blocks are assembled around three building service cores. The primary structural material is precast concrete built on a pile foundation. The facade uses exposed aggregate to create a more dynamic and organic appearance in constrast to the monolithic concrete.

A factory was built beside the site to produce. Concrete modules, which were to be connected by high tension rods, steels cables and welding. A reinforcing steel cage was places inside the mold, then concrete was poured around the cage. After the concrete cured, the. Unit was moved to an assembly line where a wooden sub-floor was installed with electrical and mechanical services below it. Windows and insulations were then inserted; afterwards prefab bathrooms and kitchen modules. Finally, the unit was moved to its position in the building.

There are 18 external corridors, 7 stairs shafts and 6 lifts. The lift stops on every 4th floor to prevent unnecessary journeys and thus minimizes energy consumption.

The prefabricated concrete module has windows on at least 3 sides to ensure each unit has minimum 3 hour of daylight everyday. The roof of the module below become the garden for the unit on top.

The 15 different arrangements of 2-4 modules produced a wide variety of unit types, ranging from 60-160 sqm. Extracting from the modules arrangement, a series of shared space can be achieved in 3-dimensional scale.

02 . / housing in cities / 4

case study : prefabrication & urban housing : hdb singapore 52

Strait Times Photo by Chong Jun Liang. 27 october 2018.

PUBLIC HOUSING Singapore

In 1960, HDB was established in Singapore to provide low-cost public housing to a growing population, particularly lowincome groups who lived in unhygienic slums and high-risk dilapidated housing structures. (Singapore Housing Development Board, 1965) Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rate of natural increase then was 4.3 percent, that is, about 60,000 citizens added to the population each year. (Singapore Housing & Development Board, 1963) There was only 9% of Singaporeans lived in government flats in 1960 , but currently 81% of Singaporeans reside in HDB.

Prefabrication technology was first used by HDB in the 1980s. Today, precast components constitute approximately 70% by volume of the entire structural concrete used in a typical HDB residential project during the construction stage. It is an array of 2D precast components combined to form the entire building system. Precast technology enables building components to be manufactured off-site, delivered and assembled onsite, providing distinct advantages such as better quality control, safer work environment, and lower dependency on manual and unskilled labour.

This has not only increased the quality and safety of public housing, but also reduced construction waste, noise and dust levels, while minimising inconveniences to residents living nearby. However, the depreciation of leaseexpiring flats are causing residents to worry about their future relocation. Currently, only 4% of the total HDB have been chosen for the Selective En Block Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). With the decrease in household size, increase in senior population and single individuals, HDB is still too rigid for adaptation.

02 . / housing in cities / 4

Using the Prototype Unit Plan (PUP) Guide, floor plans with functional spatial quality can be designed and produced more effectively. The designs is optimised for precast planking, minimising the need for formwork during construction. Two facades of adjacent pairs of rooms are designed as one component for efficient hoisting. Standardized and prefabricated bathroom units improves coordination and integration between structural, mechanical and architectural works. (Housing Development Board, n.d.)

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housing in cities: Does one size really fit all ?

./5

Despite the major achivement of mass housing in effectively providing shelter for the majority of urban population, it also represented a missed opportunity. Housing design was primarily based on a quantitative approach whereby governments and developers were building them like a spreadsheet to fit a certain number of people into the cells. Large-scale housing programmes were largely driven by managerial and paternalisitc approach. They tend to not engage the community or empowering social capital. The main goal was to build enough houses to shelter enough number of people to keep the housing shortage at a controlled level, but they forgot about how the place-making of a home can influence individual social development and its corresponding urban pattern.

Developments often failed to create socially mixed neighbourhoods which caused poorer households to be marginalised and isolated from the socisl and cultural opportunities. In short, mass housing policies have a relatively narrow focus on providing shelter, often failing to activate housing as a platform for building peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capabilities and connecting them to social and economic opportunities.

sharing economy

All the Airbnb listings in Berlin, Germany. shared entire

private

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sharing economy: understanding sharing economy

What is sharing economy ?

./1

The concept of sharing is as old as human civilization. In cities, new digital technologies are revolutionizing the ways in which we use transport, housing, goods and other services – whether driven by economic or social reasons. The sharing economy has virtually disrupted all sectors, creating a multitude of platform-based marketplaces that connect individuals, enterprises and communities at a peer-to-peer level. The sharing economy is making cities redefine land-use strategies, minimize their costs, optimize public assets and collaborate with other actors (for-profits, non-profits, social enterprises, communities and other cities). Nothing is new about “sharing”, except when the word “economy” is added. However, the concept of sharing has not fundamentally changed: people have benefited from sharing since the beginning of civilization. But the potential pool of people with whom to share is now growing exponentially, as technologyenabled platforms connect and vouch for new members from around the globe. Collaboration that once required years of

friendship now requires only a background check and financial guarantee. (World Economic Forum, PwC, 2017) One theory on sharing (Völker & Flap, 2007) suggests there is an inverse relationship between sharing and ownership: that is, people share only when they are unable to afford goods individually, and sharing practices decline once enough wealth is acquired for ownership. Sharing economy generally refers to organized interactions in which individuals or entities exchange with others the untapped “surplus” or “idle” capacity of their assets, typically for some type of payment or service. (World Economic Forum, PwC, 2017)

Organized interactions in which individuals or entities exchange with others the untapped “surplus” or “idle” capacity of their assets, typically for some type of payment or service.

Trust-verification. People build trust through a model that allows transacting partners to limit counterparty verification and liability expenses while reaping the benefits of sharing. Peer review ratings, third-party validation and liability insurance are the most common ways Capitalizing on idle capacity. Owners of an of establishing such trust between users asset can capitalize on its spare capacity and the platform and also among users when not in use, either monetarily or in themselves. exchange for another resource. Goods that are purchased with inherent surplus capacity – such as computer memory or processing power, or seats in a privately owned car – can be commercialized through a time-share model: each individual payment for access is much less than the cost of ownership, but the aggregate of all payments over time is greater.

03 . / sharing economy / 1

The use of digital technologies to match buyers and sellers. Online platforms or marketplaces can enable accurate, realtime (or near real-time) measurement of “idle capacity” and dynamically connect potential users of an asset with its owners.

the rise of sharing economy and the decline of ownership

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sharing economy:

The rise of sharing economy and the decline of ownership.

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Increased mobility of modern society has potentially weakened the link between man and land. The ceaseless metabolic changes in the city and the restless movement of population have caused people to abandon their attachment to definite space. (Lim, 2010, p. 90) As a result, sense of belonging is diminishing which made ownership and permeance to a space become less important. Japan Metabolist Group believed that the absence of ownership would liberate people from the constraints of land which in turn will give people true freedom to live. (Lim, 2010, p. 90) Since civilization has begun, humans have been fighting over limited land and thus if ownership was replaced with collective right to land and subsequently shared living space, will people have more time and resource to focus on living a life instead of finding means to live ?

The advent of information technology caused value to be increasingly dependent on intangible rather than tangible resources. (Radka & Margolis, 2011) Ownership and attachment to things become less important in an increasingly liquid society whereby current social structures keep changing and can no longer serve as framework for humanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-term urban habitation. Objects that were considered solid in which ownership was quintessential have been dematerialized and liquidized because people have more spending power to spend on more things in life, making paying for house and living space become secondary or even a tertiary. (Ritzer, 2010) Now that we can easily acquire sharable goods through mobile application and online sharing platform, the burden of ownership such as cost, maintenance and eventual disposal outweigh the advantage of ownership.

From 1950 to the mid-1980s, with the steady decrease in food price, the average expenditure for housing and cars doubled from 22 percent to 44 percent for an average family budget. (Florida, 2010) People are spending more money on housing as compared to other categories for a typical monthly expenditure. Additionally, many countries offer citizenship or permanent residency to be naturalized through property investment which resulted in many people spending most of their income on paying for a property. (Ronald, 2008) However, ownership has become less favorable and less attainable than

it once was due to the instability in social organization, increased cost of ownership and ever-changing lifestyle. In the context of high dense cities, access to objects and services are gaining more popularity due to the lack of space amidst rapid development and proliferation of transient urban population. The number of urban population is projected to increase steadily in the next 30 years, with more and more people landing softly from one place to another. For example, sustainable development and apartments have increased in the city centers, offering alternative accommodation to the urban residents who rely on daily long commutes in and out of the city. (Leinberger, 2008) Living in a compact manner has become the solution for many urban residents who is frequently in transition as a result of land scarcity, financial constraint and the decline in needing a permanent living space.

03 . / sharing economy / 2

Similarly, people has started to market their underutilized assets such as vehicle and living space through online peer-topeer rental platform. For instance, people share their car through Uber and Grab, rent out their homes through Airbnb and CourchSurfing. Therefore, with this dynamic society whereby living habits and spatial programmes are unstable and ever-changing, access being a more transient mode of consumption can allow higher flexibility and greater adaptability needed for this fluid society.

A typical unit consists of a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, toilet, bedroom and laundry area. However, most of the space are often under-utilized except bedroom will be occupied for 8 hours per day for users to rest.

However, most of the mass housing development provides all these living amenities in a unit and they are sold as a single package to everyone, with minimal flexibility limited to number of bedrooms.

This has caused many home owners to rent out vacant rooms, either for long term to foreign or migrant workers, students, or for short term to travellers through Airbnb and other online accomodation sharing platform.

If we deconstruct a typical house into separate living components, each of them then become a single entity that can be mobilized and shared, expanded and shrunk based on demand.

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sharing economy: Comparing ownership, sharing and access.

ownership vs sharing vs access

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Access-based consumption can be defined as transactions that can be market mediated in which no transfer of ownership takes place. (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012, p. 881) Ownership expresses the special relationship between an individual and an object known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;owningâ&#x20AC;?. (Snare, 1972) Two main characteristics that differentiate ownership and access are the nature of the object-self relationship and the rules that govern and regulate this relationship. In ownership, consumers may identify themselves with their possessions, which become part of their extended self which can be critical in displaying the individual identity in a social setting. (Richins, 1994) Access is a temporary and circumstantial consumption context without any form of ownership. (Chen, 2009) all to use and generate no debts and responsibilities. In contrast to sharing, access has no joint ownership or transfer of ownership because the consumer gains access to use an objects, or a form a temporary ownership to use a product instead of permanent ownership to own the product.

Access is similar to sharing, in that both modes of consumption do not involve a transfer of ownership. Sharing can be understood as the act and process of distributing what is ours to others for their use, and or, the act and process of receiving or taking something from other for our own use. (Belk, Why Not Share Rather than Own?, 2007) The joint possessions are free for all to use and generate no debts and responsibilities. In contrast to sharing, access has no joint ownership or transfer of ownership because the consumer gains access to use an objects, or a form a temporary ownership to use a product instead of permanent ownership to own the product.

The rise of sharing requires us to use a new language where, ‘access’ trumps ‘ownership’; social value becomes the new currency; ‘exchangers’ replace ‘purchasers’; people are no longer consumers but instead users, borrowes, lenders, contributors. All of this means business muyst redefine their role from providers of stuff to become purveyors of services and experiences. Neela Sakaria, SVP of Latitude

For the case of Airbnb, people can gain access to and experience living in someone else’s home by paying a certain amount of money. Even the market of coliving concept has started to grow such as WeLive which offers private bedroom and shared facilities to its clients, targeting at the young professionals, young family, foreign students and transient workers. The traditional notion of ‘private’ and ‘public’ are eroding under the influence of shared economy. Ownership is no longer the ultimate expression of consumer desire. (Chen, 2009) (Marx, 2011)

03 . / sharing economy / 3

Therefore, living space from a private space, has become a profitable commodity that is increasingly being regarded as a product that offers shelter instead of a place-making object. This is where accessbased home living is gaining popularity among the growing urban population. Instead of buying and owning things, consumers prefer access to product and would rather pay for the experience of temporarily accessing them. Various consumption models have also been redefined by technology and peer-peer consumption models, in which access is enabled through sharing or pooling of resources and services. (Belk, 2010) In an access-based consumption model, consumers gain right to use products or services on the basis of access-based payments. (Lovelock & Gummesson, 2004) The traditional notion of ‘private’ and ‘public’ are eroding under the influence of shared economy. Ownership is no longer the ultimate expression of consumer desire. (Chen, 2009) (Marx, 2011)

living together

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Livi life,

Residents of a typical Kommunalka had their own dishes and sink.Photo by Françoise Huguier for Agence VU.

ing is inescapably collective, and no one can now believe that collective , for instance in something called ‘the market’, takes a natural course. It is, even if only by default, directed.” Geoffrey Hawthorn, Introduction to The Standard of Living, The Tanner Lectures 1985, Amartya Sen

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living together:

understanding co-liivng

How can we define co-living ?

./1

Co-living. A form of housing that combines private living space with shared communal facilities. Different from flatshares and hostels, co-living explicitly aims to encourage social interaction and build community among the residents. It encompasses a diverse range of living models including co-housing, built-torent schemes, intergenerational living, shared living, access-based living. But cohabitation is nothing new – immigrants and workers sought out boarding houses during the 19th century. Tribal man lived communally. Medieval villages rotated land communally. Feudal vassals in their lord’s castle lived communally. Monks lived communally. The seventeenth century coffee house was communal. Plato’s Republic was communal. So was Moore’s Utopia and (perhaps more relevant) many of William Morris’ medievalist fantasies or Le Corbusier’s modernist ones.

The changing patterns of live, work, leisure and social interaction has rekindled a strong interest in shared living. Similar to the 1960s Danish co-housing cooperatives, the communal living model has been adapted in modern way to meet the pressures and opportunities of modern urban-living. The increased in rural-urban migration, delay in marriage age, shrinking family size and the widening gap between rent and income are the factors that drive co-living to become the more affordable accomodation for the urban dwellers. Co-living indirectly forms an intentional community of individual living spaces clustered around shared space. It emphasizes on access to common facilities and shared living spaces instead of accessing based on sole-ownership. People who are under-served by housing markets due to financial constraints or identity issues find co-living to be a more flexible and comfortable mode of habitation.

As people moved to cities seeking work in the 19th century, boarding houses became hubs where diverse residentsimmigrants, single men and women, workers of all kinds-could live affordably and mingle with others in shared spaces.

It can support migratory patterns of work and provides renters with short-term, low-cost solutions while looking for their permanent situation. Smaller sleeping and living quarters within individual residents’ apartments are supplemented by generous communal facilities such as shared kitchens and lounges, laundry, concierge and storage. These facilities Co-living also has the potential to are further enhanced by place-specific broaden and diversify what we mean by lifestyle offers such as gyms, libraries, owner¬ship in a housing context. Rather rentable event spaces and cinema rooms. than the right to sole use of the space between four walls and under one roof, These are the twin desires for interac¬tion residents in co-living may aspire instead and privacy and the choice to determine to own shares in small businesses based the proportions of each by which we wish in their residences, might own machines to live our lives. A major strength of coor equipment that is rented to neighbours living is that it seeks to strike a balance or shared on a reciprocal basis, or might between the two, instead of privileging own a share in the co-living business or one over the other. enter¬prise instead. Co-living can also potentially serve a financial sector that is diversified beyond a property fixation. It can offer the sort of communi¬ties needed to serve the growth of initiatives such as peer-to-peer lending, microfinance and the regrowth community savings banks.

04 . / living together / 1

To own a home means, for many, a careers worth of debt to pay back, extended travel to work and the loss of existing community and attenuation of family connections. Flexible ownership or access-based ownership can enable people to invest in their home without having to take on a 30 year mortgage.

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living together: one shared house 2030 survery

One Shared House 2030 Survey.

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The research also subdivided the data in four categories which are gender, marital status, age group and country. This will help the industry to rethink how co-living can be designedand improved to adapt to the future needs of different community.

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In response to the global prediction that co-living will increase steadily in term of popularity, IKEAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research lab SPACE10 and digital designers Anton & Irene launched the One Shared House 2030 Survey. This global online survey aims to determine how people will like to live together, what they like to share or not to share with their fellow residents.

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living together: Case study: Co-living Projects

ALL TOGETHER NOW: A look at the co-living scene in Singapore. BT photoillustration by Chng Choon Hiong & Simon Ang.

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Co-living is now an example of access-based consumption model for living space, primarily focuses on minimum private space and maximum common facilities for a cost- and space-efficient urban living. If co-living can remove the everyday tedious tasks of cleaning, paying utility bills, buying furnishings and maintaining the building, how much are we willing to share for the elimination of such mundane chores and high cost of maintenance ?

case study : co-living project : commercial : commonspace 80

COMMONSPACE 201 E Jefferson St, Syracuse, New York, 13202, United States

Commonspace is 21 individual apartments split between 2 floors, with tenants having access to shared spaces on both floors. Because of the natural variations in the building architecture, each unit has a slightly unique layout and size. All units include the same basic amenities, with larger units offering features such as larger bathrooms, murphy beds, and small closet spaces.

Basic amenities included in all units: Fully furnished, including kitchenette, 2-burner cooktop, sink, mid-sized refrigerator, flatscreen television, lounge furniture, builtin bed, storage, fold-down writing desk, fully tiled bathroom with enclosed shower. Rents start at $850/mo. with a 1-year lease.

04 . / living together / 3

case study : co-living project : commercial : roam 82

ROAM

Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia Alexis Dornier

The vision for this place was to create community. A model of a micro society where people find their own space for privacy as well as places of gathering, exchange, movement and education, the structure we had found prior to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s make over already had a great deal of that desired spatial configuration we find today. The inner court yard, surrounded by 3 run down apartment buildings, formed the starting point for surgical and effective alteration of floor plans by adding more components, knocking down walls, opening solid concrete walls, adding bathrooms and placing large windows that would allow for enough light, fresh air and exciting views towards its surroundings.

The inner court yard, surrounded by 3 run down apartment buildings, formed the starting point for surgical and effective alteration of floor plans by adding more components, knocking down walls, opening solid concrete walls, adding bathrooms and placing large windows that would allow for enough light, fresh air and exciting views towards its surroundings.

04 . / living together / 3

case study : co-living project : commercial : welivee 84

WeLive

New York City. Washington DC. United States by WeWork

This is a plan for a newly-built “share house,” a singular model of housing, even within the architectural industry. The “share house” is an increasingly popular style of living in Japan, somewhat close to a large house, where the water systems and living room are shared by the residents. What makes it different from a large house, however, is that the residents are not family and are, instead, unrelated strangers. So a special technique in both its management and its space becomes necessary for complete strangers to naturally continue to share spaces with one another.

The shared and individual spaces were studied simultaneously and, by laying out individual rooms in a threedimensional fashion, multiple areas, each with a different sense of comfort, were established in the remaining shared space. While the entrance hall with its atrium and dining table space are perfect for gatherings of multiple people, the corner of the living room and spaces by the window are great for spending time alone. The kitchen counter is suitable for communication between a relatively small number of people. The rug space on the 1st floor is the most relaxed of all the spaces.

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case study : co-living project : private : share house lt josai 86

SHARE HOUSE LT JOSAI Nagoya, Japan Naruse Inokuma Architects

04 . / living together / 3

case study : co-living project : private : gap house 88

GAP HOUSE

Bokjeong-dong, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Archihood WXY

The project is located in Bokjeong-dong, South Korea. Being an area that has a couple of universities nearby, a demand for student studio-type accommodations have significantly risen in the past years. Being contiguous with Seoul, the office working, white-collared demographic has also joined the frenzy and has been a factor in the demand for residential units as well. Because of this, the area has become very crowded with multi-dwelling units, studios and student accommodations.

One large sized ‘Gap’ is a courtyard a sharing open space through easily accessible pilotis. The front and rear façade get advantage of air ventilation and natural sunlight from the south through ‘the Gap’. The courtyard is originally inspired by a low wooden bench with deep, green shade under Korean zelkova where villagers used to gather. There also become a sense of place where people who walk the ally like to stop by and sit to break and talk each other.

04 . / living together / 3

spatial decomposition of a unit / spatial layout and movement

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living together:

Spatial decomposition of a unit.

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living together: ./5

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Spatial layout and movement.

jakarta ; city of dream

Migrants on suburban train in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo by Johannes LĂźckenkĂśtter. Edited by me.

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jakarta, indonesia: Internal migration in the capital of Indonesia.

internal migration in jakarta

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Since early 1990, the interplay of capitalism and socialism have heavily shaped the socio-economic development and urban growth of Jakarta. While the high-rise modern buildings and commercial real estate development proliferated, the evolving infrastructure provided only work for most citizens who are considered in the middle or upper-middle class. The lower-middle class and the urban poor were mostly neglected as the capital is primarily interested in developing Jakarta into a modern city that will elevate the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image. With the seemingly abundant opportunity promised for a better life offered by big cities, people continue to flock into densely populated Jakarta even though they understand that they have to sacrifice their standard of living for the sake of working in Jakarta. It is difficult to not want to migrate to city when you think about the money you can make in 10 years as compared to staying in rural area with a relatively comfortable living environment but less attractive job prospect. The profit in return makes squeezing beds with people in small rental units and living in

living in deteriorating environment, bearable. But the question here is, is there a way that can enable them to improve their living environment while having a better job ? The steady influx of internal migrants from the five outer islands with Kalimantan and Sulawesi having the highest number of out-migrant into Jakarta, the local government cannot cope with the increase in urban population in term of housing, urban infrastructure and basic services mainly due to financial constraint. The absence of state participation and the commercialization of private sector made housing market to be more expensive on a limited amount of land that is being shared by more and more people. The internal migrants could feed their families but many of them had no proper place to stay. As a result, shanty towns emerged, often near to high-rise buildings, sprawling industrial areas, under the bridge and back alley of commercial development. People will build dilapidated structures with any sort of makeshift material that they can get for very low cost just so that they can continue

The urban slums became breeding grounds of hostility and rioting. Despite decentralization, rural people are still lured by the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jakartan Dreamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Most of them want to provide a better life for their family, better job prospect for the youngster and most importantly, better education for their children. Jakarta, like every other vibrant and prosperous emerging cities, is perceived as a city of dreams, where employment is abundant and money flows freely. But the internal migrants being an outsiders in the capital, are often left to fend for themselves with no affordable housing after arriving on their one-way tickets.

Therefore, the thesis will attempt to project how people can live comfortably in densely-populated cities, given that the global urban population is projected to reach 66% by 2050. With the continuous influx of internal migrants being the main contributor to growing urban population, the thesis will explore shared living as the alternative mode of habitation for the internal migrants who are often marginalised for affordable housing due to their identities and financial constraint. Increasing purchasing power is making people to decommunalise and spend for more privacy. We moved from communal living with shared amenities in the early 18th centuries to 20th centuries of private living that comes with private bathroom, private kitchen and even private cinema if one can afford. Perhaps privacy is the old way of determining quality of life, and we can rethink what kind of space and how we can use them collectively to generate a life for the future.

05 . / jakarta ; city of dream / 1

to stay inside the city close to where they work. The government refuse to build housing for them in the city because the internal migrants are outsiders who are not eligible for affordable housing or social housing planned for the relocation program.

Road network Most of the urban poor tend to reside near the highway which is under the elevated highway as they are nearer to the city with ample of space. The road network is very convoluted as it moves from peripheries towards central Jakarts.

Rail transit system There are existing suburban rail, airport rail link and airport people mover within Jakarta. LRT and MRT are currently under construction. This will cause the internal migrants to change their settlement pattern to follow this new mode of transport.

Waterway and Land Subsidence Most of the internal migrants concentrate at the area along river and water canal as they can have easy access to water for sanitation and waste disposal. However, annual flooding and rising sea level are forcing them to look for alternative shelter in order to remain in the city.

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thesis statement; redefined. ./3

Due to rapid urbanization, rural-to-urban migration is becoming increasingly vigorous as people migrate softly or permanently for better job opportunity, better education or better life. Hence, sufficent housing will be an alarming issue in the future for many megacities in the developing region. Change of lifestyle and working pattern also demand different way of urban habitation that can enable this floating population to live flexibly in an asset-light manner. This thesis will attempt to project how people can live comfortably in future high dense cities, given that the global urban population is projected to reach 66% by 2050. With the continuous influx of internal migrants being the main contributor to growing urban population, the thesis will explore shared living as the alternative mode of habitation for the internal migrants who are often marginalised for affordable housing due to their identities issues and financial constraint. Furthermore, shared living might be able to provide the flexibility and adaptability for dynamic demography and lifestyle changes.

shared living for the #crazy poor expat crazy poor expat / in constant growing numbers /

noun

A person who moves from a rural area to a city, be it native or foreign, in hopes of earning big bucks but often find himself living in expensive poverty.

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SHARED LIVING # c ra zy poo r e xpat

by Chan Li Yu