Method of Analysis of the Resilience and Adaptability in Social Housing Developments through Post-occupancy Evaluation and Co-production. Final research report

The current social and climatic changes observed require an urgent revision of urbanization strategies around the world, to reduce environmental and social impacts, as well as to develop the resilience of built environments. The main challenges are the use of constructive systems and appropriate materials, design techniques and construction for specific climatic zones, besides the existent habitational adaptation with new technologies. In developing countries, the low level of quality in architecture and urbanism increase the social vulnerability that affects millions of people who find it difficult to find adequate housing, which in turn is found in precarious conditions. When the governmental housing programmes try to balance out this deficit, the low quality of defined standards lead to highly inadequate houses for the residents, obligating them to make modifications to buildings which are not necessarily prepared for these adaptations, leading to the waste of material and the inefficient use of resources.

This Project will use advanced Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) techniques to develop methodological analysis procedures together with Social Housing Developments. The analysis will focus on the adaptive and transformative capacities alongside the resilience of the built environment in attendance to the necessities of the residents and the subsequent environmental impact caused by these ongoing transformations. The analysis will be centred on three elements: (i) BUILT ENVIRONMENT (building complex, taking into consideration the scales of the district, neighbourhood and unit, and the relation of impact between the built and natural environments; (ii) AGENTS (agents that interfere with the local social dynamic); (iii) USERS (residents of the complex). The evaluation will focus on social, functional, behavioural and environmental issues of the built environment. For verification, the methodological procedures developed will be applied to a case study in the city of Uberlandia - Brazil, specifically the undertaking of the governmental programme "minha casa, minha vida" located in the western area of the city.