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| Sunday, 19 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Moving
forward in Post-Tsunami housing
by Wendell W. Solomons I have lived in (a) European apartment blocks and (b) modest, low-cost, Sri Lankan urban authority developed flats. Through these experiences I discovered a unique feature of the National Housing Development (NHDA) housing estates. The modest three storey tall flats recreate a sense of community in Asia that the West sadly couldn't develop because of historic factors such as the Big City's tendency to wall off neighbours, i.e. social alienation (where in addition the horn of plenty of a TV lord may intrude and hold life in suspense.) Sri Lanka's NHDA low-cost housing estate blueprint has a community centre that regularly serves as a light-duty recreational centre (chess, carrom, and table tennis.) Yet, purposeful flat dwellers' council meetings are held here. When menfolk grouse that women lack not for spots for gossip, you find the cup overflows! A single bus stop becomes feasible for our low cost housing estate. So very differently, a long strand of cottages demands more spent fuel and time if cottage-combing buses are available at all. Organically, the environment of our low-cost housing estate germinates commercially viable bicycle, radio, fridge, welding and other repair points. Indeed it also sprouts retail grocery shops, tailoring shops, hairdressers and more. A playground is usually available and sometimes working mothers chip in and organise their day-care centre. You might even spot a school but because of the high visibility of trade shops, children get the benefit of technical orientation earlier than in affluent neighbourhoods. The housing estate has a playground area and the holism may contribute a place of worship if outward travel is far. On the plateau of efficient land and utility use the housing estate sets its tone for the future. It would suit this account to bring out a learning experience in Sri Lanka of the early 1980's. It happened during the proposal to add housing units in Kandy converting a disused plantation hill. One group of architects looked on the challenge of building a stepped, estate of clustered homes without disturbing the landscape of the great hill in Hantane. The opponents of these government-selected architects claimed, 'The work will display a slum on a hill' (it must be said in mitigation that many an opponent had not witnessed housing landscaped to a hill). Having studied the debate in the public domain, the Government chose to side with the innovative. The proof of the pudding is finally in the eating - Some two decades later the Hantane housing estate still remains noted by Kandy residents for its quality of life and not lastly - its magnificent view from the hill ! For low cost housing estates there's only one major frontier to pass again - that of mind. It is the foolhardiness and shallow know-how base of some local professionals ("Just do what you like; there's enough state land left in the country!") Those voices are accompanied by Johnny-Come-Lately, foreign careerists who too haven't examined the NHDA blueprints. These men have for company the year 1952 World Bank mission team. Environmentalists are aghast at the destruction of thousands of acres of virgin tropical forest for the creation of five-acre homesteads to grow rice by the farmer plodding barefoot in the mud 10th century style with cattle-drawn ploughshare. For their part sociologists and political scientists are aghast about the second-generation problem that descended as a consequence - many were the farmers' sons who fell to unemployment and picked up rifles for insurgency yesterday and today. Is oft talked about 'transparency of resource use' an asset offered by our housing estate ? Neighbourhood awareness help urban surveys to detect misuse of housing by absentee landlords. That avoids the long shadow left us by year 1952 foreign expert-advised fragmentation and distribution of virgin forest land in Sri Lanka. |
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