A Sustainable Approach to Slum Redevelopment: The Karimadom Colony
In October 2012 the global population projection passed 7 billion. With over half residing in urban centers and 827 million of those in slums, housing is a challenge on ever countries agenda. To add another facet of difficulty, construction is exceeding what the environment can sustain. 60,000 billion kg of raw material are extracted annually from the environment and 33% of which is used for construction. The concrete industry alone is responsible for 5% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. After construction, buildings account for 40% of the world’s energy consumption. Several programs and innovation have come in response like LEED certification, using recycled and renewable material, LED lights, and energy efficient electronics. Unfortunately, green building is typically not associated with low income housing. Often it is thought too long a process or too expensive. There is a tenuous balance between meeting the human need, what the environment can support, and economic feasibility.
The Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (COSTFORD) has pioneered the synthesis of sustainability and low income housing since beginning operation in 1986. Many of the principles and techniques were developed by the founding architect, Laurie Baker, during his 40 years of building in South India. Baker recognized that finding solution would require bridging the gap between old and new. As he wrote, “Each area has evolved empirically over centuries, ways of building to use local materials so that they remain structurally stable and withstand local climatic hazards. They also have coped with traditional, local, religious and social patterns of living.” His approach was holistic, being mindful of the unique natural and social environmental requirements of every project. A successful project was not measures in just square footage, but also how it improved the beneficiaries life. The last low-income project Baker designed with COSTFORD, the Karimadom Colony, exemplifies this.
Karimadom Colony:
According to the 2007 baseline survey used by COSTFORD, Karimadom is home to 2341 residents comprising 632 families. Over 23% of the population are school or college attendees. Most residents are dependent on day wages, 89% having no permanent income. Several widows, single women, and disabled residents are particularly vulnerable due to lack of income. Habitat housing was provided for 72 families years prior to the survey, leaving 560 still in dilapidated houses or shacks. There is an inactive medical facility that 2 aganwadi are using for operation. There is also a community hall that doubles as a shelter during floods. The survey information along with several site visits and community interactions guided the designing of the project.
The colony is located just south of East Fort and Trivandrum’s central market, Chalai. The land is controlled by the Kerala Water Authority and in a low area (60cm below the road surface level) that is the watershed for the greater city. The total area is 9.73 acres including a large drainage pond. The concrete basin serves as a sewage overflow point and is prone to regular flooding from sedimentation. Sand has filled in the pond to the point it has become an overgrown marsh where garbage is being dumped.
During the monsoon season drowning, property damage, and health risk from sewage overflow were a regular part of Karimadom life. Additionally, the area was infamous for its densely packed dingy shacks cultivating high crime rates. Because of the poor physical and social conditions, the colony became socially isolated. Diligent outreach from social workers, politicians, and other organizations helped to reopen the community and stymie crime in the neighborhood. Further signs of relief came when the Karimadom Colony was selected as part of the governments Basic Service for the Urban Poor program, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
The Project:
COSTFORD’s 3 phase plan will provide housing for the 560 families that currently live in shacks or dilapidated houses along with multiple community oriented upgrades. After the initial survey and design, three days of community presentations were held. Each family was given a time for attendance. The purpose was to allow the whole community to participate in the project planning. This included explanations the proposed project to quell concerns that families may have about the process or designs. It also allowed the collection of feedback, making sure serious concerns were addressed and corrected.
While the National and State Governments will be financing most of the project, the beneficiaries are responsible for about 10% of housing and community facility construction. Each apartment building costs 68 lakh to build, 340,000 Rupees per flat. The beneficiary’s in kind contribution per flat is 25,000, with concessions made to reduce the cost for schedule cast or tribe members. By purchasing the units, the families are being given security they did not have before the project. While the land is still under the Water Authority, they families will own the flat. They are more likely to invest in the upkeep of the units since they feel safe in their rights to the property and that it is protected from flooding or removal.
Materials and Techniques:
Clay is an abundant resource in Kerala that can supplant most of the cement needed for construction. Using baked bricks as a building material decreases production and transportation emissions while bolstering the regional economy. The Rat -trap bond preferred by Baker also decreases the material required to build brick walls by 25% and the air pockets create an insulation barrier. Instead of a thick concrete slab, the floors have backer-brick filler with a finished top layer of concrete. This utilizes fragmented bricks that could not be used in wall construction. Similarly, filler slabs are incorporated in the ceiling. These are ceramic roofing tiles inserted between the re-bar. This can reduce the weight of the ceiling and the amount of material require by 30%. The ceramic tiles are also produced locally. COSTFORD uses the factor defects that cannot be sold in market.
Jalis are an inexpensive way to create passive lighting and ventilation in place of windows. Standard windows can cost up to 10 times the amount of the wall space they replace, where as jalis reduce cost and material consumption. The windows that are incorporated are a frameless design; glazed shutters fixed with hinges over a metal grill. Properly placed jalis and windows create cross ventilation that negates the need for Air Conditioning and take advantage of natural lighting. The walls are not finished with a plaster, which accounts for almost 10% of building cost. Instead, COSTFORD uses pointing and patching. This technique evens out the bricks and levels off the mortar with the surface producing a clean look requiring no extra materials or later upkeep.
Housing and Amenities:
To ameliorate the problem of flooding, 1.2 meters of earth is being added to the ground level before construction. Each apartment building is designed for 20 family flats of 31 square meters. They are G+3 dwellings with 8 flats on the ground, 6 on the second, 4 on the third, and 2 on the top floors. The stepped terrace design is a modification of from the earlier Changal Chola project. The design holds several benefits. There is a reduction of materials when sharing walls, floors, and ceilings; while the density allows for more open space. The foot print of the building is about 290 square meters, against 700 if the flats were built as separate houses. The terraces are a salient feature. In a normal multilevel building, families on the ground floor have the distinct advantage of access to outside space creating a ground floor p reference. The terraces give residence on higher floors room to grow potted plants, hang laundry, or expand. Visiting Changal Chola or the first phase of Karimadom, the terraces be seen used for these purposes. Though the space is fixed, it has the benefit of being private. Other people cannot access the area as freely as the space around the ground floor flats. Basic plumbing is provided in each flat, along with rain water harvesting tanks and overhead tanks. Wiring will be updated to reduce the threat of fire hazard. Smokeless chulas will be used in each kitchen to reduce energy consumption and improve interior air quality. Families can also request certain non structural changes to the flats, allowing them to be fitted to their personal needs.
Several community open spaces are planned between buildings. These can be used for parks, children’s play areas, or for community events and social functions. Planting trees in community spaces and using bougainvillea and lantana hedges for bio-fencing will create a verdant aesthetic throughout Karimadom. Bio-fencing is more cost and environmentally friendly than the construction of compound walls. This will be planted around the parameter of the property and the pond. Plans to revitalize the retaining pond will also considerably improve the physical appearance in the community. This will include dredging the sediment and upgrading the retaining walls. Upgraded drainage channels, connecting the housing units to sewerage lines, and a new pump house will help ensure the pond does not revert to a cesspool threatening public health. Trash and solid waste reduction will result from building of a community composting bin and biogas plant. Currently, the community has to pay a nominal fee for waste to be collected and hauled 25km to the dump by the Kerala Corporation. This method is more costly, environmentally pernicious, and inefficient than needed. Capturing the methane for the biogas plant will be the source of electricity for several street lights throughout Karimadom; increasing comfort and safety at night.
To support the future health and prosperity of residents, two aganwadi are being built to house those currently in the medical facility. This will bolster youth education, and the Kerala Corporation has agreed to help bring this health facility back into operation once the aganwadi are relocated. There will be an additional health center built in Phase 3. While educational facilities are located close to Karimadom, older students may not have a quiet and safe place for proper studying later in the evening. Two Study Center Cum Libraries will supply space and contain media to aid in their academic pursuits. Arrangements are being made to establish entrance exam coaching for professional courses, with the expectation that the training will become self sustaining in the center.
Securing the beneficiaries’ livelihood is vital to the stability and success of Karimadom. Two Community Cluster Centers are planned to support the several forms of production under the Kudumbasree (women’s empowerment organization). These will be larger, sanitary facilities for the production of banana chips and several other baked goods. A community market will allow a central vending space for items crafted by the community. Additional kiosks will fill other strategic points throughout the community, avoiding the development of dead spaces and providing income generation for the disadvantaged community members. COSTFORD also recognizes that many of the projects features will require people for management and upkeep. There will be training for the disadvantaged community members to fulfill this duty. Additional rent collected from the community market and kiosks will pay for the upkeep of the facility.
COSTFORD broke ground on Phase 1 in 2008 and was completed in 9 months. This produced 4 apartment buildings for 80 families, 1 new aganwadi, 1 market, and a playground area. Completion of Phase 2 was set back from negotiations with contractors and securing finances but finished in early 2012. This entailed 3 additional buildings for 60 families on the north and east side of the drainage pond. Construction on the first block of 7 buildings in Phase 3 is set to begin at the end of 2012. This phase is the largest and will see the completion of 21 more apartment buildings, the pond revitalization, 1 aganwadi, another market, the community cluster, both study centers, supporting infrastructure, and the other community facilities and space. The beginning of phase 3 will also introduce some of the group organization projects, like a girl’s badminton club.
The director of the Laurie Baker Center for Habitat Studies, Dr. K.P. Kannan, points out that there are three pillars to sustainability; Social, Economic, and Environment. We hear a lot about the economic and environmental aspects, but it can be easy to forget about the social. The success and longevity of a project is dependent on how well the functionality of design suites the users. By emphasizing all three pillars, COSTFORD hopes to continue implementing Baker’s principles and dedication to effectively, efficiently, and environmentally housing the poor.
COSTFORD 