Closing the Affordable Housing Gap: Identifying the Barriers Hindering the Sustainable Design and Construction of Affordable Homes

Reid, Alasdair

Abstract

Despite the commitment of the United Nations (UN) to provide everyone with equal access to basic services, the construction sector still fails to reach the production capacity and quality standards which are needed to meet the fast-growing demand for affordable homes. Whilst innovation measures are urgently needed to address the existing inefficiencies, the identification and development of the most appropriate solutions require a comprehensive understanding of the barriers obstructing the design and construction phase of affordable housing. To identify such barriers, an exploratory data mining analysis was conducted in which agglomerative hierarchical clustering made it possible to gather latent knowledge from 3566 text-based research outputs sourced from the Web of Science and Scopus. The analysis captured 83 supply-side barriers which impact the efficiency of the value chain for affordable housing provision. Of these barriers, 18 affected the design and construction phase, and after grouping them by thematic area, seven key matters of concern were identified: (1) design (not) for all, (2) homogeneity of provision, (3) unhealthy living environment, (4) inadequate construction project management, (5) environmental unsustainability, (6) placemaking, and (7) inadequate technical knowledge and skillsets. The insights which resulted from the analysis were seen to support evidence-informed decision making across the affordable housing sector. The findings suggest that fixing the inefficiencies of the affordable housing provision system will require UN Member States to accelerate the transition towards a fully sustainable design and construction process. This transition should prioritize a more inclusive and socially sensitive approach to the design and construction of affordable homes, capitalizing on the benefits of greater user involvement. In addition, transformative actions which seek to deliver more resource-efficient and environmentally friendly homes should be promoted, as well as new investments in the training and upskilling of construction professionals.

Citation

Reid, A. (2023). Closing the Affordable Housing Gap: Identifying the Barriers Hindering the Sustainable Design and Construction of Affordable Homes. Sustainability, 15(11), Article 8754. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118754

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: May 29, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 12, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 12, 2023
• Journal: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 11
• Article Number: 8754
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118754
• Keywords: value chain, agglomerative hierarchical clustering, barriers, sustainable development, text data mining, affordable housing, design and construction