Shelter and the quality of life of the urban poor

Shelter and the Quality of Life of the Urban PoorShelter and the Quality of Life of the Urban Poor

Tjahjono Rahardjo Program Magister Lingkungan dan Perkotaan (PMLP)

Universitas Katolik Soegijapranata Semarang

• The term “quality of life” is used in many different situations; first known to be used in health care

• In the 1980s and 1990s political and social conservatives in the USA have used it in the context of so-called victimless crimes

• These types of “crimes” are often called “quality of life crimes.”

This paper will try to see what the relations are between quality of life and shelter in the Indonesian context

This paper will try to see what the relations are between quality of life and shelter in the Indonesian context

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

Quality of life can mean two things:• the presence of conditions deemed

necessary for a good life• the practice of good living as such

Veenhoven (1996)

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

• At the societal level, only the first meaning applies

• When the quality of life of the people in a country is said to be poor, it means that they lack essential things: food, housing and health care, etc.

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

• At the individual level, the term quality of life can mean both things

• If a person does not have a good life, it can mean that he/she lacks things deemed indispensable and/or that this person does not thrive

• These conditions may or may not coincide

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

• The quality of life concept goes beyond the standard of living approach

• A growing number of people believe that quality of live has been sacrificed for a higher standard of living

Worcester (2004)

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

Quality of life is concerned with the overall concept of well being, both the subjective as well as the objective aspects

• quality of life refers to individuals’ life situations• quality of life is a multi-dimensional concept. • quality of life is measured by objective as well as

subjective indicators.

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working

Conditions (2003)

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

• Quality of life is the degree to which a person enjoys the important possibilities of his/her life. Possibilities result from the opportunities and limitations each person has in his/her life and reflect the interaction of personal and environmental factors

• Three domains of quality of life: Being, Belonging and Becoming as the three major domains of quality of life

The Quality of Life Research Unit, University of Toronto

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

• In 1972 Bhutan’s King Jigme Singye Wangchuck proposed the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH)

• GNH is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic terms than GDP

• GNH signals the King’s commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's unique culture which is based on Buddhist spiritual values

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

• GNH critises views that equate increased financial transactions with progress, it argues for measurement that incorporates psychological, spiritual and environmental perspectives

• GNH is built on four interlinked processes: the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance

Quality of Life, Happiness and Human DevelopmentQuality of Life, Happiness and Human Development

• Realising that economic indicators cannot encompass the multi-dimensionality of human development, UNDP introduced the Human Development Index (HDI) in 1990.

• The HDI is an attempt to move the debate on the measurement of development beyond a purely economic perspective towards a broader scheme that incorporates different aspects of life

• Quality of live covers both the subjective aspects as well as the objective aspects of well being, which is related to live satisfaction and overall happiness.

• Quality of live concept refers to individuals’ life situation

• The combination of attributes that makes one individual content is rarely the same for another individual

• It is virtually impossible to determine common indicators or criteria to measure the quality of life of individuals within a population

Nevertheless, it still can be reasonably assumed that the higher average level of diet, shelter, safety, as well as freedoms and rights a population has, the better the overall quality of life that particular population enjoys

Nevertheless, it still can be reasonably assumed that the higher average level of diet, shelter, safety, as well as freedoms and rights a population has, the better the overall quality of life that particular population enjoys

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

• It is now accepted that every person has the right to an adequate standard of housing, and this is recognised in a number of international legal instruments:– Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)– The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Right (ICESCR) (1966)– The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1959)– The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Racial Discrimination (1965)– The International Convention on All Forms of Discrimination

Against Women (1979)– The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989– The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of

All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990)

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

• Housing adequacy according to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR): – legal security of tenure– availability of services, materials, facilities

and infrastructure– affordability– habitability– accessibility, – location– cultural adequacy

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

• Indonesia’s Act 4/ 1992 on Housing and Settlement acknowledges the right of all citizens ‘to live in and/ or to have the use of and/ or to own an adequate house located in a healthy, safe, harmonious and orderly environment.’

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

• Adequate housing is ‘a house structure that, at least, meets building safety, minimum floor area and health requirements.’

• A healthy, safe, harmonious and orderly environment is an environment that ‘meets spatial planning, land-use, ownership and service provision requirements’. Thus, according to Act/4 1992 there are only physical and legal aspects of housing adequacy

The question is does housing that meet these adequacy criteria automatically have positive effects on the quality of life of their inhabitants?

The question is does housing that meet these adequacy criteria automatically have positive effects on the quality of life of their inhabitants?

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

The story of the two families:

• Young recycler• Middle-aged carpenter

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

Turner’s key ideas :• Housing is a process, not just shelter; housing is a verb

• House should be assessed based on its human use value, not its material value; should not be seen as ‘what it is,’ but ‘what it does’

• Housing needs change and vary depending on the individual/family; these needs cannot be generalized. Therefore, dwellers should make decisions about housing.

• Local governments must facilitate the housing process by providing infrastructure, proscriptive laws and access to building elements (land, materials, credit, etc.)

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

Act 4/1992:

• The recycler family is not being adequately housed

• Their dwelling does not meet physical and legal standards

• The carpenter and his family are adequately housed.

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

The CESCR would consider both families not adequately housed, albeit at different degrees, as both their dwelling do not meet all of its criteria of adequate housing.

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

Subjective indicators:• The recycler’s shack provided the family with

opportunities and possibilities within the limitations they were facing. The family was thriving, and had hopes for a better future

• The carpenter family’s model house was actually not promoting the family’s wellbeing and happiness. It did not create conditions deemed necessary for a good life, and did not promote the practice of good living as such.

Adequate Housing: What it is notAdequate Housing: What it is not

• Housing is not the most important aspect for low-income groups.  Instead, they tend to focus on economic conditions and services

Nientied and van der Linden (1988)

• The primary concern of the poor is on how

to make a living and to survive in the city, not on acquiring a house

Al. Soewondo

Home: Being, Becoming and BelongingHome: Being, Becoming and Belonging

• Though housing may not be the main priority of the poor, it does not mean that not having a home is not a problem

• This is especially true in the Indonesian context, where homelessness can mean both living in informal settlements as well as those actually living on the street

Home: Being, Becoming and BelongingHome: Being, Becoming and Belonging

• Both groups are often subject to raids, the more violent evictions usually happen in informal settlements, Raids towards street homeless people tend to be peaceful

• The most salient feature they share is that both groups are not registered as residents of the city and are in fact considered as illegal residents

• Members of these two groups can not hold a kartu tanda penduduk (KTP)

Home: Being, Becoming and BelongingHome: Being, Becoming and Belonging

No Address

No home

No KTP

No access to:Education

Health careEmployment

Political participation

Banking serviceGovernment

subsidies, etc.

ConclusionConclusion

• For the urban poor having a home is important, not as a shelter from the elements as such, but much more importantly for their Being, Belonging and Becoming

• a home is necessary for maintaining physical health

• a home could reduce the stress and worry they face, and give them hope for the future

• a home is essential if one is to become part of the general society, raise a family, and gain access to education, health, and other services

• a home is essential if one is to get a job and realises one’s aspirations and life goals.

ConclusionConclusion

• Their lack of housing, has been the direct causes for their exclusion and the lost of their rights as citizens

• Some Indonesian cities have tried to enact quality of life laws

• Because of their poor economic and housing situations they face the threat of being criminalised

• The KTP system in its present form, in practice has had the same consequence on the poor as the above mentioned quality of life regulations.

ConclusionConclusion

• The KTP, therefore, should be reformed and should only be a citizen registration instrument, not the all-important document associated with ones domicile status

• A person’s quality of life and the ability to exercise his/her civil rights should not depend on or be linked to the physical and legal status of a person’s housing

• The government should facilitate the housing process by providing infrastructure, proscriptive laws and access to building elements (land, materials, credit, etc.)

Housing should not be seen as a commodity, valued only for its transactional value but should

be seen mainly for its role to promote human welfare seen from psychological, spiritual and

environmental perspectives.

Thank you