An increasing number of people are in need of housing that would improve long-term tenure for them. Private ownership is a well-known incentive for peoples’ participation in housing programmes. The current difficulties in obtaining credit for housing, following the global economic crisis, show that private individual home-ownership is not effective enough in addressing the housing needs of the low and middle income groups. As a result of this, the need to find an option that will solve the housing needs of the people became intense. However, the implementation of the co-operative housing delivery option in South Africa has not been successfully implemented as a result of the actions or the inactions of the role players. The study sought answer to the causes of the inability to successfully implement the co-operative housing approach through the use of ‘triad model’ that has to do with the ideology of co-operatives, the praxis and the organisational structures of the various housing co-operatives. The study was domiciled in a pragmatic paradigm, using the mixed methods research approach by conducting a three-stage research whereby convergent parallel design was adopted as the methodology. Questionnaires were administered to the chairpersons of the housing co-operatives identified in this stage one of the study. Stage two consisted of conducting interviews with chairpersons of six housing co-operatives using the purposive non-probability sampling method. The final stage was the survey among the members of the housing co-operatives interviewed. It was discovered, inter alia, that the membership of housing co-operatives was not voluntary; policy and legislative documents on social housing were biased against the co-operative housing approach; limited understanding of the co-operative approach exists among officials of government responsible for the implementations and a lack of training to members of the housing co-operatives by agencies of government responsible for propagating the approach was evident. Based on the findings, framework for sustainable housing co-operatives in South Africa was proposed from the strategies identified. The strategies identified were classified into the following factors: Policy and legislation; support services; education, training and information; and governance.

This study is a venture in urban history in that although housing has been the subject of a number of recent studies, little attempt has been made within the British urban history framework to give serious study to what lies behind the architectural facade, the material domestic culture of an urban community. An important objective of this study is to examine the material culture of domestic dwellings in early Victorian Grahamstown, also referring to other parts of the Cape Colony. Where possible these facts are related to the occupants of the dwellings. No community, urban or rural, can be divorced from the influences which lie beyond its immediate locality in region or metropol. As a preliminary to this study the urban background of industrial Britain is examined, as are English and Dutch cultural influences on the interiors of Cape homes in general. The occupational stratification and spatial structure of early Victorian Grahamstown are then explored, leading into· a discussion of the material domestic culture of the interiors of Grahamstown dwellings. In the final analysis, this study is an attempt to uncover the character of early Victorian Grahamstown and its possible implications for English cultural influences at the Cape. In so doing, not only what constitutes the domestic material culture of Grahamstown is established, but beyond that, a comparison made with domestic material cultural developments in another colonial, though not frontier, settlement with roots in Georgian and Victorian England, namely Australia.

M.Ed. / The literature-study that was undertaken indicated that first-year students have problems in adapting to university- life. Extensive research has been done regarding the academic adaptation of first-year students. The social adaptation has been mentioned in various literature sources as a problem although intensive research on this subject has thus far not been done. The first objective of this study was directed towards gaining more clarity on the social adaptations that first-year students living in university residences have to make at university. A second objective was to determine the responsibilities these first-year students had to take in their social adaptation process, to ensure that they make the correct decisions. Thirdly, the male and female students° responses were compared regarding the above issues. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on the three objectives mentioned above. These objectives were analysed by making use of Hotelling's T 2 -test and Student's t-test. The results obtained in this study indicated the following: Male first-year students were more self-assured and had a greater need to socialise with people of the opposite sex. Female first-year students were uncertain about themselves and did not have the need to socialise with people of the opposite sex. Thus, first-year male students tended to adapt better socially in the first few weeks at university than was the case with female first-year students. First-year female students showed a higher degree of social responsibility. Male first-year students showed a higher tendency towards personal responsibility. In total, only a limited amount of responsibility was shown by first-year students during their social adaptation at a university.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (M (Town and Regional Planning))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Town and Regional Planning / unrestricted

An estimated 20% of South Africa's population is currently housed in low cost dwellings. These dwellings are extremely energy inefficient and it has been shown that these households spend almost 20% of their disposable income on heating in winter. This situation is undesirable for both the home owners and ESKOM who must ensure an unusually high electricity demand especially on winter nights. Some of the people don't use electricity for heating but fire and this contributes to the high levels of pollution in these communities. By ensuring better energy efficiency in these houses the demand for electricity will decrease and the pollution levels will obviously decrease as well. The process that strive to reduce this electricity demand is called Residential Demand Side Management (RDSM) and is strongly supported by ESKOM. This dissertation investigated the international experience concerning RDSM and some of the possible steps that could be taken to establish an RDSM program in South Africa. It was discovered that the two most important steps relevant for South Africa would be to install ceilings in low cost dwellings and to install insulation in middle income and low-income households. Various computer simulations using QUICKcontrol, a thermal design software package, was done to assess the effect that these steps would have on energy usage. Before any decisive steps could be taken to install these products in houses, it was important to hear what the public thought of the low-cost ceiling concept. It was decided to conduct a Socio Economic study to estimate the public opinion and the response towards the low cost ceiling turned out to be extremely favorable. The participants supported the idea of a low cost ceiling but the access to the ceiling might still prove to be difficult. Through experience it was found that people often don't want to invest in a certain product if the only benefit is a slight monetary saving. It has become necessary to investigate other aspects concerning the ceiling and insulation that would encourage people to buy into the concept. This line of thinking led to the "Comfort" study. The finding that insulation will ensure that almost three times more people are satisfied with their indoor situation is quite significant. The improvement of the indoor aesthetics if a ceiling is installed in a low-income dwelling is also an important consideration when a decision has to be made to install the product. This type of information could persuade people to purchase these products to the benefit of themselves, ESKOM, the insulation manufacturer and the environment. / Dissertation (M Eng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

This study uses the re-blocking policy adopted by the City of Cape Town to explore an alternative approach to the housing backlog crisis in South Africa. The two re-blocking projects examined in Mshini Wam and Kuku Town illustrate the benefits of re-blocking and the challenges that were overcome in both of these informal settlements. This study is descriptive in nature and explores the challenges that informal settlements present not only for their inhabitants, but also the impact these challenges have on the city itself. The re-blocking policy is explored as a potential approach to addressing these issues and how the in situ upgrading approach to informal settlements is an improved and sustainable approach for South Africa. Key findings suggest that the Re-blocking Policy can potentially address the challenges that informal settlements present and it could serve as a sustainable housing model for improving service delivery to informal settlements.

One of the principles of Reconstruction and Development Programme is that development projects should be people driven. One of the programmes through which such people driven development is meant to be realized is the Enhanced Peoples Housing Process. This research seeks to identify the limitations in the implementation of the Enhanced People’s Housing Policy, to ascertain the involvement of beneficiary communities in the process, and to assess improvement in the quality of life of beneficiaries who have acquired houses. It is argued that these limitations may be attributed to the interpretation and implementation of the Policy Guidelines for the implementation of PHP. The researcher is of the view that development programmes should be participatory and that this will promote empowerment of communities as opposed to the creation of dependency. The researcher has selected two case studies which show that the involvement of communities in planning and decision making does meet the needs and demands of the community for improvement in an efficient and effective way.

The growth of forced migration populations - i.e. the movement of people within and across national boarders as a result of conflicts, disasters, and development policies and projects - has been a defining feature of the twentieth century and will no doubt remain with us well into the twenty-first century (Rutinwa, 2001: 13). Literature searches suggest that the ‘refugee’ constitutes the most powerful label within the forced migration discourse. Published calculations regarding the number of refugees in the world at the end of 2008, range between 15.2 million (UNHCR, 2009: 2) and 13.6 million (World Refugee Survey, 2009: 33). The refugee experience of a small representative population of these figures namely, the Zimbabwean refugees living within the Central Methodist Church (CMC) or Central Methodist Mission (CMM) refugee community, in Johannesburg city centre is the concern of this treatise. From the perspective of the conflict management scholar, the informal and formal conflict management strategies adopted among and between the CMM refugees, have been studied. Analysis of existing literature, interviews conducted with the refugees, as well as hours of experience within the refugee community, substantiate the descriptive study that follows. Guided by the grounded theory approach, research findings have emerged out of the descriptions. The research findings in turn have founded the development of the recommendations that appear in the conclusion to the treatise.

The provision of adequate housing is an important part of government's commitment towards providing a better quality of life to the people of South Africa. Housing delivery is, however, not taking place to the extent and speed that will eliminate the backlog in housing delivery. The researcher aims to (i) evaluate and investigate the reasons why housing delivery at municipal level is slow, (ii) discuss the effect of inefficient implementation on delivery, (iii) examine the influence of the lack of infrastructure and the lack of skilled municipal officials and employees of construction organisations and the processes followed to make a success of housing delivery. Chapter 2, Section 26(1), Act 108 0f 1996 of the Constitution of South Africa states that everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing. This places an obligation on government to provide adequate housing to all citizens, within the restriction of available resources. The lack of land hampers the speed at which municipalities can deliver low-income housing. Housing and basic infrastructure (water, sewer and roads) form an integral part of the governments commitment to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of South Africans. The fact that municipalities do not have capacity to address housing delivery and the fact that most artisans are near retirement age also influence the rate that houses can be delivered. Adequate housing processes are needed for housing delivery to take place, without it government will not succeed in delivering adequate housing. The results of the survey and the literature review confirm that housing delivery at municipality level is slow, that municipal officials need training and more employees to insure that housing delivery improves. The results also show the importance of infrastructure and land, the importance of implementing housing policies and processes adequately.

M.Ing. / In any development undertaking, costs and effectiveness are ever present factors, which need to be considered carefully and managed effectively. Cost effectiveness relates to the measure and forecast of benefits of a project in terms of mission fulfillment (project effectiveness) in monetary terms, and compares these with the project's total life-cycle cost in order to realise the full potential employed for investment decision purposes. In order to be persuaded to take on the risks (financial, political, and market) associated with property development projects, developers and/or investors need a higher return on investment. Why should developers and/or investors be concerned with cost-effectiveness analysis? The most superficial answer to this question could be, that references to such analysis can be viewed as an important source of persuasion, giving developers and/or investors an opportunity for proper determination of whether the strategy that is being proposed appears to be worthwhile. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to concentrate on one strand of a wide ranging research agenda, that should provide comprehensive and meaningful information concerned with the issue of cost effectiveness within the housing development industry.