Housing Update as a Strategy for Urban Regeneration

Housing Update as a Strategy for Urban Regeneration Naomi Carmon Professor of Urban Planning and Sociology Technion – Israel Institute of Technology January 2006

The Problem A large share of the existing housing stock is below current standards Urban areas with substandard housing are deteriorating socially and physically

Possible Responses • Ignore, let them deteriorate • Demolish(1st generation of urban renewal) • Renovate(2nd generation of neighborhood rehabilitation) • Update (part of the 3rd generation of public-private partnerships) THIS PAPER IS ABOUT UPDATING UPDATING IN THE PHOENIX STYLE

The Phoenix Strategy A strategy to facilitate User-Controlled Updating of the old housing stock Aimed to prevent deterioration where is has not yet started and to reverse it where it has not reached too far

The Phoenix Strategy To define a process of change in a housing unit or a building as Updating, the Phoenix way, the change • Should make the unit close to the current standards of a new unit in the specific country in the specific time (by number of persons per unit, number of bathrooms, thermal standards and other locally relevant criteria) • Should be user-managed and does not impose heavy burden on the public treasury

Or Yehuda Updating the apartments, buildings and their immediate environment The original housing block

The Phoenix Strategy The Phoenix Strategy has been basedon Israeli experience which I studied for 20 years and will describe below and on party-similar experiences which have been documented in other developed countries, including France, Italy and Holland, and in developing countries, including India, Egypt and Ghana

The addition creates a shallow arcade on the front and rear of the building Cesena, Italy (1982) Two story addition to public housing

Ronseray-Glonnlres, Le Mans, France (1978-1980) Run-down housing project, 5 story Enlargements of kitchen and front terraces Articulated entries and different apartment clusters

The Israeli CaseA. The Problem About half of the housing stock of Israel is composed of old housing blocks, 2-8 floors built in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s This stock is far below current standard

The Israeli CaseA. The Problem Salient problem – SIZE of dwelling units Average size of a new unit in 1960 – 60 sq. mtrs Average size of a new unit in 1990 – 140 sq. mtrs Other Problems One bathroomLow level of finishing Small kitchen Thermal deficiencies Elevators above 5 floors only

The Israeli CaseB. Four Phases of Change Phase I (mainly in the 1950s & 1960s)Spontaneous updating Enlargement + other improvements in low-rise buildings of 1-4 households

Acre East Self-Help Enlargementin a low income neighborhood

The Israeli CaseB. Four Phases of Change Phase II (mainly in the 1980s)Organized user-controlled updating as part of Israel’s Project Renewal Enlargement + other improvements in 35,000 housing units. Mostly in 2 - 4 story blocks (some in higher blocks) in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods

Project Renewal A national project of the 1980s for social and physical rehabilitation of distressed neighborhoods in Israel

With Project Renewal Assistance About 35,000 apartments were renovated, remodeled and enlarged, usually adding 40-90% to their original area; in most cases, the dwellers continued living in their apartments as they were renovated 10% of the enlargers were tenants of public housing companies; 90% were owner-occupiers who received subsidized loans that covered 40-90% of the updating costs + some technical assistance

With Project Renewal Assistance The program of enlargements was implemented first in low-rise buildings, then in 3-4 story blocks (the most common type of buildings of the lower and middle classes in Israel) and later in areas with blocks of 5-8 floors The process was “infectious”: it spread within neighborhoods and sometimes to their neighboring areas

Or Yehuda Low income neighborhood in the metropolitan area of Tel-Aviv

Or-Yehuda Alternative interior design of enlarged apartments: from 54 to 87 sq. mts.

Acre North Low-income neighborhood of mixed population: Jews and Arabs Before (1995) After (1996) Before 16 apartments, built aspublic housing in 1976

Acre North Floor Plan Original size: 74 m2 Enlarged apartments: 114m2 (+40 m2), including balconies

Kiryat AtaHousing for Young Couples A low income neighborhood in Haifa metropolitan area After 25 m2 were added to each apartment Before 32 apartments each of 75 m2

Site Plan 1:750 Kiryat AtaHousing for Young Couples

The Israeli Case Phase III (mainly in the 1990s)Spontaneous user-controlled updating in middle-income neighborhoods The "infectious" process moved from the lower-income neighborhoods of Project Renewal to urban areas of the middle classes

Floor plan of 6 apartments:each enlarged from 60-65 m2 to 95-105 m2 Each gained larger LR, 2 additional BR, and sometimes a balcony Hadar Yosef A lower-middle-class neighborhoodin Tel Aviv metropolitan area

The Israeli CasePhase III (cont.) Local authorities which were hostile to the process in the early 1980s accepted it in the 1990s, sometimes enthusiastically, asa means against out-migration, especially of younger families with children Tel Aviv municipality heads the supporters, showing the way to other municipalities

Floor plan of two apartments:each enlarged from 70 m2 to 100 m2 Ganei Tikva A lower-middle-class neighborhoodin Tel Aviv metropolitan area

After Ramat Aviv A middle-class neighborhood in Tel-Aviv Before

Enlargement Plan Original size: 65 m2 Enlargement: 35m2 Total: 100m2 Ramat Aviv Before: 3 rooms + 1 bathroom After: 4 rooms + 2 bathrooms + elevator

A Main Conclusion Where moderate-income and middle-income residents of standard housing units and blocks see a real opportunity to Considerably improve their homes according to their own needs and preferences For an affordable price (middle class) or with affordable loans (lower classes)

A Main Conclusion They invest in the improvement process much more than they would have under regular conditions Hence, application of an appropriate strategy has good chances to create a continuous self-regulating process of user-controlled updating of old housing units

The Phoenix Strategy On the basis of the Israeli experience and systematic consultation with colleagues in several countries, a generic strategy was developed THE PHOENIX STRATEGY The Phoenix is a legendary bird who lives a long life repeatedly rising anew from its own ashes to live another long period using its internal resources for the transformation

The Phoenix Strategy In our case the soul of the Phoenix is a household and its body is a housing unit that following one period of life goes through transformation initiated and managed by the household from which it arises anew to serve the household for yet another period

The Phoenix Strategy A strategy to facilitate and encourage user-controlled major improvements in housing units and residential buildings according to changing needs and preferences of their residents

The Phoenix Strategy Worked in low-rise as well as in middle-rise (3-12 floors) buildings Is appropriate for low- (not lowest) and moderate-income families Works well also in mid-class areas Requires limited public assistance

Necessary Conditions • Households with steady sources of income motivated to achieve better fit between their needs and preferences and their housing conditions and prefer (or are considering) doing it without moving from present environment either because they want to continue living there due to psychological and/or social and/or economic attachments or because they cannot afford moving to a better house in a better neighborhood

Necessary Conditions • Resident cooperation neighbors, at least in the same building, preferably in the same block, should organize and cooperate • Readiness of the public authorities to facilitate and encourage the process. The process requires changes in zoning codes and building permits, sometimes technical assistance, mainly in design In low-income areas also subsidized loans

Expected Benefits from timely good planning and modest public assistance were found in 20 years of empirical studies in Israel To the participating residents • Improved affordable living conditions • Higher satisfaction with one's dwelling unit (in correlation with self-help improvements) • No relocation (not even temporary) may be highly important socially and economically

Or Yehuda Housing enlargement in process

Expected Benefits To the participating residents • Increased motivation to work and add to family income, especially among women (continued after renovation) • Personal experience in implementing a complex project which involves negotiation with public and private actors

Expected Benefits To the participating neighborhoods • Halting deterioration - households with resources invest and remain in the neighborhood, instead of leaving it as soon as they can afford to • Encouraging regeneration - the process tends to create a continuous reaction of investments in the neighborhood, not only by its present residents it also attracts new residents, not upper-middle-class gentrifiers, but people who are "on the upper side" of the incumbent population

Expected Benefits To society at large • Economically - improved and longer-lasting housing assets, longer use of existing physical infrastructure (pipes, roads, etc.) and social infrastructure (schools, clinics, etc.) • Economically - additional jobs in the construction industry, especially small contractors and their workers • Socially - preventing some of the social ills that go with neighborhood deterioration

Expected Benefits To society at large • Socially - additional social capital in the form of residents with experience in cooperative action • Environmentally - saving huge amounts of new resources, especially open space and energy, which are required for new construction • Environmentally - providing opportunities to introduce into old houses devices for energy saving and water conservation

The Israeli Case Phase IV (in the early 2000s)The Ministry of Housing is encouraging the “Filling-up Neighborhood” program A plan to add dwelling units to residential buildings 2-4 additional high-standard floors + updating the old lower units, partly using the revenues of the new construction

The Israeli CaseB. Four Phases of Change Phase IV - The goals • More efficient use of expensive urban land • More efficient use of existing infrastructure, from roads and pipes to schools and clinics • Saving old neighborhoods from deterioration

Issues of Concern Relatedto the Phoenix Strategy Affordability and very poor households The strategy makes housing improvements affordable for moderate-income households, but the very poor, those who cannot afford to repay loans, cannot usually benefit from it

Issues of Concern Relatedto the Phoenix Strategy Quality of the urban environment Changes in the existing urban fabric should consider: • Preservation of culturally important urban fabrics • Open spaces among buildings • Aesthetics and urban design considerations

Disordered Enlargements Should we permit such an enlargementin the second or third floor?

Disordered Enlargements One of many possible alternativesthat may give a positive answer

Or Yehuda A low income neighborhood in the metropolitan area of Tel-Aviv Enlargements do not require uniformity

Housing Update as a Strategy for Urban Regeneration