Settings for collective control : design and programmatic propositions for the reinforcement of resident serive capacity in low-income housing developments/

Abstract

Major "redevelopment" projects are being planned and undertaken by the Boston Housing Authority to reverse the "cycle of deterioration" threatening the existence of most of Boston's largest and oldest public housing developments. This thesis focuses on the West Broadway and Franklin Field Developments which have together been earmarked by State and Federal governments to receive a total of nearly $50 million for "redevelopment" programs. The central problem concerning this thesis is the lack of design and programmatic principles with which to apply not only the information generated by recent housing research but that of the collective service needs, capacities and responsibilities existing for present and future communities in public housing. The physical and social contexts as the West Broadway Development are examined as the bases for design and programmatic "propositions" generated to define the following "organizational elements": circulation hierarchy, residential clustering, service supports and facilities, and service facility clusters. The propositions are intended to provide explicit definition to existing and potential levels of resident organization and collective service responsibilities, levels which are seen as essential where residents are destined to become increasingly more involved in the management, maintenance and security of their non-private living environment. The "propositions" are then applied to the Franklin Field development to evaluate their generalizability outside a specific context. The application served both to illuminate a number of new opportunities for and constraints upon the use of the propositions and to distinguish general 'service zones' which represent relatively distinct sets of security and maintenance problems and associations between household clusters. A compilation of relevant excerpts from recent housing research literature is presented in the Appendices to supplement the analyses, and propositions forwarded for each of the main "organizational elements" as highlighted in the main chapters.