Public housing renovation : an opportunity for a better housing environment

Abstract

The central hypothesis of this study is that the current renovation program of public housing projects is based on a predominantly physical perspective. Understanding the administrative and implementation aspects of the public housing system, the neighborhood context of the projects, the program's social context, and can make the renovation process successful. With this idea, this study looks at the renovation program of public housing projects from three perspectives: how the overall public housing system has evolved and affected the project typology; how the local agencies (LHA) have framed their role in relation to the public housing system and project administration and; a comparative case study between successful and unsuccessful projects, that illustrates the previous analysis. The understanding of the means and objectives of the overall system, together with the influential elements in the project's outcome derived from the case study, are used as criteria in the analysis of the renovation program exemplified in the Cambridge project of Washington Elms. This thesis uses two Cambridge projects as cases: Newtowne Court and Washington Elms. Located one by the other, they represent the first projects in the city, with the Elms currently undergoing renovation. This work concluded that the political aspects of public housing should be a part of formulating the renovation program so that it reflects the relationships between the physical form and society, while overcoming the physical deterministic approach. In this sense, the local agency's role becomes clearer as a facilitator of the process with less emphasis on the predetermination of the physical environment.