Role of spatial hierarchy in resettling the urban poor:implications of spatial configuration on privacy and interaction

Abstract

The Government organizations in Sri Lanka often resettle the urban poor in high-rise housing. Such housing interventions often do not acknowledge the spatial relationships and organizations of such communities which play a key role in their social ties and way of life. This study explores the spatial configuration of a low income settlement before and after settlement. Following which the study examines the impact of differences in spatial configurations on the overall housing satisfaction. The impact on privacy and social interaction was specially focused on in the analysis of housing satisfaction. An ongoing community housing project “MuwadoraUyana” in Colombo - Thotalanga was selected for the study. The differences in spatial configurations using space syntax and the residents’ views on interaction and privacy using interview were explored in the original low rise and the new high risesettlement. Study highlights the importance of spatial hierarchy and identifies the spatial structuringand spaces necessary to achieve desired interaction and privacy in an original low rise low income settlement. Following which the need for demonstrating such spaces and design directions for a high rise settlement is discussed.