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Evaluating Housing Health Hazards: Prevalence, Practices and Priorities in Delhi's Informal Settlements

Nix, Emily; Paulose, Jacob; Shrubsole, Clive; Altamirano-Medina, Hector; Davies, Michael; Khosla, Renu; Belesova, Kristine; (2020) Evaluating Housing Health Hazards: Prevalence, Practices and Priorities in Delhi's Informal Settlements. Journal of Urban Health , 97 pp. 502-518. 10.1007/s11524-020-00442-w. Green open access

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Abstract

Housing quality is crucially linked to health and sustainability goals, yet there is limited research on informal housing and settlements where housing quality is poor, and the health risks are expected to be greatest. This paper describes the investigation of housing conditions in a low-income resettlement colony in Delhi. A novel transdisciplinary methodology to evaluate multiple housing health hazards and establish intervention priorities in participation with the community was developed. Findings from housing surveys and indoor environmental monitoring were contrasted with a participatory self-assessment—revealing the widespread prevalence of hazards and suboptimal housing conditions as well as substantial differences in priorities, and thus perspectives, between participants and researchers. Focus group discussions explored the findings and built consensus on priorities. Our findings uncovered how poor housing conditions affect daily practices and thus are likely to adversely affect socio-economic development and gender equality. We highlight limitations in current frameworks to assess housing hazards and argue that a transdisciplinary approach is vital to provide a holistic understanding and to develop effective interventions. These insights are crucial to inform inclusive solutions for adequate housing and human settlements that can support improved health and help achieve the sustainable development goals.

Type: Article
Title: Evaluating Housing Health Hazards: Prevalence, Practices and Priorities in Delhi's Informal Settlements
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1007/s11524-020-00442-w
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00442-w
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords: Housing . Health hazards. Participatory approach . Informal settlements. Community priorities
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10102456
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