- Red Cross housing program in Vietnam, 2000
- socio-economic impact study
- storm-resistant steel frame core structure, looks a little similar to the heavy timber frame of the Acen house from Dr. Happy Santosa.
- people complete the house using brick or other local materials
- study goals
- long term socioeconomic impact on those who got the houses, and those who did not (control group)
- home is highly storm resistant compared to control homes
- The houses look great years later - painted, finished, proud houses
- of course, others are disused or used as sheds
- people have slightly mixed but basically very positive feelings towards their homes - they're the right side of OK for most people, with higher scores on objective measures than on subjective ones (broad summary, the work is actually very detailed, with many survey results giving a feel for subjective issues.)
- objective data
- the "intervention homes" group, who got the homes, have more rice cookers, bicycles, radios - objective wealth
- food intake is higher too - getting a steel frame house seven years ago means eating better now
- causality issues as always when you don't have randomized, controlled studies
- conclusions
- starter house is storm resistant, is a safe haven, improves housing conditions, and improves living standards
- no clear impact on economic independence, however
- not a guarantee of economic development
- starter house concept
- prefab steel frame goes up in two days
- highly storm resistant, with good studies over time to prove
- local acceptance is a not fantastic
- much less maintenance and repair
- hard to extend
- not everybody has the resources to finish the starter house
