The Application of Universal Design in Low-Cost Housing by the City of Sao Paulo, BrazilEdison Passafaro, Municipal Government of Sao Paulo, Executive Director, Comissao Permanente de Acessibilidade, Brazil Eugene Williams, Board of Directors, Adaptive Environments, USA In the last several years, the municipal government of Sao Paulo has required accessibility in its low-cost housing construction programs. That accessibility is implemented by the Secretariat of Housing and Urban Development (SEHAB) under the supervision of the municipal government's Permanent Commission on Accessibility (CPA). The CPA's work is based on the principles of Universal Design. Until the CPA intervened in this area, design and construction did not feature (and often ignored) accessibility. An overview of the application of Universal Design to low-cost housing will examine how UD is applied to this very cost-sensitive area and how this application does and does not go beyond minimum standards of accessibility for persons with disabilities. Emphasis will be placed on the application of Universal design as a process or 'work in progress'. Costs of construction of inaccessible (pre-CPA) versus accessible design will be compared. Discussion will be accompanied by images from architectural and engineering plans as possible. Several differing types of low-cost housing construction are administered by the city. A focus of the presentation is anticipated be the self-built self-administered ("Mutirao com Autogestao") program championed by the grassroots Union of Housing Movements (UMM). In that program, non-profit associations formed by members of the UMM financially administer the entire design and construction process, including the selection and contracting of architects and engineers. 80% of the construction work is done by the members of the associations. The focus will be on four-story apartments units (blocos), the favored model in recent years. The "Mutirao com Autogestao" features popular participation and democratic decision making in all phases of the design and build process, and the management of the completed structures. The CPA has attempted to incorporate this democratic process in its accessibility plans while remaining sensitive to builder/residents concerns of the costs of their future homes. For example, all apartments in the four-story blocs now being built by the UMM and other groups are required to accommodate persons with limited mobility. However, only ground-floor apartments can be entered by wheelchair users. The CPA decided not to require elevators due to the increase in cost but does require that elevator shafts are built in next to stairwells, allowing the residents association the option of being able to make a post-construction decision to install elevators with minimal retro-fitting should that become a priority. This approach is consistent with the CPA's overall philosophy of balancing "full accessibility" with "partial accessibility" based on the limited resources available in a country in development such as Brazil. Discussion points will include:
The presentation will include a description of the structure and function of the CPA, how the CPA historically has defined its mission and how the CPA entered the area of low-cost housing. Additionally, a history of the UMM will highlight the "Mutirao com Autogestao," an innovative approach to self-built housing, and will lead to an examination of the interaction between the CPA and the owners/builders/users of the apartment blocs. |