The current view of public policy management
Adapted by the authors from “Análise sistêmica do município de São Paulo e suas implicaçõe

Quality Management in Social Housing

Until recently, Social Housing — SH was addressed in Latin America, and particularly in Brazil, as a topic related to the housing deficit associated with a proliferation of informalities, produced without technical assistance (1). According to this traditional aspect, this problem should be solved by mass housing (2). This approach of SH distanced — except for a few successful experiences — theories and research developed from a systemic view of housing problems. This view is relevant to modern architecture and urbanism in the twentieth century in which separate uses were practiced: social, intimate and services places in a house, ideas that were reproduced on the urban scale (3). However, these problems require complex solutions as is advocated at the same time regarding smart cities, according to Vinicius C. Jardim and Marcos S. Buckeridge (4).

Currently, SH must be understood as part of an urban networked system and, therefore, requires solutions in several dimensions. They include physical, technological, cultural, economic, political and legal solutions from the perspective of theories, in addition to the clear definition of problematization. These diverse dimensions seek diagnoses that will guide recommendations in an integrated way in relation to the SH problem, today inserted in smart and sustainable cities. The previously mentioned diagnoses and which lead to integrated solutions aimed at the well-being of users depend on the application of evaluation processes in all stages of SH production.

Thus, Post-Occupancy Evaluation — POE provides inputs on functionality, accessibility, construction system, environmental comfort and even on aesthetic values (5) for decision making on public housing policies and their management. The instruments used in POE (6), such as interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, behavioural and flow mapping, observations and analyses on physical performance and others, if properly used in the diagnoses to be implemented and updated periodically, can lead to theories generating best practices in complex networks. The understanding of this complexity through diagnoses based on theories, applied research and technical solutions, is what will allow the occurrence of sustainability and resilience in architectural and urban planning projects.

Evaluation processes in public policy management have long been known in developed countries in emerging countries and particularly in the construction sector, these practices have existed, and been recurrent for decades but still limited in terms of architectural design and urban planning/design processes and in building maintenance, operation and management after occupation. Evaluating architectural and urbanism projects, even if based on well-founded methodological strategies, is sometimes poorly understood by the designers themselves, inspired by aesthetic and formal precepts. POE seeks to contribute to quality in the design process and, therefore, to the activity of the designer, as it systematizes the diagnoses constituted not only by specialists’ views, but also by residents’ perceptions (7).

The broader perspective of public policy management is also important because the environment built on its urban standards, from the center to the periphery, is being subjected to risks that need to be managed with efficiency (8) such as the ongoing pandemic situation.

Social Housing and Residents’ Resilience

Since 2009, approximately 5.5 million homes have been contracted and at least 4 million new housing units have been delivered through the Minha Casa Minha Vida Program — MCMVP to low-income Brazilians (9) in an attempt to reduce the housing deficit. The main characteristics of these housing models can be recognized in different regions of the country (10):

1. Horizontal deployment patterns marked by the homogeneity of architectural and urban solutions, with low densification, requiring large extensions that, most of the time, are found in peripheral areas;

2. Absence of adequate collective facilities, equipment and green spaces, combined with the lack of economic and cultural opportunities that hinder appropriation of the place by users;

3. Standardization of housing units characterized by low functionality and flexibility, which, according to a single architectural program (living room, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and external laundry area), whose usable area varies from 32m² (single storey) to 37m² (for apartments), disregards need of different family profiles of residents.

Here, resilience is understood as the capacity of the built environment to absorb, adapt and transform considering different impacts and demands over time (11). The concept is associated to the understanding of changes and is a fundamental aspect to raise the quality of SH as it is linked to the concepts of sustainability, vulnerability and adaptive capacity (12). On a global scale, resilience is a critical urban development issue, based on the Sustainable Development Goals — Agenda 2030 (13).

Resilience in the built environment [“Lack of adaptability in Brazilian social housing: impacts on residents”]

As a consequence of not meeting the new functions of domestic spaces, refurbishing and remodelling the houses is very frequent. These interventions are carried out intuitively by its residents, who do this according to their economic possibilities and low level of technical information. The residents, in turn, persist, albeit with limitations, in resilience, looking for creative ways to adapt to the new realities that are offered to them, both in relation to housing and concerning the neighbourhood. Thus, each action taken by the resident at home starts from family and contextual demands (14).

In the Brazilian context, the relevance of the social and behavioural dimension of resilience in the built environment is understood. The SH resilient project is one in which investments in physical infrastructure and social programs support residents to resist shocks and tensions (15). Thus, we need to understand how communities deal with uncertainty and adapt to new situations, as well as how they interfere in the built environment (16).

Case Study: RES_POE Research: Methodology

Considering this Brazilian scenario on SH and the need to apply resilience in the built environment as a way to combat existing groups of vulnerabilities, it is considered a practical example: the Post-occupancy Resilience Assessment — RES_POE survey (17). The research (18) was developed in partnership with the groups from a University in Brazil and from a University in the UK, having as a case study the Social Housing community, SB (19), in the city of Uberlândia MG. The partnership, funded by a research award Santander Research Mobility Awards, sought to further develop POE and Co-production methodologies in social housing, focusing on its adaptability and resilience. Understanding the needs for a more participatory model, raising a new degree of awareness about the social and environmental implications of housing production (20), the research considers Coproduction as a technique of collaborative actions where the researcher acts as a facilitator in the process of production and space management by the users involved. Here, the mediation of the researchers, architects and /or planners allows for more partnerships and more effective community participation. The projects, more than seeking a specific result of physical transformation, manage, during the process, to contribute to the social and political emancipation of the users working in this space (21).

The first stage of [RES_POE] (financed by the research award in 2016/2017) aims to understand the adaptive and resilient capacity in Brazilian social housing example based on collaborative action: 1. understanding their problems and limitations by using technological tools that could be considered advanced ones according to Brazilian used procedures in that kind of research and 2. fostering local transformations through the proposed evaluation processes. This stage, together with the international partnership, promoted the application of advanced POE techniques, alongside other Building Performance Evaluation — BPE instruments (22) for performance analysis and diagnosis, allowing a general survey of data from the area and initial diagnoses to be carried out. It was also the beginning of some co-production activities with the community, with indicative results for the following stages.

The following Stages 2 and 3 of the project [RES_POE], during the 2017–2019 years, sought to continue and consolidate the application of co-productions in the community aiming at solutions in practice, based on the diagnoses of Stage 1 (23). For this to happen, the co-production focused on three main elements: 1. Built Environment — an edified set contemplating the neighborhood scale, neighborhood relationships and unit scales, and the related impact on built and natural environment relationships; 2. Agents — agents that interfere in the social dynamics of the place; 3. Users — residents of the development. With these, co-production provided opportunities to further investigate the information collected, alongside POE processes that were maintained in order to compare and/or confirm the first data collected during Stage 1. The research database [RES_POE] comprised data collected using the following instruments: 1. General survey of enterprise data 2. Questionnaires; 3. Walkthroughs; 4. Co-productions. Altogether, a total of eighty questionnaires and twelve walkthroughs were applied, and eight co-productions were realized.

Residential SB Case Study: Results

To assess the relationship between social housing and resilience in practice, it was considered as a case study Residencial SB is the largest SH project ever built in the city of Uberlândia MG, the state sites at southeast of Brazil. The area was destined to produce more than 3,000 single-storey housing units of the PMCMV, within the lowest income bracket during 2010–2013, and was divided into eight subdivisions in which Residencial SB was the focus of this study. Among residential subdivisions, Residencial SB was chosen due to the existing dynamics, resulting from its location. Stablished during 2010–2013, and composed of approximately 141 housing units, the complex is characterized by twinned ground-level standard units and adapted units isolated on the corners, both implanted in 200m² rectangular blocks — characterizing the typical MCMVP implantation.

Study area and Standard Typology Layout
Adapted from Simone Barbosa Villa

As various studies already point out (24), regarding the quality of these complexes, the initiative failed to offer adequate infrastructure and housing for the population. Currently, Residencial SB is a reflection of constructive, social and environmental problems. Moreover, due to the need to overcome these impacts, the inherent adaptive capacity of the population living there can be observed, and it is in this scenario that the RES_POE research is inserted.

Data collection and case study evaluations took place from three different scenarios: 1. Scenario 1 (2013) — When the house was delivered to residents (2013); 2. Scenario 2 (five years later) — Initial survey (Distribution of questionnaires and start of co-production); 3. Scenario 3 (2018/2019/2020) — Continuation of co-productions and Technical Assistance project.

POE proved to be suitable for the research in question, as it is a consolidated methodological strategy in housing research both in Brazil (25) and internationally (26), making it possible to obtain consistent diagnoses related to the quality of the project and, consequently, of the aspects that characterize the built environment, allowing to identify the impacts to which it is subject, its vulnerability and potential.

In the context of the research, multimethods (questionnaires, walkthroughs, interviews) were used, considering the need to understand the multiple variables that act in the relationships between human behaviour and the built housing environment (27). Such instruments are part of the POE's observational methods and if they are properly and previously planned, they can be applied by researchers in a short period and at low costs. Moreover, in terms of human behaviour and its relations with the built environment, as well as the inherent capacities of those who live in that environment, Co-production was also used as an additional POE strategy, as it provided a scenario for more in-depth observation of subjective factors and issues raised when applying the instruments.

In Co-production, the professional and user´s knowledge needs to be converged on the same platform through the active participation of both of them (28). To do this, a series of collaborative actions is established that sees the researcher as a facilitator in the production and management processes of the environment by the users involved. Thus, the focus is transferred to these communities, aiming to create a collective awareness of the necessary physical transformations, as well as promoting a more united and empowered social network, contributing to the social and political emancipation of those working in this space.

In the Co-production process, community members — which we call “lay actors” — can contribute in different ways: 1. co-identifying the priorities of a service; 2. co-designing and co-creating services; 3. co-delivery, that is, the joint implementation of a service and 4. co-evaluating, when the actors jointly evaluate the service (29). In the case of the research presented here, the co-productions carried out can be divided into two main categories: 1. data collection and community perception (co-identification) — validating the information found in the questionnaires and applied walkthroughs; 2. knowledge production/exchange (co-design of solutions) — a phase that took place through the Technical Advisory process, supported by the Minas Gerais Architecture and Urbanism Council — CAU MG, in Portuguese.

In the data collection and community perception phase, five key problems were identified: 1. Low acoustic performance; 2. Low thermal performance; 3. Difficulty in storage; 4. Absence of green areas and high soil impermeability rate; 5. Accumulation of rubble and waste. Identifying these problems from the POE multimethods enabled us to define strategies to be carried out together with the community — such as seedling planting workshops, lining tests using milk cartons, to be more thermally suitable, among others. This process culminated in linking the research to a public notice from the Social Housing Technical Assistance — Athis, in Portuguese, promoted by CAU MG.

Problems identified and Co-productions
Adapted from Simone Barbosa Villa

The CAU-ATHIS project is linked to [RES_POE 2 and 3] and emerged from the Public Notice — CAU-MG. Beginning in July 2019 and ending in September 2020, it aimed to provide technical assistance to residents of the SB lots, starting with the five main demands identified in the survey POEs [RES_POE]. The researchers were divided into two teams: Working Group — Workshops [WG-W], developing co-productions in forms of workshops, seeking to increase the engagement of residents and also their training; and the Working Group — Technical Assistance for SH [WG-TA], which worked with an innovative methodology of a collaborative process as mentioned above.

In the [RES_POE] survey, the application of POE and Co-production techniques made it possible to identify incident impacts and how they affect the local community and the quality of the built environment.

It is known that little has been done to develop genuinely sustainable and replicable solutions, due to the lack of correct feedback from what is diagnosed in POE. In this case, through Co-production, it was possible to confirm the association between POE and collaborative practice (co-production) as a key to resilience, improving residents' actions through guidance, technical advice and exchange of knowledge with the mediators of the research group.

POE and Co-production: a combined research and professional practice purpose to achieve SH quality?

The evaluation processes demonstrated and applied in SH located in Brazilian cities, as in the case of Uberlândia, indicate that POE can contribute to a better understanding of the demands and expectations of residents. That is, for a better understanding of the alternatives for customization of mass-produced housing. Such an understanding is fundamental for including diversity of urban and housing patterns in the complex and a networked context of global and intelligent cities. It is necessary to advance in the automation of evaluation processes using information technology, so that successful pilot surveys become friendly tools and of daily use by architects and urban planners.

Not only POE tools (applied throughout housing in use) but also in the preliminary stages of the design process, virtual reality and augmented reality can contribute to its increasing technological advances to bring architectural design closer to the effective needs of future residents, thus reducing bias and large and very costly interventions during use. These procedures may be implemented due to the increase in digital knowledge among the poorest populations.

Mass-produced and customized SH — until today very limited by the difficulty of carrying out programs of adequate needs for low-income families because there are no agile tools capable of helping designers to understand previously behaviours, habits and needs — can be benefitted, observing the ethical aspects related to this information, geoprocessing and the media that process consumption habits, to define housing standards closer to these users. Furthermore, the co-production (combined with the results of the evaluation processes) considered by some designers as demanding long periods of discussion with future residents, impacting, eventually and negatively on the project costs, may benefit from information technologies (3D, for example) to reduce the gap between design and user needs, since communication between the architect and the resident becomes more intelligible and faster.

Finally, there is a clear need for the including SH in sustainable and integrated cities, adding in the urban standards the missing links in the systemic network, such as a full understanding of the socioeconomic and cultural profiles of residents, the urgent demands for basic sanitation, mobility, accessibility as well as access to educational, health, leisure and cultural facilities. This agenda depends and will depend not only on public policy management, but also on the management of public-private partnerships in which the contemporary complexity of urban life is considered and not just isolated solutions aimed at reducing the housing deficit.

notes

NA — We thank the Santander Research Mobility Awards, Minas Gerais Architecture and Urbanism Council, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, The Federal University of Uberlândia and the University of Sheffield — TUoS UK for the support. The first author of this article, Simone Barbosa Villa was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development — CNPq, under process n. 311624/2021-9 and the second author of this article, Sheila Walbe Ornstein was supported by CNPq under process n. 304131/2020–2.

1
CASAS, Ignacio de Teresa Fernández. Aproximaciones familia-casa. La vivienda informal consolidada en Santa Maria de Los Lomas, Guayaquil. Dearq, Issue 19, Bogotá, Universidad de Los Andes, Dec 01. 2016 <https://bit.ly/3UbQMA9>.

2
FABRICIO, Márcio M.; BRITO, Adriana C.; VITTORINO, Fúlvio (org.). Avaliação de Desempenho de Tecnologias Construtivas Inovadoras: Conforto Ambiental, Durabilidade e Pós-Ocupação. Porto Alegre, Associação Nacional de Tecnologia do Ambiente Construído, 2017.

3
ORNSTEIN, Sheila W.; VILLA, Simone B.; ONO, Rosaria. Residential high-rise buildings in São Paulo: aspects related to the adequacy to the occupant`s needs. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, n. 26, Springer 2011, p. 73–84. Springer, 2011.

4
JARDIM, Vinicius C.; BUCKERIDGE, Marcos S. Análise sistêmica do município de São Paulo e suas implicações para o avanço dos casos de Covid 19. Estudos Avançados, vol.34, n. 99, May/Aug. 2020.

5
TABBAL, Luciane; PICCOLI, João Carlos J.; QUEVEDO, Daniela M. de. Acessibilidade e qualidade de vida na habitação de interesse social: avaliação das unidades habitacionais acessíveis do Demhab em Porto Alegre. Pós. Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo da FAU USP, v. 21, n. 36, São Paulo, 2015, p. 142–158; ORNSTEIN, Sheila Walbe. Os campos da crítica e da avaliação pós-ocupação na arquitetura em uso: Duas faces da mesma moeda? Arquitextos, São Paulo, ano 20, n. 230.03, Vitruvius, jul. 2019 <https://bit.ly/3zw0Z2z>; REIS, Antonio; PANZENHAGEN, Ana Flavia P.; GERSON, Victoria L. C. Aesthetic evaluation of interfaces with different levels of permeability and proximity to public open spaces. Associação Nacional de Tecnologia do Ambiente Construído, v. 3, Porto Alegre, August 19, 219, p. 259–274.

6
MALLORY-HILL, Shauna; PREISER, Wolfgang F.E.; WATSON, Christopher G. (Ed.) Enhancing Building Performance. Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

7
VOORDT, Theo J.M. Van Der; WEGEN, Herman B.R. Arquitetura sob o olhar do usuário. Programa de necessidades, projeto e avaliação de edificações. São Paulo, Oficina de Textos, 2013; VILLA, Simone B.; ORNSTEIN, Sheila W. (Ed.). Qualidade Ambiental na Habitação: Avaliação Pós-Ocupação. São Paulo, Oficina de Textos, 2013, p. 359–378; MALLORY-HILL, Shauna; PREISER, Wolfgang F.E.; WATSON, Christopher G. (Ed.). Enhancing Building Performance. Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

8
ATKINS, James B.; SIMPSON, Grant A. Managing Project Risk. Best Practices for Architects and related Professionals. Hoboken, John Wiley and Sons, 2008; GORDON, Douglas; STUBBS, Stephanie (Ed.). Managing Project Risk. Best practices for architects and related professionals. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. 2008.

9
CÂMARA BRASILEIRA DA INDÚSTRIA DA CONSTRUÇÃO. Desempenho de edificações habitacionais: guia orientativo para atendimento à norma ABNT NBR 15575/2013. Fortaleza, Gadioli Cipolla Comunicação, 2013.

10
NASCIMENTO, Denise Morado; TOSTES, Simone Parrela. Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida: a (mesma) política habitacional no Brasil. Arquitextos, São Paulo, ano 12, n. 133.03, Vitruvius, jun. 2011 <https://bit.ly/3h358os>.

11
HASSLER, U.; KOHLER, N. Resilience in the built environment. Building Research & Information, v. 42, n. 2, 2014, p. 119–129, 2014; GARCIA, J.E; VALE, B. Unravelling Sustainability and Resilience in the Built Environment. Londres, Routledge, 2017.

12
URBAN CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH NETWORK. Climate Change and Cities First Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2011.

13
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS. General Assembly: Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations, 2015 <https://bit.ly/3Uag1Tw>.

14
BORTOLI, Karen Carrer Ruman de. Avaliando a resiliência no ambiente construído: adequação climática e ambiental em habitações de interesse social no Residencial Sucesso Brasil (Uberlândia/MG). Dissertação de mestrado. Uberlândia, PPGAU FAUED UFU, 2018; VASCONCELLOS, Paula B. Co-produzindo resiliência em habitação de interesse social: como ampliar a resiliência através do engajamento? Dissertação de mestrado. Uberlândia, PPGAU FAUED UFU, 2019; VILLA, Simone B.; VASCONCELLOS, Paula B.; DE BORTOLI, Karen C. R.; DE ARAUJO, Lúcio B. Lack of adaptability in Brazilian social housing: impacts on residents. Buildings and Cities, v. 3, 2022, p. 376–397.

15
BANKS, Bill. Should Resilience Begin with the Home? EY. EY, Mar. 28. 2019.

16
HASSLER, U.; KOHLER, N. Resilience in the built environment. Building Research & Information, v. 42, n. 2, 2014, p. 119–129.

17
All instruments and protocols used in the research were previously approved by the National (Brazilian) Research Ethics Commission (CEP in Portuguese), under protocol CAAE: 86979218.2.0000.5152.

18
[RES_POE] Method of analysis of the resilience and adaptability in social housing complexes through post occupancy evaluation and co-production <https://bit.ly/3fq0Vur>.

19
Sucesso Brasil — SB, name of the Social Housing Complex.

20
TELES, Tatiane Oliveira. Planejamento criativo e sustentabilidade social. Pós. Revista Do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo da FAU USP, v. 23, n. 40, 2016, p. 66–79.

21
TROGAL, Kim; PETRESCU, Doina. Architecture and Resilience on the Human Scale: Ethical and political concerns, agencies, co-production and socio-technological strategies in research and practice. Architecture and Resilience on a Human Scale Conference 2015, Sheffield, v. 1, 2015, p. 13–23.

22
LEAMAN, Adrian; STEVENSON. Fionn; BORDASS, Bill. Building Evaluation: Practice and Principles. Building Research and Information, v. 38, n. 5, 2010, p. 564–577.

23
VILLA, Simone Barbosa; STEFANI, Ana Carolina de Oliveira; PEZZATO, Leila Maria; VASCONCELLOS, Paula Barcelos. Ampliando resiliência em habitação social através da coprodução: Um estudo de caso na cidade de Uberlândia. Arquitextos, São Paulo, ano 21, n. 250.08, Vitruvius, mar. 2011 <https://bit.ly/3sMyQjT>.

24
KOWALTOWSKI, Doris C. C. K., MUIANGA, Elisa A. D., GRANJA, Ariovaldo D., MOREIRA, Daniel de C., BERNARDINI, Sidney P., CASTRO, Mariana R. A critical analysis of research of a mass-housing programme. Building Research & Information.

25
ONO, Rosaria; ORNSTEIN, Sheila W.; VILLA, Simone B. e França, Ana Judite G. L. (Org.) Avaliação Pós-Ocupação (APO) na Arquitetura, no Urbanismo e no Design: da Teoria à Prática. São Paulo, Oficina de Textos, 2018.

26
STEVENSON, Fionn. Housing Fit For Purpose: Performance, Feedback and Learning. 1. ed. [S. l.]: RIBA Publishing. Sep 2019. 192 p. 2019; MALLORY-HILL, Shauna, PREISER, Wolfgang F.E., WATSON, Christopher G. (Edits) Enhancing Building Performance. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 330p. 2012.

27
ONO, Rosaria; ORNSTEIN, Sheila W.; VILLA, Simone B. e França, Ana Judite G. L. (Org.). Op. cit.; STEVENSON, Fionn. Housing Fit For Purpose: Performance, Feedback and Learning. 1. ed. [S. l.]. Riba Publishing, Sep 2019, 2019.

28
STEVENSON, Fionn, PETRESCU, Doina. Co-producing neighbourhood resilience. Building Research & Information, v. 44, n. 7, 2016, p. 695–702.

29
PESTOFF Victor; BRANDSEN Taco; VERSCHUERE Bram (Ed.). New Public Governance, the Third Sector and Co-Production. Londres, Routledge, 2012.

about the authors

Simone Barbosa Villa holds a PhD in Architecture and Urbanism from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo. She is a Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Design of the Federal University of Uberlândia, a CNPq level 2 productivity scholarship and coordinator of the group [Mora] Research in Housing. She is the author of three books in the field of Post-Occupancy Evaluation and Housing.

Sheila Walbe Ornstein is an architect and urban planner, professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at USP and a CNPq level 1B productivity scholarship. She specializes in Post-Occupancy Evaluation and quality management in the design process.

Paula Barcelos Vasconcellos is an architect and urban planner from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism and Design at the Federal University of Uberlândia, and a master's degree from the Postgraduate Program at FAUeD UFU. Currently, she works as a researcher at the Group [Mora] Research in Housing, in the area of Resilience in the Built Environment and Social Housing.