RECYCLED WASTE AS A SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIAL FOR LOW-COST HOUSING IN MANILA, PHILIPPINES

Abstract

Of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion people, an astonishing 90% of them have fruitless attempts in acquiring the most basic needs of people – mainly shelter, food and clean water. Acknowledging the severity of the problem, this dissertation firstly seeks to understand the housing situation in Manila, Philippines and analyze the relationship between slum settlements and the living environment. Placing emphasis on environmental and social sustainability, the paper thereafter sets out to study material use in low-cost housing. Gawad Kalinga (GK) will be focused as a base study while the paper discusses and compares the implications of using different types of building materials; a mainstream housing model made of Hollow Concrete Block (HCB), an alternative housing model which uses materials available on site and another which uses waste as building materials. The use of recycled waste from polluted waterways is then proposed as a possibility to improve GK housing model in Manila. The scope of research however should be noted to be limited to material use and its implications to environment and social sustainability. Other aspects beyond architectural design such as broader planning and policy solutions are equally critical for the successful eradication of slums and squatter settlements.