A self-help housing project in rural Tunisia in retrospect

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze and disseminate an experiment of rural self-help housing initiated as part of the vocational training of a group of students of architecture and which allowed to improve significantly the housing conditions of a group of deprived peasants in rural Tunisia. The discussion of the various aspects and requirements of the project gives rise to a series of reflections about the means and conditions indispensable for implementing projects oriented to meet the basic needs of the deprived groups. Equally crucial are the reflections about the dissemination of the results of the project. Conclusions connected with aid policy, training in architecture and the resulting quality and economy of the housing scheme are drawn, but the main interest is put on self-help construction as a housing policy strategy. The author stresses the positive results of the Rohian experiment for the beneficaries on a short-term basis, but she is doubtful about self-help as an adequate strategy and of a general validity for solutions to a larger scale.

<p>Contents: Part 1. Background -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Plain of Rohia - El Haria in the Tunisian Context -- 3. Housing in Tunisia -- Part 2. The Project -- 4. The Self-Help Housing Project in Rohia-El Haria -- 5. Implementation of the Project -- Part 3. The Outcomes of the Project -- 6. Effects of the Project</p>