VIABILITY OF HIGH DENSITY SOLUTIONS BASED ON INDIVIDUAL HOUSING UNITS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This paper investigates the social, financial, technical and cultural viability of a new type of social housing project which achieves high density while at the same time providing the opportunity for some degree of independence provided by the individual home‐ a very important aspect in Costa Rican culture. The study explains the importance of the concept in the context of Costa Rican housing problems and strategies and proposes criteria for its application. A cultural viability study demonstrates that this type of solution is preferable for potential residents of low‐income housing projects when compared to high density projects now being introduced by government housing institutions. The study also indicates that the urbanization and construction cost of this new type of solution is less than that of the high‐density solutions now being implemented.