Studies reveal that many of the housing schemes that have come up in the last few years are short of standards of acceptability from the point of view of the occupants. This paper discusses some of the findings of recent case studies and brings out the importance of carrying out comprehensive surveys into the living pattern, users’ requirements, and economic capacity of the prospective inhabitants. Observations of a study into the squatter settlements at Delhi have been analyzed and an architectural interpretation of the results has been suggested.

The architect today has to work under two major constraints – ignorance of the users’ requirements and the restriction on cost. Consequently, many low-cost housing schemes that have come up in the past few years have been found to be short of the standards of acceptability from the occupant’s point of view. A survey (1) conducted in Oldham city under the urban renewal has indicated the unfavorable attitude of women towards living in flats. This has also been shown in a few case studies undertaken in African and other developing countries.