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Cage Homes in Hong Kong

Cage Homes in Hong KongIn a hidden corner of Hong Kong, one of the “Four Asian Tigers” with the most developed Asian economy, more than 220,000 people live in “subdivided flats“—a delicate term for cramped living spaces measuring just 4 by 4 by 6 feet. Historically, the British colonial administration introduced the Small House Policy in 1972 to expand Hong Kong’s territories. This policy, which the post-handover Hong Kong government has maintained, has limited land availability for nonindigenous residents.

As a result, the limited land availability has driven the creation of smaller living units. Property developers have responded to the demand for affordable housing by continuously downsizing unit areas. The city’s mountainous terrain also restricts development space, with 75% of the territory comprising green spaces or protected country parks.

Simon’s Story

Simon had lived in a 12-square-foot “cage home” for eight years. As a retiree, he has given up hope of securing public housing, where the waiting list stretches five years and includes more than 100,000 families. He receives $867 a month from the government. After paying $330 for rent, the remaining amount is too scanty to support him until the end of the month.

These tiny living spaces, often no larger than 20 square feet, are cramped and used for living and storage, providing barely enough room for one person. They frequently fail to meet safety regulations, have poor insulation, receive little maintenance and can significantly impact tenants’ physical and psychological well-being.

Nutritional Crisis in Cage Homes in Hong Kong

A recent study by Crystal Ying Chan, a research assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, found that children living in these units face higher risks of food insecurity and nutrient deficiencies. In a survey of 469 “cage home” families, 25% of children aged 6 to 8 were overweight or obese, nearly double the citywide average of 13%. Additionally, almost one in four children from infancy to age 17 were underweight, compared to the citywide average of one in a hundred. Moreover, children in half of the surveyed households had experienced food insecurity in the past year.

Solutions

Many projects and institutes are working to support people living in cage homes in Hong Kong. A program led by Crystal Ying Chan has partnered with a team of nurses, social workers and dietitians to deliver food and care services to residents of subdivided flats. Chan’s community intervention model aims to offer essential services directly to these families, reducing their reliance on an overburdened health care sector and overcoming language and cultural barriers foreign workers face. This model emphasizes grassroots experiences and tailors support to each family’s unique circumstances.

Furthermore, to address the housing crisis, the Hong Kong government has planned the development of a Northern Metropolis near the China border, which aims to provide housing for 2.5 million people. Additionally, city officials have pledged to prevent developers from constructing extremely small homes, specifically those less than 200 square feet.

Final Note on Cage Homes in Hong Kong

Cage homes in Hong Kong reveal serious housing challenges, with more than 220,000 people living in spaces as small as 12 square feet. This leads to significant health issues and food insecurity, especially among children. While community support and government plans for new developments offer hope, substantial challenges persist until these solutions are fully implemented.

– Cindy Hong

Cindy is based in Milpitas, CA, USA and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Affordable Housing and Poverty Reduction

Creating Affordable Housing in Developing Nations In the age of urbanization, access to affordable, sustainable housing has become increasingly diminished, burdening developing nations aiming to provide their growing populations with necessities for survival. It is estimated that 40-75% of individuals located within rapidly growing sittings are densely concentrated in squatter settlements, with higher legal standards in housing, zoning and public services restricting many of the rights to home ownership.

According to the United Nations (U.N.) Department of Economic and Social Affairs, there are more than 1.1 billion people currently living in slums or slum-like conditions, with an additional two billion expected within the next 30 years. Yet, creating affordable housing has proven itself to be a multifaceted operation, balancing the present needs of pre-existing low-income communities while opening new opportunities for citizens to purchase homes that they can preserve in the long term.

Defining Housing

Housing itself can be a difficult term to entirely define, as it is oftentimes relative to the overarching living conditions within a city, state or nation. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines housing as a residential environment that includes all necessary services…for the physical and mental health and social well-being of the family, indicating adequacy for human habitation. Housing can thus be classified as affordable if it does not surpass 30% of the household income of a family, allowing for financial allocation to other living requirements. Comparatively, slums, in the most fundamental sense, are shelters that do not conform to the degrees established by the WHO or legalized housing codes: they may not have proper sanitation measures, structural qualities or number of permitted occupants.

Constraints to Affordability

Creating affordable housing is not straightforward, especially given the financial resources governments need to expand low-income housing programs. Simply increasing the number of available houses does not automatically make them affordable. Public housing construction often requires additional measures such as rent control and subsidies to be truly accessible. Ira Peppercorn, former deputy federal housing commissioner, argues that subsidies can be inefficient and ineffective if they do not align with long-term sustainability goals and fail to tackle the root causes of illegal ownership.

The creation of modernized homes often involves demolishing existing slums, which disrupts long-established urban communities. Peppercorn points out that slums are not merely residential areas for low-income citizens but also hubs of cultural and economic growth, fostering commercial activity with fruit stands, barber stalls and other small businesses. Instead of demolishing these communities for noncompliance with housing codes, governments could provide access to resources that help residents meet legal standards. While this strategy may not enhance living standards in every aspect, it could prove more sustainable in the long term compared to enforcing home ownership and relocating families.

Success of the National Housing Authority in Thailand

The National Housing Authority (NHA) in Thailand is one program that has been notably successful in creating affordable housing and linking community development measures with access to secure housing. Thailand has one of the highest rates of home ownership throughout the world, previously estimated at 81% in 2010, primarily due to the successes of its NHA programming. The NHA, first established in 1973, combines the interests of private investors—looking for the opportunity to develop highly subsidized land—with the manufacturing of affordable homes. NHA housing hosts a low-selling point, enhancing access for low and middle-income families, while offering subsidies up to $2,000. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHA instated more than 141 programs to sell residences at prices less than $31,000, granting thousands the ability to remain in Bangkok in this period of economic turmoil.

Affordable Housing as a Poverty-Reduction Strategy

Creating affordable housing is undoubtedly a prospective strategy for poverty reduction, grounding families in a central, stagnant and safe domestic environment. While owning a home can be beneficial on the individual level, it additionally stimulates economic growth on the national level. Samuel Munzele Maimbo, Director of the IDA Resource Mobilization and IBRD Corporate Finance for the World Bank Group, has stated that “making affordable housing…is key for long-term, sustainable development outcomes,” displaying the power of governmental investment into the housing sector.

Looking Ahead

Addressing the housing crisis in rapidly urbanizing regions requires multifaceted solutions that balance affordability and sustainability. Programs like Thailand’s National Housing Authority demonstrate the potential for success by combining community development with secure housing initiatives. Ensuring access to affordable housing not only benefits individual families but also stimulates broader economic growth, highlighting its importance as a key strategy for poverty reduction and sustainable development.

– Eileen Lincoln

Eileen is based in Oakton, VA, USA and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Safe and Sustainable Housing for Rural Communities in Cambodia

Safe and Sustainable HousingDespite the stunning natural landscapes and architecture, Cambodia struggles with poverty among its population. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), 17.8% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2019, while “the proportion of employed population below $2.15 purchasing power parity a day in 2023 was 20.5%.” Additionally, 24 per 1,000 children die before the age of 5 and the country struggles with a housing crisis, with many families not having access to safe and sustainable housing. 

Planète Enfants & Dèveloppment (PE&D)

Some of the areas that the housing crisis affects the most are rural villages outside of major cities. Two of the biggest factors include habitat and living conditions and a lack of safe and sustainable housing. Planète Enfants & Dèveloppment (PE&D) launched the Habitat and Living Conditions Improvement project in the hope of helping poor communities in Phnom Penh in 2018. 

This project builds on a previous partnership with local partner Samathepel Khnom Organisation (SKO) and aims to support residents living in informal settlements around the Phnom Penh area. Its primary goal is to improve the security of homes and develop community organization and action. Family support and training also added to the project and this includes domestic and gender-related violence. 

PE&D is a child protection organization that focuses on the safeguarding of vulnerable children. By providing support, education and resources, it focuses on responding to the urgent needs of children in danger to educate, grow and integrate them as the future of the world. For almost 40 years, PE&D’s goal has been to alleviate children from poverty and give them a chance to grow and develop into adults. 

Working With Local Authorities

Another branch of PE&D’s project includes working with local NGOs and meeting with local authorities every six months to strengthen ties with these rural communities and build trust, according to the Urban Sustainability Exchange (USE). A better relationship with local authorities and supporting residence groups enables communities to improve their living conditions and also campaign for land rights to push the government to recognise the basic right for people to have housing. 

In Cambodia, land rights complications make enforcing and practising upgrading housing difficult. However, this project tries to give residents access to finances so that they can make home improvements themselves. This housing project is also addressing issues of gender-based violence inequalities, a theme which PE&D specializes in. 

Through its connections with local aid groups and NGOs, the PE&D project involves eight large informal settlements which are home to around 10,000 people. Vulnerable families are given priority to housing, especially those who are either currently living in unsafe homes and women at risk of or who are experiencing domestic violence, according to the World Habitat.

Sustainability Training

So far, the project has improved 88 homes and upgraded them to structurally safe, trained 297 people (190 women) to use sustainable construction methods and provided social support to 206 families in the area, the World Habitat reports.

PE&D’s work has also allowed 152 people, 124 of which are women to get Participatory Approach for Safe Shelter Awareness (PASSA) training, which refers to a specific method of disaster risk prevention of shelter safety. These people also get supplementary training relating to financial education and gender issues for 140 people, 100 of those being women. Other training topics include savings, credit groups and family support, according to the World Habitat.

Housing and Poverty

Housing is vital to alleviating poverty around the world. Every human should have a basic right to safe and sustainable housing and this project aims to bring just that to struggling communities in Cambodia. Without housing, it is difficult to find a stable income and provide essentials for families such as food and water. 

Unstable living arrangements also often mean an increased risk of domestic violence, health issues, depression, child abuse, neglect and food insecurity. Safer and sustainable living arrangements for people suffering from poverty give them a greater chance of getting out of their current situation.

Before PE&D started its project, in the around 300 informal settlements in and around Phnom Penh, poverty was everywhere and most homes consisted of precarious and makeshift housing. Other issues with these rural communities include poor sanitation and hygiene, makeshift housing, a lack of land for people to live on, high unemployment, and a lack of security and services, according to the World Habitat.

Projects like this are helping alleviate poverty around the world and are providing humans with their right to essentials such as food, water, hygiene and safe and sustainable housing.

– Lachlan Wellington

Lachlan is based in Fareham, Hampshire, UK and focuses on Technology and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Unsplash