Housing, Town And Country Planning Functions

Health, welfare, and housing have always gone hand in hand, but this was not realized for centuries. The developed countries of the world underwent periods of great epidemics, such as plague, which were often related to poor housing and overcrowding. Their industrial revolutions were also accompanied by great housing problems; and thus many developing countries have the advantages of being able now to profit from the mistakes of other countries. Europe went through various stages in the development of its public health services - first, epidemic control measures were usually not based on scientific understanding of the cause, then, in the nineteenth century, there was more concern about improving the housing, water supplies and drainage, and now in the twentieth century, there is growing concern to bring preventive, promotive, and curative services to the individual, and also to plan the cities of the future.

Town and Country Planning

Planning is necessary:
1. To provide cities and villages which will be healthy, safe, and a pleasure to live in.

2. To leave open spaces for garden, parks, and playing fields, and for recreation of all kinds - especially for children.

3. To provide suitable market sites, schools, and good shopping centres with little traffic and enough parking space.

4. To provide different sizes and grades of housing of housing for different groups of people in the community: families with children, single people who work, hostels for young people, hotels for travellers of various income groups.

5. To see that building are planned so that they have enough light and ventilation, are strong and of good construction.

6. To create a road system that will provide the maximum amount of safety for all, and also be able to cope with increasing amounts of traffic, and prevent accidents.

7. To plan for mosquito control, good water supply, and safe disposal of sewage on a large scale.

8. To plan an area of industrial development for factories, workshops, etc.

The Functions of a House

A house should provide, withing the limits of cost (capital and maintenance), the conditions of comfort, health, and enjoyment required for the making of a home and the rearing of a family.

A satisfactor house should have:

1. Strong walls, a smooth floor, water proof, a damp-proof course; it should be well sited and permanent.

2. A safe and convenient water supply.

3. A proper drainage system.

4. Safe disposal of human excreta.

5. Good natural and artificial lighting.

6. Satisfactory places for storing and cooking food.

7. Adequate places for bathing, and washing clothes.

8. Good ventilation.

9. A fuel store.

10. Proper means of heating if necessary. Even in the tropics there are many high places that are very cold.

11. A food garden if possible.

12. A safe place for children to play.

13. Enough space for the number of people in the family to be able to sleep without being too close to each other.

14. There are many types of houses but we can classify them as 'temporary', 'semipermanent', and 'permanent'.