IS INTEGRATION AND EMPOWERMENT OF THE EXCLUDED NEEDED?
Saba Golchehr
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daily systems In the previous chapter the concept of daily systems was introduced (see page 67). By analysing the daily system of inhabitants of the neighbourhood, their user pattern can be documented and mapped. This system can then be reviewed in order to characterise and locate different user groups. From this analysis then we can conclude which spatial and functional links are needed for the emancipation of these groups. The analysis is based on interviews with residents. In these interviews the inhabitants were asked to show on a map which places were used frequently and what their daily life/route consists of.
Housing-settlement system According to Rapoport the user patterns of people can be distinguished by looking at their ‘house-settlement system’ (Rapoport, 1977:306). Each person has a house-settlement system. This system is always present, but the specific elements and how they are related and used vary. Different behaviour settings form the house settlement system. So while the system itself is constant, the specific nature of the elements and their relative importance are extremely variable. Rapoport states that different elements make up the system and different groups are involved that have different relations. The house-settlement system is influenced by family relations, social networks, sex roles, work patterns and the like. And in turn the housesettlement influences them. Lifestyle generally influences the use of the house-settlement system and the specific use of a space is related to the distinction among domains, the relevant rules (as in religions) and the latent aspects of activities (which often determine whether they occur in front or back regions). Furthermore the use of each setting has major implications for the design for specific groups (Rapoport, 1977). According to Ashihara (1970 in Rapoport, 1977) every city has an internal and external order. The house-settlement system of Rapoport links these orders, the private and public domains and determines them in a way. Both orders are interrelated and influence each other. Therefore the parts (as one single public space) themselves are incomprehensible without some knowledge of the whole system. According to Rapoport it is necessary to know what happens in the house, where one works, meets, socializes, where public life occurs and so on. The different house-settlement systems reflect different values, social networks of various groups, unwritten rules, public and private domains, the settings where various activities occur and so on.
The differences in these systems, and their spatial organization, can have major effects on planning and design at all scales. So in order to answer to the needs of the residents of the deprived neighbourhood, one must have a certain amount of knowledge on their housing-settlement system. In the case of the migrant population in the Afrikaanderwijk the housing-settlement system is influenced highly by the Islamic religion. Figure 8.21 shows the house-settlement system in a Moslem town in which the coffeehouses, bazaar and mosque are male dominated places. Especially the coffeehouse is an essential informal meeting place where men can socialize, engage in intellectual discussion, exchange gossip and do business; women never go there (Beeley, 1970 in Rapoport, 1977). The illustration also shows that the women’s use is much more related in and around the dwelling. In order to propose a future transformation and renewal development for the neighbourhood of Afrikaanderwijk that answers to the peoples needs, the daily system of the female inhabitants is reviewed. As mentioned earlier this neighbourhood is strongly dominated and influenced by the Islamic culture. The male inhabitants dominate most of the public spaces in the neighbourhood, therefore the female inhabitants now are not allowed to access these spaces. Also in the living fields analysis it became clear from the input of the inhabitants that specifically women and young adults in the neighbourhood have no common space in the neighbourhood to gather and meet other inhabitants belonging to their group. Therefore I managed to specifically interview the women in the neighbourhood during this research. Furthermore this group has the most local and neighbourhood related user patterns, as we saw in the theory of Rapaport (1977). So the female group is an important group to involve in order to develop public areas which
Fig. 8.21 House settlement system in Moslem town (Rapoport, 1977)