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As Modern Industrial Civilisation continues its decline due to depletion of fossil fuels, environmental degradation and climate change, the need to steer the country towards sustainability becomes ever more pressing. Etymologically, the word sustainability comes from the Latin word: sustinere which means to “hold and maintain things from below”. Indeed, what we all want to sustain and maintain over the long term is human civilisation.
Civilisation ought to be humane, cultured and sustainable meaning that (1) a humane civilisation is one in which society acts so that individuals are able to meet their basic needs for food, water, energy, shelter and are granted a minimum of basic rights, (2) a cultured civilisation is one that gives reasonable opportunities to its members to access the cultural resources available to it and that means its knowledge and skill bases, whether written or oral, formal or informal, (3) a sustainable civilisation is one which does not undermine its own resource base via inconsiderate actions and short term thinking so characteristic of modern times.
This article focuses on the basic needs for decent and affordable housing in Mauritius. It is an accepted reality of Mauritius that there is a growing housing crisis. It mainly affects the poor to middle income social strata. But now it is slowly inching its way up the social ladder given that higher income families are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire a decent piece of land and find the necessary financial resources to build a house on it.
The priority of Government being foreign direct investment, the focus is on attracting high net worth foreigners or Mauritians interested in purchasing luxurious villas at astronomical prices clearly out of reach of nearly everyone else. It is interesting to note how fully functional democracies can result in Governments that are more interested in the welfare of the rich than that of the masses of people who elected those very same Governments in the first place. Adding insult to injury, those same Governments are then re-elected regularly by the impoverished masses.
With such a system rigidly in place for decades now, it is not surprising that the country is heading for a housing crisis resulting in much misery for the majority with no end in sight. The negative social, health and psychological impacts of the housing crisis surely extract heavy costs onto the country. Alas, few economists seem to have computed such costs. Presumably their main centres of interest lie elsewhere.
Nevertheless from a humanistic perspective, it is not acceptable to let fellow citizens to endure over-crowded living spaces indefinitely.
It would be absurd to believe that the housing crisis can be satisfactorily resolved by a few measures here and there. It cannot. But the methodical, rational and reasonable application of certain principles can go far in addressing the situation. This is what is proposed here. Sustainability begins at home and therefore any serious attempts to make society sustainable should begin there also. So what would a sustainable household look like? In Mauritius most households are made up of 3 to 5 persons generally a couple with children together with an elder relative. Comfortable living means 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a combined living and dinning room and a storage room or laundry space or garage giving a total surface area of under 200 square meters. Such a house would consist of a ground floor plus a first floor making a footprint of 100 square meters.
Together with the house, there would be a garden to allow residents to make compost with their organic wastes, a vegetable plot, fruit trees and a safe area for children to play. On the roof a solar water heater and photo-voltaic panels. The roof is used for rain water harvesting. A plot of land of 400 square meters or 100 toises (an ancien regime land measurement dating from the time when Mauritius was a French colony) is sufficient for such a housing unit. The basis of household sustainability is set.
Construction costs of the above basic house could vary considerably given that large scale constructions of residential units by government can bring down costs significantly. It is best to leave construction costs estimates to experienced professionals. The land area required for this project, however, can be estimated.
In 2020, the Mauritian population was about 1,266,000 with about 365,000 households. Each household should have its own house. From anecdotal evidence, it is fair to assume that roughly one third of the population would benefit from relocation to new houses.
Hence 120,000 housing units ought to be built each on a plot of land of 400 square meters requiring 4800 hectares of land. This must be increased by 30% to make up for access roads, public amenities such as bicycle lanes, social centres, police stations and public gardens resulting in approximately 6400 hectares of land. It is a large chunk of real estate no doubt but certainly not impossible to obtain for a country of 200,000 hectares given that the 6400 hectares required represent about 3% of the total surface area. First time home-buyers ought to be given priority, especially couples with small children.
If planned intelligently by taking in consideration public transport issues, existing electric, water, sewage networks, health and educational facilities then those new urban areas could turn out to be pleasant and comfortable to live in whilst avoiding over crowding and other social dynamics that reliably lead to urban decay.
Given that large tracts of land across the country would be needed, it is inevitable that some of the land required would come from the sugar cane industry, the largest real estate owner in Mauritius. It is a particular aspect of the history of Mauritius that there never have been any significant land reforms in this country after independence.
This lack of land reform will have to be addressed one way or the other. New urban areas may well be a reasonable manner to carry out a land reform which could be the country’s ticket to long lasting social peace in a global era of turbulence and instability. People who have a decent place to live and raise children may not be particularly interested in taking to the streets and revolt. Furthermore with a vegetable garden contributing to the food security of the family, each household may well become a vector for sustainability which really begins in the kitchen. Needles to say, decent and affordable housing is a significant factor in poverty alleviation.
With a little imagination and good will, those new urban areas could also accommodate small retail businesses or workshops, service providers, food stalls, local markets and fairs while social centres may provide much needed recreational and cultural events at affordable costs to the neighbourhoods. The list is endless.
In conclusion, Government and the private sector ought to understand that decent and affordable housing is one of the most cost effective responses to address social inequity, create social peace and embark on the long road to sustainability. Concerned parties should note that time is slowly running out.
Civilisation ought to be humane, cultured and sustainable meaning that (1) a humane civilisation is one in which society acts so that individuals are able to meet their basic needs for food, water, energy, shelter and are granted a minimum of basic rights, (2) a cultured civilisation is one that gives reasonable opportunities to its members to access the cultural resources available to it and that means its knowledge and skill bases, whether written or oral, formal or informal, (3) a sustainable civilisation is one which does not undermine its own resource base via inconsiderate actions and short term thinking so characteristic of modern times.
This article focuses on the basic needs for decent and affordable housing in Mauritius. It is an accepted reality of Mauritius that there is a growing housing crisis. It mainly affects the poor to middle income social strata. But now it is slowly inching its way up the social ladder given that higher income families are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire a decent piece of land and find the necessary financial resources to build a house on it.
The priority of Government being foreign direct investment, the focus is on attracting high net worth foreigners or Mauritians interested in purchasing luxurious villas at astronomical prices clearly out of reach of nearly everyone else. It is interesting to note how fully functional democracies can result in Governments that are more interested in the welfare of the rich than that of the masses of people who elected those very same Governments in the first place. Adding insult to injury, those same Governments are then re-elected regularly by the impoverished masses.
With such a system rigidly in place for decades now, it is not surprising that the country is heading for a housing crisis resulting in much misery for the majority with no end in sight. The negative social, health and psychological impacts of the housing crisis surely extract heavy costs onto the country. Alas, few economists seem to have computed such costs. Presumably their main centres of interest lie elsewhere.
Nevertheless from a humanistic perspective, it is not acceptable to let fellow citizens to endure over-crowded living spaces indefinitely.
It would be absurd to believe that the housing crisis can be satisfactorily resolved by a few measures here and there. It cannot. But the methodical, rational and reasonable application of certain principles can go far in addressing the situation. This is what is proposed here. Sustainability begins at home and therefore any serious attempts to make society sustainable should begin there also. So what would a sustainable household look like? In Mauritius most households are made up of 3 to 5 persons generally a couple with children together with an elder relative. Comfortable living means 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a combined living and dinning room and a storage room or laundry space or garage giving a total surface area of under 200 square meters. Such a house would consist of a ground floor plus a first floor making a footprint of 100 square meters.
Together with the house, there would be a garden to allow residents to make compost with their organic wastes, a vegetable plot, fruit trees and a safe area for children to play. On the roof a solar water heater and photo-voltaic panels. The roof is used for rain water harvesting. A plot of land of 400 square meters or 100 toises (an ancien regime land measurement dating from the time when Mauritius was a French colony) is sufficient for such a housing unit. The basis of household sustainability is set.
Construction costs of the above basic house could vary considerably given that large scale constructions of residential units by government can bring down costs significantly. It is best to leave construction costs estimates to experienced professionals. The land area required for this project, however, can be estimated.
In 2020, the Mauritian population was about 1,266,000 with about 365,000 households. Each household should have its own house. From anecdotal evidence, it is fair to assume that roughly one third of the population would benefit from relocation to new houses.
Hence 120,000 housing units ought to be built each on a plot of land of 400 square meters requiring 4800 hectares of land. This must be increased by 30% to make up for access roads, public amenities such as bicycle lanes, social centres, police stations and public gardens resulting in approximately 6400 hectares of land. It is a large chunk of real estate no doubt but certainly not impossible to obtain for a country of 200,000 hectares given that the 6400 hectares required represent about 3% of the total surface area. First time home-buyers ought to be given priority, especially couples with small children.
If planned intelligently by taking in consideration public transport issues, existing electric, water, sewage networks, health and educational facilities then those new urban areas could turn out to be pleasant and comfortable to live in whilst avoiding over crowding and other social dynamics that reliably lead to urban decay.
Given that large tracts of land across the country would be needed, it is inevitable that some of the land required would come from the sugar cane industry, the largest real estate owner in Mauritius. It is a particular aspect of the history of Mauritius that there never have been any significant land reforms in this country after independence.
This lack of land reform will have to be addressed one way or the other. New urban areas may well be a reasonable manner to carry out a land reform which could be the country’s ticket to long lasting social peace in a global era of turbulence and instability. People who have a decent place to live and raise children may not be particularly interested in taking to the streets and revolt. Furthermore with a vegetable garden contributing to the food security of the family, each household may well become a vector for sustainability which really begins in the kitchen. Needles to say, decent and affordable housing is a significant factor in poverty alleviation.
With a little imagination and good will, those new urban areas could also accommodate small retail businesses or workshops, service providers, food stalls, local markets and fairs while social centres may provide much needed recreational and cultural events at affordable costs to the neighbourhoods. The list is endless.
In conclusion, Government and the private sector ought to understand that decent and affordable housing is one of the most cost effective responses to address social inequity, create social peace and embark on the long road to sustainability. Concerned parties should note that time is slowly running out.
