Extract

Towards making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, the
aim of this paper is to explore on the provision of low-income housing for the victims of typhoons that
hit in the island of Mindanao, Philippines. Specifically, this sought to assess housing and relocation sites provided by the government, aid agencies, private and non-government organizations; investigate on
the use, modification and incremental construction of houses by the inhabitant beneficiaries during
occupancy; and, analyse the social construction of low-income housing contributed by various social
actors (political, economic and cultural) in the formation of the built environment towards climate
change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Informed by fieldwork data covering 11 housing cases,
this paper highlights the social construction of low-income housing demonstrated by the valuable
contribution of the people who, in the case of developing countries, are actors both in socio-economic
and socio-cultural processes. Thus, putting the people at the centre of housing and urban development
interventions, an inclusive built environment is realized for the future of cities, most specially in
developing countries that need urgent attention towards being safe, resilient and sustainable.

Keywords: Climate change, low-income housing, socio-spatial processes, Philippines.

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