ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 446
2. Materials and Methods
The study was divided into four stages. The first stage refers to the understanding of mass
customization as a business strategy and its application in housing contexts. This was done through
bibliographic research surrounding the concept of mass customization, and of previous cases of mass
customization especially in the housing sector.
The second stage refers to the understanding of the context and processes of social housing
production in Brazil. This stage was further divided into two, the process of provision of social housing
and post‐occupancy processes. In this stage, documentation research also was drawn on, including
bibliography on social housing processes, current legislation, and post‐occupancy studies. Furthermore,
semi‐structured interviews were carried out with stakeholders of the process of provision of social
housing as well as agents involved in post‐occupancy processes in these neighbourhoods. This included
representatives from the federal financing agency, city architects and urban designers, engineers, and
social workers.
The third stage refers to the analysis of the previous stages with a focus on possibilities for improving
the living environments for the families and the city. Data from a specific social housing neighbourhood,
Anglo neighbourhood in Pelotas in the south of Brazil, was also analysed. This data was made available
by the research group Naurb [7] and includes information regarding the specific process for the
neighbourhood’s implementation from application for funding to completion of construction, and data
from post‐occupancy studies. The latter included demographic data and changes made by the families to
the housing units. Pre‐occupancy and post‐occupancy processes governing the provision of social
housing in Brazil were then confronted with the mass‐customization possibilities and tools. From these
results it is possible to propose, in the fourth stage, an approach to use mass customization in the social
housing context that could help improve the living conditions not only within the unit but in the
neighbourhood as a whole, bringing further benefits to the city as these neighbourhoods evolve over time.
3. Social housing processes
Brazilian social housing programs since the 1970s have been divided into different benefits and
modes of operation based on different ranges of family income. Within the social housing programs,
the lowest income range historically has been considered as families earning up to three times the
minimum wage. The main current social housing program Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV), recently
changed this parameter to a fixed amount which is currently just under two times the minimum wage.
Because MCMV is the program that has produced most housing units in the past decade many of the
examples and cases considered were from this program. However, this study considers processes that
are common for social housing neighbourhoods regardless of the program used for its implementation.
Furthermore, it is relevant to note that other smaller programs exist and are usually operated locally.
However, these are still mostly dependent on federal financing sources and result in similar
neighbourhoods as those of MCMV and previous national programs.
3.1. Provision of social housing
Social housing programs aimed at the lowest income range of the population usually produce
units which are completely or mostly subsidised by the government. The Minha Casa Minha Vida
program is currently the largest social housing program. Similar to many Latin American countries,
through this program, the government gives eligible families credit to buy a house or apartment and
subsidizes up to 90% of the cost for private companies to build the developments. The units are usually
36‐42m² and have two bedrooms. Figure 1 outlines the main stages of the provision of social housing
considering the main stakeholders involved in this process. Although there may be some variations
from city to city, especially regarding how much time each phase takes, the overall process falls within
this structure for most cities.
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ZEMCH 2019 International Conference l Seoul, Korea