House and Housing Development

A Georgian house has a regular shape. The style developed in England during the 1700's and 1800's.

A split-level house has a level half a floor above the main level and, in some cases, another level half a floor below.

A ranch-style house has all its rooms on one level. Such houses are popular in Australia and the United States.

Terraced houses, or town houses, line the streets of many cities. Such houses share a wall with a neighbouring house.

Mud houses, like these in Mali, provide good shelter from the heat in areas where there is little rainfall.

Houses in southern Europe, like this one in Spain, have thick stone walls painted white to reflect the sunlight.

A traditional timber house in Malaysia is raised on stilts to protect it from flooding.

Houses in Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, are built of traditional materials which are all found in the forest.

A half-timbered house of the 1400's had wall frames of wattle and daub—timber filled with a mixture of clay, lime, and water laid on woven sticks.

Modern houses are built from materials such as steel and reinforced concrete, like this house designed by Harry Seidler at Turramurra in Sydney.

House is a building that provides shelter, comfort, and protection. Houses vary in size from one-roomed mud huts to many-roomed mansions. They may have only one storey (floor), or several storeys. They stand in cities, towns, and villages, and in both suburban areas and the country. Types of houses vary with the needs and wealth of the inhabitants, and with the building materials that are available. Many large buildings are divided into flats, or apartments. Each flat is a complete, self-contained home on one storey. Houses may also be divided into self-contained maisonettes, each occupying two or more storeys.

Styles of houses vary widely from country to country. And, in many countries, the style of new houses has changed with passing time. Many house styles are named after the country or period of their origin. Others are named after the architects who created them. Euro­pean historical styles include Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo. Architects who founded styles used for houses include the Italian An­drea Palladio and the Adam brothers of Britain. For a de­scription of styles in architecture, see Architecture.

The factors that influence the size and design of houses include climate, social customs, building tech­niques and materials, fashion, and wealth. Religious be­liefs also influence style. For example, houses in some countries of eastern Asia have roofs that curve upwards at the eaves. The people believe that these roofs protect them from evil spirits. Other house styles are a result of social conditions. For example, in Britain during the early 1800¹ s, many wealthy people and the nobility com­missioned the best architects to design their homes. They built fine, graceful houses suited to a leisurely life requiring large domestic staffs. But, today, most new houses are easy to maintain and comfortable for small families.

Local styles of houses are now less common than in earlier times. House styles have become more uniform in most parts of the world, because of new building ma­terials and methods. A factory may produce prefabri­cated parts for houses to be erected quickly on site, in­stead of being built in stages.

Environment has an important effect on the houses that people build. In areas of great heat or cold, houses must be built to protect people from extreme tempera­tures. The traditional houses of the Eskimo people of the Arctic were built of blocks of snow. These snowhouses, called igloos, provided excellent insulation against the very low temperatures outside (see Igloo). In the ex­treme heat of the deserts of the Middle East, nomadic people called Bedouins lived in large tents made of fab­ric woven from the hair of their camels or goats. The thick material protected the people from the sun but could be opened at the sides so that air could circulate. Since the mid-1900's both of these traditional styles of house have been replaced by housing built of more modern materials.

In Japan, houses were traditionally made from light materials, such as paper and bamboo. These paper houses collapse harmlessly if there is a volcanic erup­tion or an earthquake. Then the people can quickly and cheaply rebuild them. The stilt houses of Southeast Asia are also well adapted to their environment. People build these houses on tall poles in areas where floods might wash away ordinary houses, or where insect pests might invade them.

In alpine regions, where much snow falls, houses have steeply sloping roofs. As a result, the snow falls off easily. Sloping roofs are also needed in places where heavy seasonal rains fall. But, in hot, dry countries many houses are box-like, with flat roofs. The houses remain cool in the intense heat because the shuttered windows are small and the thick walls are painted white to reflect the sunlight

In towns and cities, land is expensive, and much housing must occupy a small area. As a result, builders may construct tall blocks of flats or long, continuous rows of terraced houses. But, in the country, more land is available, and detached houses and single-storey bun­galows stand in their own large gardens or grounds. The suburbs of many British cities have semi-detached houses, each of which is linked to a similar house.

Materials used to build houses vary from mud and grass for tribal huts to factory-made one-room units for slocks of flats. Kinds of materials may be divided into two types: traditional, and modern.

Traditional materials include snow, mud, wood, bark, twigs, creepers, grass, leaves, dried blood, and stones. They may be used as they are found. Generally they are not strong materials. As a result, houses built from them must be small. But bamboo is strong and light, and it may be split and joined easily. Large jungle leaves give good protection from heavy rain. Mud seals cracks in walls and prevents draughts. A mixture of mud and ani­mals' blood dries to make a solid floor.

Traditional materials also include wood, stone, tim­ber, slate, tile, bricks, mortar, and plaster. They include natural and manufactured materials that are fashioned with tools. All heavily wooded countries have many tim­ber houses. These houses are warm in cold weather, be­cause wood is a good insulator. Stone houses are com­mon in areas where stone can be quarried locally. But stone is a bad insulator and stone walls must be thick. Slate and factory-made tiles make strong, permanent roofs.

Wood has long been a popular building material be­cause it is usually more plentiful and cheaper than other materials. Wood can be cut and shaped to provide a va­riety of house styles. Wood is also popular because so many different types are available. Wood is also used for such interior features as stairways, cabinets, floors, and doors. Wood can be natural, stained, painted, or carved. See Timber.

Brick is one of the oldest and most common building materials. Brick wears well and, like wood, is usually easy to obtain. Bricks are available in a number of col­ours and finishes. See Brick.

Concrete block and stone make strong, attractive houses. Concrete blocks are made by pouring a mixture of cement into a mould. They make durable houses that are relatively cheap to maintain. Builders also make houses of stone that has been taken from quarries and split into usable sizes. Because stone is an expensive building material, it is usually applied in a veneer, or coating, over an inner wall of brick or concrete block. See Building stone; Cement and concrete.

Modern materials in today's houses differ greatly from those of 100 or even 50 years ago. Industries have developed new materials that help architects design better, longer-lasting houses. For example, builders once used iron for gutters and pipes. The iron rusted. Today, builders can use plastic, which does not rust. Aluminium, which does not rust, and nonrotting plastic materials such as PVC can be used instead of wood or metal for window frames and doors.

Older houses usually had small windows that let in only a small amount of light. Their window frames were loosely constructed and were not always airtight.

Houses today have improved, airtight window frames to conserve heat.

Building a house

Planning the house. The way a house is built de­pends on the style of house and on the kind of materials chosen. In most countries, an architect works with the builder to propose plans on the new house. These plans must conform to local laws and electrical, building, and plumbing codes (see Housing (Local housing controls]).

The architect then designs the house according to the buyer's ideas. He or she makes specifications and blue­prints. They provide information on size, materials, and how the house is to be built. The architect may also su­pervise the actual construction of the house.

The foundation supports the house. First, building workers begin excavating, or digging, holes or trenches for the footings, the lowest part of the foundation. The footings support each wall load. They are made by pour­ing concrete into wood or steel forms. Footings usually extend from 30 to 180 centimetres beneath ground level. Builders generally use concrete or concrete block for the house's foundation, which may extend from 20 to 90 centimetres above the ground.

The area within the foundation below the first storey is the basement. Basements add to the cost of building a house, but they provide extra room.

In many low or damp regions, houses are raised above the ground on concrete piers, or supports. Some­times a slab foundation is laid directly on the ground, especially if the earth beneath the house is hard. The ground must first be graded, or levelled. Workers then spread a filler, usually stone, and cover it with a moisture proof paper. The filler and the paper prevent mois­ture from coming through the slab that is made by pour­ing concrete, about 10 centimetres thick, directly on top of the paper.

Outer walls may be made up of courses (layers) of bricks, or of a wooden frame. The frame supports verti­cal wooden walls.

The roof seals the top of the house. Some roofs are flat, but most are slanted. Slanted roofs are often formed by pieces of timber called rafters. Carpenters nail the bottom ends of the rafters to the plates at the top of the outside walls. The rafters slant from the plates and meet at the ridgeboard, a board placed at the ridge, or top edge, of the roof. Rafters support the weight of the roof. Joists support the weight of the floor.

After carpenters nail a sheathing (inner layer) of fibreboard or plasterboard to the tops of the rafters, they add heavy building paper or building felt to it. Then they add the final layer of slate, or tiles, or roofing asphalt Flash­ing, or strips of sheet metal, placed around the chimney and other roof openings, insulates the roof from the chimney and also prevents water from leaking into the house. See Roof.

Interior construction includes (1) floors, (2) walls, (3) windows, and (4) doors.

Floors may be made of wooden boards or a wood covering. Most finished floors are made of hardwoods such as maple or oak that have been finely sanded and later sealed with a wood filler. The wood may then be finished with wax, shellac, or varnish. Other floors have coverings such as linoleum or rubber, vinyl, or asphalt tile. See Flooring.

Walls. Rooms are made by building inside walls after the outside walls have been attached to the foundation. Inside walls, are called partitions. If plaster is to be applied, the interior walls must first be covered with lath, or strips of wood, metal, or plas­terboard. The lath is set horizontally about 8 centimetres apart. Wallboard, plasterboard, or plywood may be used in place of plaster (see Wallboard).

Windows. Most parts of a window come from a fac­tory or builder's merchant, already cut in the proper sizes. See Window.

Doors. Both doors and door frames may usually be bought ready-made. Carpenters attach the doors high enough to swing over rugs or carpets. A threshold fills in the space under an outside door.

Electrical wiring provides lighting and furnishes outlets for lamps, washing machines, and other appli­ances. In some houses, electricity also provides heat. Electricians install wiring. Wiring is done in a series of circuits. Each set of wires has several outlets. Electri­cians often place the wiring for central heating on a sep­arate circuit. This keeps the system running if another circuit breaks down.

Wires become hot and can cause fires if they are overloaded, so electricians install a fuse for each electri­cal circuit (see Fuse [Electric]). A fuse box usually holds all the fuses. If too much current passes through a cir­cuit, the wire in the fuse melts, or "blows' Electricians often install another protective device called a circuit breaker, instead of a fuse box (see Circuit breaker). If the circuit becomes overloaded, then the circuit breaker will automatically cut off the current (See Electric cir­cuit).

Plumbing. During construction, plumbers install the pipes that will supply gas and water, and carry away waste. They install bathroom fixtures and sinks just be­fore other workers add the finishing touches to the house. Plumbers also install traps to keep out sewage gas. The trap used for bathroom wash basins, for exam­ple, is a curved pipe directly below the drain. Water set­tles in the lower part of the pipe and prevents sewage gas from backing up and leaking into the room. To func­tion properly, traps must have outside ventilation. The small pipe that projects from the roof of a house is a ventilating pipe for sewage gas.

A cast-iron waste-disposal pipe runs from inside the house to about 1.5 metres outside, where it connects with a pipe of another material, usually clay. This pipe connects the home-disposal pipe with the local sewer­age system. In areas without a local sewerage system, a septic tank near the house holds sewage until it dis­solves. Water from the sewage flows through pipes into the ground. The sludge remaining in the tank must be removed at intervals. See Plumbing; Sewage.

Insulation reduces the amount of heat or cold that passes through walls, floors, and ceilings. When the air around the house is warmer or colder than the air in­side, heat passes from the warm air to the cold air. This means that in winter, the heat will pass to the outside, and the house will become cold. In summer, the heat outside passes into the house. Insulation fills the air spaces in walls, floors, and ceilings, and creates dead- air space. This helps prevent heat loss. Insulation can re­duce fuel costs in heating a house. See insulation.

Heating and air conditioning may also be fitted. See Air conditioning; Heating.

Landscaping is the last step in building a house. Most builders try to keep the natural outline of the land and to preserve the trees. Of course, some levelling and some excavating of land must be done. After the house is finished, the builder may plant seed or lay rolls of grass turf for a lawn around the house. The builder may also plant trees and shrubs. See Gardening; Landscape architecture.

Many people prefer to build their own houses. But most new houses in developed countries are built by companies or local government authorities, who then offer the houses for sale or rent. For the various ways of financing housing projects, see Housing. For a descrip­tion of the general principles of building see Building Construction.

Buying and renting houses.

Finding a house. In most countries, estate agents, or brokers, help people who wish to buy or sell houses by keeping lists of houses for sale. In some countries, housing co-operatives buy and .sell houses. If a person wishes to buy a house in a particular area, an agent gives him details of suitable houses. The acjfcnt arranges for the buyer to visit the properties, and helps in the ne­gotiations between the buyer and seller. The agent may also arrange an expert inspection of the property, and help to secure a mortgage loan. See Mortgage. The agent receives a commission (fee) from t^l-seller when the house is sold.

Some sellers advertise their houses f(3r sale in news­papers and other places. The buyer then negotiates the sale directly with the seller. No agent's fee need be paid, and, as a result, the price may be lower. In some coun­tries there are no estate agents, and lawyers do not ne­gotiate the sale. Instead, banks may help. Many develop­ment companies and building contractors also offer their houses for sale directly to buyers.

Inspecting the house. Buyers should inspect a house thoroughly. They should see whether the site is low-lying and liable to flooding, and whether it is ex­posed to strong winds. They should study the living ac­commodation to see that it is arranged in a convenient and labour-saving way. A buyer should also study the general condition of the house. A house in bad condi­tion may have leaning, bulging, or cracked walls, a sag­ging roof ridge, or damp patches on the walls and ceil­ings.

Before deciding to buy the house, the buyer should have it inspected by a qualified surveyor. The surveyor will look for such defects as damp, rot, woodworm, sub­sidence, and defects in the walls, roof, and beams. The surveyor will check the plumbing, drainage, and electric and gas fittings. In his report, the surveyor will tell the buyer whether any money need be spent on repairs, and whether the price asked is fair.

Financing the purchase. If the buyer cannot afford to pay the whole of the purchase price of the house, he or she can generally borrow part or all of it. The person lending the money keeps the title deeds (documents of ownership) of the house until the loan is repaid. The borrower must generally repay the loan in instalments.

If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender can sell the house to recover the money. This kind of loan is called a mortgage loan. Mortgage loans may be made by a bank, insurance company, local or national govern­ment authority, building society, or private person.

Renting. Many people rent houses and flats instead of buying them. A person may occupy a rented house on a tenancy or on a lease. A leaseholder has a legal contract with the landlord (owner) of the house. This lease states that the leaseholder may occupy the house for a certain period at a fixed rent. The period of the lease may be a few years, or as much as 100 years. The leaseholder buys the lease, and also pays the landlord an annual ground rent.

A tenant has no lease. Generally, a tenancy is for an indefinite period, and the tenant may leave at any time. The landlord may ask the tenant to leave, and he may ask for extra rent, which is generally paid weekly, monthly, or yearly. Many landlords let furnished houses and flats to tenants.

History

In early prehistoric times, people had no houses.

They lived in the open air or in caves. But, as primitive people learned to use tools, they could build their own shelters. If mud and straw were available, they built mud huts with thatched roofs. If they lived near a forest, they built shelters from the branches of trees. In many coun­tries, people lived in cliff dwellings built against the rock face, or in natural caves. In the river areas of Asia, people lived in houseboats on the water. People still live on boats, and, in some parts of the world, a few people still live in huts and shelters much like those of prehis­toric people.

As early civilizations developed, people learnt to shape natural materials and to make new materials for building. About 5,000 years ago, during the Bronze Age in the ancient civilizations of Babylonia and Egypt, peo­ple built houses with stone and sundried brick. The peo­ple of ancient Greece, more than 2,000 years ago, also used stone and brick for house building. They covered walls with stucco, a kind of plaster. The people of an­cient Rome built many spacious and luxurious villas and houses. These villas had brick walls, tiled roofs and baths, mosaic floors, lead plumbing, and under-floor heating. Some had glass windows. People in Arabia, India, China, and Japan developed advanced town- civilizations, with well laid out streets of houses. Some houses were multi-storey.

During the AD. 400's and 500's in Europe, the Roman Empire declined, and people forgot the Roman methods of house building. In many countries, they built barnlike wooden houses supported by huge arched timbers. They built few stone houses. But, by the 1000's, people in Europe had built many large castles for protection against attack. The great hall of such a castle might hold many families. During the Middle Ages, life became more peaceful in Europe. Merchants became rich, and towns developed. Houses were built close together in narrow streets. They had frames of timber and walls made from wattle and daub. This was a base of wattle (interwoven sticks or twigs) over which was daubed, or spread, a mixture of clay, lime, water, and sometimes dung or chopped straw to make the wall airtight.

During the 1400’s, architects in Europe developed the Renaissance style of architecture from the classical styles of ancient Greece and Rome. They built houses with wide staircases, formal fagades (fronts), and spa­cious rooms. In the next 400 years, architects in Europe and other continents developed many new styles. The Europeans took some of their styles to America, Africa, Asia and Australia. For a description of these styles, see Architecture.

In the 1800s and 1900's, the demand for houses in­creased, as populations in many countries began to in­crease rapidly. Scientists and engineers produced many new building materials and methods. Factories mass- produced parts that had previously been handmade. Ar­chitects could design houses with completely new forms, using such materials as steel, reinforced con­crete, plate-glass, and plastics. In the 1900's, modern styles of house design were used in almost every coun­try of the world. A new house built in Japan might look much like one built in Denmark.

In the 1950's, designers developed system building. In this method of house construction, builders use large factory-built units, such as wall and roof frames and pan­els. As a result, houses can be built extremely quickly by assembling the units on the site. These methods have been widely used in many countries, but traditional house-building methods continue to be favoured by many house-buyers.

Related articles: Air conditioning, Electric circuit, Nail, Architecture, Flooring, Plaster, Brick, Furniture, Plastics, Building construction, Heating, Roof, Housing, Shelter, Building permit, Insulation, Smoke detector, Building stone, Insulator, Electric, Timber, Building trade, Interior decoration, Ventilation, Cement and concrete, Lighting, Wallboard, Mortgage and Window.

Housing Development

Early slab houses in Australia were built by pioneers using tree trunks that were squared with an adze.

Housing blocks can be arranged so that they seem separate. In a housing project in Montreal, Canada, above, each block was prefabricated (completed before it was set in place).

Blocks of flats like these in the Brooklyn borough of New York City are the homes of millions of people. Most tall apartment buildings are located in heavily populated areas, where land is scarce and expensive.

Housing includes any kind of building that provides shelter for people. In a broader sense, it is planned pro­vision of homes and concerns itself with problems of city planning, and community services that provide good living conditions.

Safe, sanitary, comfortable dwellings are called stand­ard housing. Housing that has proper heating and venti­lation helps people stay in good health. Good housing provides enough space for every member of the family to have some privacy and freedom. Standard housing includes hot and cold running water and a well-planned sewage disposal system. It also provides electric light at night and lets in plenty of sunlight by day.

Poorly constructed, run-down, unsanitary, or over­crowded dwellings are called substandard housing. Using this definition, most of the world's people live in substandard housing. Many people in Europe's less in­dustrialized countries are badly housed. Throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America, millions of people live in crude dwellings that barely provide shelter. Around many of the major cities in these countries stand large areas of substandard dwellings which house rural peo­ple who have moved to the cities in search of work. A household is made up of all the people living in one housing unit.

A neighbourhood with many substandard buildings is called a slum. The older, central areas of cities often de­teriorate and become slums. Most occupants of slums have low incomes, and several families may live in one dwelling unit. As a neighbourhood begins to decline, many of its residents who can afford to move to better areas do so. Their old homes may be taken over by per­sons moving into the city who cannot afford better housing.

Most slums have high rates of illness, disease, and crime. Slums also have inferior community services, in­cluding poor schools, inadequate police and fire protec­tion, infrequent refuse collection, and too few parks and playgrounds. Some financial institutions refuse to make mortgage or home-improvement loans in neighbour­hoods they consider to be declining. This practice may speed the development of slums by preventing the pur­chase or repair of houses in such neighbourhoods. However, legislation has been passed in some countries to discourage this practice.

Prejudice and discrimination prevent many members of minority groups from having adequate housing. In many Western countries, nonwhites, Jews, and immi­grants have been forced to live in slums or segregated areas known as ghettos. Increasingly, legislation has been used to try to eliminate such conditions and to make good housing available to all.

Private housing projects are groups of buildings erected at the same time for several hundred or several thousand families. A housing project may have a group of small houses which will be built much alike to save costs, a group of town houses, blocks of flats, or a mix of all three.

Local governments often encourage large insurance companies or other institutions to build communities of homes and flats. Some cities and states grant such com­panies special tax reductions on the property. Or they may clear the land to rid it of slums and then sell it to a private developer.

Suburban developments. Most housing erected by individuals or private contractors is built on vacant land on the outskirts of cities and towns. Vacant land gener­ally costs less in outlying areas, and there are no build­ings that must be destroyed before construction can begin. Most of these new dwellings are one-family. houses on plots of up 0.2 hectare, and are bought by the families who move into them.

Every year, thousands of families move into newly built suburban homes. Entire new communities have been built with shops, cinemas, schools, churches, and parks. Many big city stores have branches in shopping centres in these communities.

New towns. In some cases, the growth of cities has taken the form of developments called new towns. Such planned communities are more complex than are subur­ban developments. Unlike most residential suburbs, new towns include factories and industries, and many of the residents both work and live in the community.

Cooperative housing. People sometimes form non- profit-making corporations to plan, finance, build, and manage the flats or houses in which they live. When a cooperative builds or buys a block of flats, individuals buy shares in the corporation. The shares entitle them to occupy flats, but not to own the units. They share the ex­pense of maintenance, repair, and improvement for the entire building.

Condominium housing, a form of housing common in the United States of America, resembles cooperative housing, with one important difference. In condomin­ium housing, the occupants each own their own dwell­ing units, and each has a share in the parts of the build­ing used by all occupants. They share expenses only for those parts and services of the building that all of them use. If one or more occupants fail to meet their financial obligations toward their own units, the other occupants are not affected. In cooperative housing, all sharehold­ers are responsible if some occupants fail to meet their financial obligations.

Low-income and assisted housing

Many people cannot afford the rents or mortgage payments for standard housing. Many governments have established programmes to provide assistance for low-income families.

Public housing for low-income families has tradi­tionally been provided by city housing authorities (or­ganizations). The authority determines the need for pub­lic housing and then plans, develops, and manages the projects. In many cities, the demand for public housing exceeds the supply.

Public housing may be provided in several ways. The authority may build new housing or buy it from a devel­oper. It may buy existing housing and restore it to good condition. Alternatively, the authority may lease existing housing.

Local housing controls

Building codes in many countries control the con­struction of new dwellings. They require that new struc­tures be sturdily built, provide reasonable room sizes, and receive ample light and air.

Housing codes have been adopted by many cities to insure that older housing is maintained in good condi­tion. These codes require housing to have adequate lighting, ventilation, exits, heating, water, toilets, and ref­use and waste disposal. The codes require owners to keep housing sanitary, to remove fire hazards, and to keep the building in good repair. Many housing codes limit the number of people who may sleep in one room.

History

The Industrial Revolution, which began in the 1700s, produced much unplanned city development. Thousands of people moved to cities to find work, and builders put up almost any kind of housing to meet the demand. Many businesses, factories, and houses stood side by side on narrow streets. Blocks of tenement houses appeared in large cities of the United States, France, Great Britain, and other industrial countries dur­ing this period.

By the 1900’s, a world housing shortage existed, chiefly because of the population increase and the con­centration of the population in urban areas. The expan­sion of industry, a shortage of construction workers, and a lack of money for new housing also helped cause the housing shortage.

Housing since 1900. New housing construction fell to inadequate levels during World Wars I and II be­cause builders lacked materials. During the Great De­pression of the 1930s, people had little money for build­ing. During the 1960's, more and more families moved from rural areas to cities to find work, causing serious housing shortages in spite of stepped-up housing con­struction.

Millions of homes were damaged or destroyed throughout Europe during World War II (1939-1945). Since then, much of the housing built in Europe consists of government-owned blocks of flats that are rented at low cost. They provide all the basics, including hot and cold running water, heat, electricity, and separate rooms for parents and children of each sex. Large numbers of people in almost every class of citizen, from unskilled worker to professional, live in housing provided by the government.

China has about a billion people, most of whom live in eastern China. The soil is fertile there, and so housing competes for space with valuable farm land. Thus, China can provide its people with only the most minimal hous­ing. If running water is available, it is most often a single tap providing cold water. Toilets and bathing facilities are shared by many people. In the mid-1980s, the Chi­nese government began massive new housing pro­grammes.

In India and South Asia about four-fifths of the people live in rural villages. In the towns, the British influence is still seen in the pattern of urban development. Some old cities have alongside them the cantonments, the military accommodation for officers and men, which now make up the suburban homes of the middle class. The advent of the Industrial Revolution in India in the 1800's brought about the migration of many rural people to the cities and the beginning of severe overcrowding. It was not until the mid-1900's that new towns were built, such as the garden cities of Lahore and Bangalore. High rise blocks of flats in the big cities are spacious and air con­ditioned. However, these are available only to the very rich. For poorer people, housing is frequently substand­ard, without electricity or individual water supplies. Related articles: Hotel, House, Houseboat, London, Mortgage, Motel, Sanitation, Segregation, Shelter and Tenement

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