Co-Producing Resilience in Social Housing: A Brazilian Case

Simone Villa (Federal University of Uberlandia)

In times of significant impact, amidst the current urban, economic, political and social crises, it is necessary to look for acting ways that can respond to it, producing quality growth as well as developing the resilience of the built environment. The main challenges are the densification of low-density suburbs, the use of appropriate building systems and materials, design and construction techniques for specific climatic zones, as well as the existing housing adaptation with the new technologies. When government housing programs attempt to address this deficit, low defined standards lead to highly inadequate housing for their inhabitants, forcing them to make changes to buildings that are not necessarily prepared for adaptation, leading to material waste and resource inefficiency. A research group, alongside the local community of a social housing complex, develops the research. It has a general objective to develop methodological procedures of POE and Co-production in social housing, focusing on its adaptability and resilience. For verification, the methodological procedures developed were applied in a case study at a social housing complex in the Sucesso Brasil Neighborhood, in the city of Uberlândia, MG. It aims to support reflections on how we can build local resilience and adaptability in preparation for major social challenges such as climate change, scarcity of resources, increases in extreme weather events, changes in demographics and so on. This article presents a focus in part of the research, turning its attention to the main results derived from the general data collection and application of the Co-production methodology regarding engagement and well-being of the local community.