Confirmatory Factorial validity of Neighborhood Features amongst South Africa low-income Housing Occupants’

There is a fundamental link between theory and measurement advising that factorial confirmation of measures should be the first stage of theory testing. The aim of this paper was to confirm the factorial validity of the neighborhood features in a residential satisfaction study amongst South Africa low-income housing occupants’. The study was conducted amongst subsidized low-income housing occupants’ in South Africa. Data used in the study were obtained from a Delphi and field questionnaire study. Primary data was collected through the use of a structured questionnaire survey conducted among 751 low-income housing residents’ in three metropolitan and one district municipality in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data gathered via the questionnaire survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) which was used to confirm the factorial structure of the constructs. SEM analysis revealed that the Rho coefficient and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of internal consistency were over 0.70 criterions for acceptability. Further finding was that neighborhood features influence on the residents’ satisfaction was not statistically significant and hence was weak in the prediction of the residents’ satisfaction with their houses. However, due to the idiosyncratic dataset used in the study, it remains to be seen if the evaluated indicator factors of neighborhood features can replicate to other cross-cultural datasets. If this is the case, the paper makes a significant contribution towards understanding neighborhood features on subsidized low-income housing projects. This study provided significant insight into how residents’ satisfaction with their houses could be improved

Assessing beneficiaries’ needs and expectations as a determinant of residential satisfaction in South Africa

Abstract: Purpose: There is an integral link between theory and measurement suggesting that validation of measures should be the first stage of theory testing. The aim of the present study was to validate the factorial validity of needs and expectations features as determinants of low-income residents’ housing satisfaction in South Africa. Methodology: Empirical data were collected by a questionnaire survey conducted among 751 low-income housing residents’ in three metropolitan and one district municipality in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data gathered via the questionnaire survey were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) version 6.2 which was used to assess the factorial structure of the constructs. Findings: SEM analysis revealed that the internal consistency coefficients were over 0.70 criterions for acceptability and the constructs showed a good mode fit to the sample data. The Z-statistics analysis revealed that the construct (needs and expectations) have direct influence in determining low-income residents’ satisfaction with their houses. Conclusion: The SEM result advocates a practical consideration of the construct and its respective indicator variables in future development of low-income housing in South Africa

An assessment of the evolution of housing policy framework

Abstract: Globally, housing policies have been used as an attempt to try and address housing problems, particularly in respect to the low-income earners, with the view of helping them access better housing. The evolution of housing policy in developing countries has been studied and identified in different ways, however, this paper present a robust theoretical background of the developments in housing policy framework. The data used in this paper were derived from secondary sources only; through a detailed review of related literature on the subject to meet the research objectives. The study is an in-depth literature exploration of the theoretical perspective of the housing studies framework. The literature reviewed found that the theory of housing had its origin in the Paleolithic period when homo-sapiens began to use natural materials like stone, wood, leaves, animal skin and other similar items to create shelter from elements of weather. It was also found that there are various theoretical perspective frameworks that have been used in the study of housing, such as political; social; developmental; institutional; and radical perspectives amongst others. This study provides a robust theoretical framework used in housing study

Measuring housing satisfaction through the use of structural equation modelling

Abstract: Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is a technique that effectively incorporates a whole range of standard multivariate analysis methods, including regression, factor analysis and analysis of variance. SEM underlies much of what sustainable human settlement (SHS) researchers do on a daily basis. SEM provides an opportunity to hypothesise models of human behaviour, and to test or confirm these models statistically. This article present how SEM can/ was used to study and to understand issues encircling SHS issues with a specific emphasis on housing satisfaction in South Africa low-income housing. Secondary research materials within and outside the field of the built environment were reviewed and in relation to the study objective. With the use of content analysis, the reviewed data were classified to meet the research objective. The researcher found that SEM using EQation modeling software (EQS) was the most appropriate technique for sustainable human settlement research studies. Because of the numerous benefits and advantages of the analysis produced by SEM through the EQS platform, such as the model estimation, and model fit attributes amongst others. The study further recommended the use of the process because of the Satorra-Bentler scaled statistics (S – Bχ2), use of appropriate cut-off values for the generated model analysis / fit Indices for various required goodness-of-fit tests of SEM model as applicable

Challenges Facing Black Owned Small and Medium Construction Companies: A Case Study of Nelspruit – Mbombela Municipality, South Africa

The purpose of the paper is to investigate current challenges and problems facing small and medium size contractors (SME) in Mbombela (Nelspruit) - Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. This study was necessitated because the importance of small and medium sized enterprises in national building and economic development is of paramount importance in the South Africa economic debate. The primary data for the study was collected through a structured questionnaire survey which was distributed to Small and medium contractors within grade 1-4 of the South Africa Construction Industry Development Board. The survey results indicated that external factors such as high competition when tendering for construction jobs within the CIDB category is a major challenge the SME’s face’s in the procurement of work. Also, internal factors such as poor administrative management within the company, lack of skilled professionals and lack of capacity to deliver on certain project were the greatest challenges faced by the construction companies. The scope of this study is only focused on small and medium size contractors in Nelspruit (Mpumalanga province). In addition, the study is not focused on large established contractors in South Africa. The South African construction industry will continue to provide jobs but intervention is needed to develop the SME’s contractors who contribute a greatly to the economy

The efficacy of using data mining techniques in predicting academic performance of architecture students.

In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of applicants seeking placement in the undergraduate architecture programme. It is important to identify new intakes who possess the capability to succeed during the selection phase of admission at universities. Admission variable (i.e. prior academic achievement) is one of the most important criteria considered during selection process. The present study investigates the efficacy of using data mining techniques to predict academic performance of architecture student based on information contained in prior academic achievement. The input variables, i.e. prior academic achievement, were extracted from students' academic records. Logistic regression and support vector machine (SVM) are the data mining techniques adopted in this study. The collected data was divided into two parts. The first part was used for training the model, while the other part was used to evaluate the predictive accuracy of the developed models. The results revealed that SVM model outperformed the logistic regression model in terms of accuracy. Taken together, it is evident that prior academic achievement are good predictors of academic performance of architecture students. Although the factors affecting academic performance of students are numerous, the present study focuses on the effect of prior academic achievement on academic performance of architecture students. The developed SVM model can be used a decision-making tool for selecting new intakes into the architecture program at Nigerian universities

Low-income Housing Residents’ Challenges with Their Government Install Solar Water Heaters: A Case of South Africa

This paper investigate the challenges faced by the occupants’ of low-income housing with their government installed solar water heaters in South Africa, Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The paper primarily investigates the challenges faced by the housing occupants since the solar heaters were installed in their low income houses. The data used in this paper were derived from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was obtained through the survey method, while the secondary data was derived from the review of literature. The primary data for the study was collected through a structured questionnaire survey distributed to a sample of low-income households in a metropolitan municipality in South Africa. The household survey revealed that the low-income housing residents’ occupants’ faces challenges with regards to the leakage of the solar heaters and the noise from the heaters whenever the hot water taps are opened. The study gives an insightful view of the importance of using solar water heaters in energy conservation and lessening electricity financial constraints on the low-income households. The study adds to the knowledge on low income housing solar water heating in South Africa, with specific emphasis on the challenges faced by the occupants’. Further, findings from the study could be used for the development of sustainable structures in order to give access to energy and hot water to the poor and providing a better path to the improvement of life and empowerment through alternative energy usage in low-income households’ in South Africa

A Delphi technique approach of identifying and validating subsidised low-income housing satisfaction indicators

Abstract: This paper reports on the practical experience of the researchers on the adoption of the inductive approach to knowledge diffusion through the use of the Delphi technique approach. The Delphi method is an essential technique of reaching consensus by experts on issues that cannot be resolved in a once off discussion. The research commenced with an extensive review of existing literature in order to identify the core and sub-variables which depicts housing satisfaction, to develop a Delphi questionnaire that was used in the Delphi study. A three iterative round Delphi technique was conducted to attain consensus of the identified housing satisfaction indicators. The experts used for this study were identified from different sources. The sources included the South African institutions of higher learning faculties, research institutes, the South Africa Department of Human Settlement, conference keynote speakers related to housing and human settlement issues in workshops, and individuals who have committed their lives working on the area of sustainable human settlement and housing related issues in South Africa. After three iterative Delphi rounds, consensus was achieved on the identified core-and sub-indicators identified from the literature and other added variables as suggested by the experts during the Delphi process. This study encourage the use of the Delphi technique as a method to achieve consensus in areas where consensus has not been reached such as in housing satisfaction studies to identify indicators for subsidised housing development in South Africa. The author argues that the Delphi method is a comprehensive method of attaining consensus on challenging issues of housing satisfaction; however, the technique requires proper communication management in order to achieve the required results

A model for assessing the housing satisfaction of beneficiaries in publicly funded housing in South Africa

Abstract: A model is proposed for predicting and measuring the housing satisfaction level of public housing schemes in South Africa, a case study of the Gauteng Province (economic hub of Southern Africa). The suggested model assumes the measurement of housing satisfaction both subjectively, in terms of beneficiaries’ satisfaction with the housing environment; the adequacy level of the dwelling and its environment. It is hoped that such a model will help in testing different types of public housing provisions in South Africa and assist in identifying the most predictive and useful factors that need to be given proper consideration in the implementation of policy governing public housing provision. This paper introduces the model and its development process and the outcome of its testing and the validation programme will be reported later. It is important to note that the research model has been developed to fit the conditions of South Africa and its application in a different set of condition would need further alteration and adjustment to fit the specific context

A dialogue on the genesis of housing problems in South Africa

Abstract: A shallow synopsis of the current South Africa housing backlog crisis points straight at corrupt practices, the inefficiency and lack of capacity of the present and previous post-apartheid government to adequately address the maddening housing problem in the country. But a sincere overview will reveal that the present housing crisis has its origin in the 1913 Natives’ Land Act that severely limited the land that those previously classified as natives in South Africa could own. The Native’s Land Act, though now abolished, entrenched a land tenure system and limited the alienability of land to 13% for the natives who are the majority of the South Africa population. Today, millions of South African households live in slum housing patterns, hostels and crowded houses in marginalised townships and informal settlements awaiting access to government-availed land and houses because of consequences of the formerly enacted Natives’ Land Act of 1913. Though the South African government and other stakeholders, since the attainment of democratic governance in 1994, have been creating and implementing various housing delivery programmes to speedily meet demand. This study is conducted with reference to existing theoretical literature, published and unpublished research. It is mainly a literature review on the role of the colonial edicts that fostered a culture of housing under-development and eventually an enormous housing shortage that the present government is battling to eradicate. Findings from the study reveals that since 1910 to the end of the segregation rule in 1994, various approaches were used to advance the inhumane idea to restrict a majority of South Africans from owning properties. With a particular emphasis to the Native Land Act 27 of 1913; this Act was concerned with land issues, and since land and housing issues are inextricably linked, this affected the provision of housing for Blacks and other disadvantaged ethnic groups. Further findings revealed that the enactment of the Native Land Act 27 of 1913, cemented housing policy issues in the apartheid era, which created the divide in housing issues which have not be completely reversed till date. However, apartheid policies alone cannot be held responsible for the housing backlog in South Africa, but equally no account of housing backlog and conditions can be credible if we do not take into account the history of South Africa and its colonial policies