An overview of New York City
New York City is one of the most populated cities in the United States of America. It is a city composed of many different types of people. As such, the population of New York City comprises the original inhabitants of the city in addition to other people that enter the city as immigrants. As a result, there are plenty of business activities taking place in New York City. Most of the financial activities that take place in the city are business ventures. In fact, New York City forms the world’s largest business destination for businesspeople all over the world. New York City is an ancient city, which has greatly improved over time in terms of housing, job opportunities, cleanliness, business and other things.
Although the city experienced backward retardation in its economy after the attacks of the year 2001, which saw more than 200,000 people lose their jobs, it is currently improving. New York City is an enjoyable city which many people like to visit due to its scenic view. For example, the top of the rock observation deck allows the new visitors as well as the York dwellers to have a view of the city. The city is composed of people of all races and originalities. There are whites, Americans, blacks and the like.
Given the high population in the City, cases of murder in the city among other insecurity problems were so rampant in the past, but the city is gradually gaining peace and fewer cases of murder are reported today. The city was also one of the leading cities of HIV/AIDS victims, sometimes back. This is not the case today since the city has experienced better standards of health care (Greenfield, & Reid, 2004). In this case study, the issue of housing in New York City will be explored to find out the situation at hand, problems and possible solutions to the problems.
An overview of housing in the city of New York
Housing is a term that is commonly used in connection with the place in which people live. Housing is therefore composed of the building structures in which people spend their time. Different nations have taken the initiative of structuring and designing the nature of shelter experienced by their citizens. There are different agencies and ministries of governments that deal with issues concerning housing in different countries.
In most of the countries in the world, everyone has the right to housing, although not in all countries are people appropriately housed. Some governments have been working to ensure that people in their nations acquire affordable and appropriate housing structures. Buildings that are set up have to meet the architectural requirements. This is mostly encouraged in urban areas where buildings are large and accommodate many people. Housing encompasses all building structures, meant for different purposes, extending from the rural areas to the urban areas (Bratt, 2006).
In some nations, urban rental houses have become so expensive that most of the people within or below the poverty line are unable to afford them. This has led to the rise of slum areas in the urban centers. The governments and the citizens of each nation should work together to ensure that all citizens acquire appropriate housing.
History of housing in New York City
In America, there was, and they’re still is, a policy that defines and details public housing. Although the policy was first established in consideration of tenants, it did not work well in the past, and most of the tenants sought their shelter in slums. Architects and planners proposed the policy. By the year 1950, there were so many tall buildings in the U.S cities, which brought about social crises and people behavioral change. The living conditions in those houses were not good enough. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), established in the early 1930s, has influenced the housing of New York City tremendously and has seen the city have an improved housing system over the years.
Through the NYCHA, we are meant to understand that, management strategies used are very important in designing and shaping a long-term positive impact on housing systems. Just before the NYCHA gained strength, housing in New York City was pathetic. There were frequent cases of garbage being thrown through the windows of tall buildings, dumping of the rest of the garbage into the city’s busy streets, tenants urinating from their balconies, shattering of glasses and many other undesirable things. The good management of New York housing by the NYCHA has enabled the city to have a reduction in the frequency of the above cases.
Although the housing system in New York may not be a perfect one, it has served an important role in trying to settle the slum dwellers into more suitable and affordable houses (Bloom, 2008). In the year 1986, a ten-year housing plan was established in New York as a result of the rising number of abandoned as well as occupied housing units for the low and moderate-income earners. The government of the United States released an amount of $ 5 billion to renovate these houses. By the year 1997, approximately 140,000 units had been worked on amounting to approximately five percent of the total housing in New York City. This was a great improvement in the housing sector of the city (Van-Ryzin & Genn, 1999, p. 812).
Current forces in New York and the government’s role in housing
No matter how a nation may try to eliminate homelessness, there are still cases of homelessness. In New York City, the cases that arise of homelessness are large as a result of persistent poverty, mental disorders, behavioral disorders, and social ties. Persistent poverty comes about as a result of low levels of education, single parenthood, and dependency on welfare schemes. Not only in New York City are many mentally ill people homeless, but also in many other cities of the world. Mental and behavioral disorders are greatly brought about by substance abuse. In this case, the U.S. government has established programs to provide mental health education, treatment to the affected as well as housing to them.
This is done to eliminate cases of street dwellers. Social ties can also bring about homelessness in cases whereby an individual is neglected by their people. These results were obtained from research that was conducted in New York City to determine the factors that greatly contribute to homelessness. The methods that were used in the study were sampling methods, in which, different families all over the city were selected randomly and interviewed (Shinn et al., 1998, p.1654). As a result of these factors and many others, the United States government introduced public shelter systems in which, those who do not have alternative housing are admitted into the system and provided with shelter.
This system of housing gained momentum in the year 1992 when one percent of the entire population of New York was housed in the public shelter. Over the years, the number of households admitted in the public shelter has increased giving out two reactions. Either the cases of homelessness are being reduced as a result of the public shelter system, or the number of low-income earners is increasing. The former case is very much evident in the city since there has been noted a reduction in the number of street dwellers (Culhane et al., 1994, p. 132).
According to the census that was conducted in the year 2000, the results revealed that approximately 80% of the citizens of the United States lived in metropolitan areas. A higher percentage of city dwellers were also identified in New York City. This showed that most of the people in the United States live in the cities, where the most available mode of housing is rental houses or personal apartments. This was evidence that most of the people in New York City are above the poverty line and can provide shelter for themselves. Although most people can afford housing in the city of New York, most of them are middle-class earners and the conditions experienced in their areas of residence are below the required health standards. The major issue lies in the manner in which garbage is disposed of in these apartments.
Most people do not properly dispose of their garbage and it ends up in the streets, blocking passages and creating breeding areas for harmful insects and microorganisms, which easily cause diseases. This endangers the lives of the dwellers and especially children. In response to this issue, the government of the U.S. requires that the owners of rental apartments have proper methods of waste disposal from all tenants.
Those houses are thus fitted with wastewaters disposal pipes, which drain into sewage plants for treatment. Some programs have been established for the collection of material garbage from each apartment. The government is responsible for funding these programs to ensure proper sanitation. Every year, the government of the United States sets aside a considerable amount of money for housing to be used in all the U.S cities. This has seen a continual decline in rental prices, a condition that favors everyone, especially the low-income earners (Schewartz, 1999, p. 854).
Future dimensions and recommendations for housing in New York City
We have seen that the housing systems of New York have improved over the years. There is still a need for further improvements to achieve a system of housing that is satisfactory and convenient for people’s inhabitation while reducing the cost of maintenance. Concerning this matter, the issue of green building has been invented and has been considered by many governments. Green building is a strategy of building in which several factors are put into consideration during the construction and renovation of buildings. The major factor that is greatly considered in green buildings is environmental pollution.
In many cities of the United States of America, much of the environmental pollution arises from the built environment. This includes the residential houses as well as the industries and factories. Many of the industrial chimneys have been fitted with converters to render the emissions harmless. The liquid waste is also treated before disposal to rivers. In the residential areas, wastewaters are channeled through connections of pipes to sewages. Another improvement in housing that is not yet fully exploited is the consideration of solar energy during construction, to ensure maximum use of solar energy in the built environment. Before construction is done, the site of the building is carefully chosen. This is to means that buildings should stand in a position that will allow direct exposure to sunlight (Furr & American Bar Association, 2009).
Although this may be difficult in the already built New York City, it can still be used in the outskirts of the city. During the construction of the buildings, enough inlets of sunrays are incorporated. Those inlets include an increase in the number of doors and windows, which are covered with glass. They allow enough sunlight, which excludes the need for electric lighting during the day. This ensures that the electrical energy that could have been used for lighting in dark rooms during the day is saved. In green buildings, the roofs of the buildings are also designed in a way to allow penetration of sun rays and heat. This involves the use of light materials for roofing.
The roof is also incorporated with solar energy capturing facilities. These are facilities that are designed to capture and concentrate solar energy and direct it into the house for use in different activities such as heating, warming, boiling, lighting, and even cooking (Yudelson, 2008). With full installation and use of the green building strategy, the cost of many houses in New York City will be cheaper, convenient, and affordable to many.
Conclusion
The housing sector is important in all countries. It is a sector that deals directly with people therefore, it has to be given much consideration to ensure the safety of people. Although different people have different cultures concerning their housing, the governments of countries should take the initiative to encourage and promote the construction of strong and dependable building structures. Some areas are also prone to natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods. Those should be thoroughly examined before a building is put up in such areas. In most cases, such areas should be avoided in terms of housing.
If such places cannot be avoided, the building structure put up in those areas should be effectively designed and strongly built to withstand the forces of natural calamities. The buildings should also be low and not so tall especially in areas affected by earthquakes. This eliminates cases of collapsed buildings. Governments should also take the initiative to encourage and promote green housing, as it is associated with great benefits. The conditions experienced by tenants in the rental apartments in different cities should also be investigated to identify all the causes of low standards of living. The issue of slums should be looked into and innovation has done to the housing conditions of such areas (Taylor, 2009).
Reference List
Bloom, N 2008, Public housing that worked: New York in the twentieth century, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Bratt, R 2006, A right to housing: Foundation for a new social agenda, Temple Univ. Press, Philadelphia.
Culhane D et al. 1994, “Public Shelter Admission Rates in Philadelphia and New York City: The Implications of Turnover for Sheltered Population Counts”, Housing Policy Debates, vol.5 no.2, pp. 107-140.
Furr, J & American Bar Association 2009, Green building and sustainable development: The practical legal guide, Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, American Bar Association, Chicago.
Greenfield, B & Reid, R 2004, New York City, Lonely Planet, London.
Schewartz, A 1999, “New York City and Subsidized Housing: Impacts and Lessons of the City’s $5 Billion Capital Budget Housing Plan”, Housing Policy Debate, vol.10 no.4, pp. 839-874.
Shinn, M et al. 1998, “Predictors of Homelessness among Families in New York City: From Shelter Request to Housing Stability”, American Journal of Public Health, vol.88 no.11, pp. 1651-1656.
Taylor, D 2009, The environment and the people in American cities, 1600-1900s: Disorder, inequality, and social change, Duke University Press, Durham.
Van-Ryzin, G. & Genn, A 1999, “Neighborhood Change and the City of New York’s Ten-Year Housing Plan”, Housing Policy Debate, vol.10 no.4, pp. 799-832.
Yudelson, J 2008 The green building revolution, Island Press, Washington.