Modern methods of construction in a world-leading rural housing programme

An implementation case study in Temuco, Chile
Housing construction site in Chile
Title: Modern methods of construction in a world-leading rural housing programme: An implementation case study in Temuco, Chile
Funded by: AHRC (Impact Acceleration Account Fellowship)
Funding amount: £19,950
Location: Temuco, Chile
Dates: March 2024 – March 2025
Project partners: Universidad Autonoma de Chile, Ministry of Housing and Urbanism (Chile), Economic Development Agency (Chile)
University of Plymouth PI/Co-I: Dr Alejandro Veliz Reyes
 

Summary

The Rural Habitability Programme is an UN-Habitat award-winning Chilean policy that provides funding and technical support to remote communities so they can build new houses or improve their existing homes.
We are working with local companies, government departments (Ministry of Housing and Urbanism, Economic Development Agency), and local academic partners (Universidad Autónoma de Chile) to leverage the benefits of modern methods of construction to improve the quality of rural housing in Temuco. This is a region in need of sustainable development, with contested landscapes shaped by land ownership conflict with local indigenous Mapuche communities and accelerated, widescale industrial deforestation.

Objectives

  1. Collaboratively uncover gaps in delivery plans, policies, and funding mechanisms to implement modern methods of construction in a rural housing programme.
  2. Prototype building elements and design solutions adopting modern methods of construction in the context of the local industrial ecosystem.
  3. Simulate scenarios of rural housing procurement, testing out impactful ways to promote the adoption of modern methods of construction, influence local policy, and local development.

Context of the issue

Modern methods of construction are often considered in terms of technological developments, whereas our research shows how to better address issues of 'embeddedness' (i.e., what works), and which methods are the most appropriate to facilitate technological adoption (i.e., how it works) in digitally deprived communities. This includes the need to identify gaps in inter-stakeholder communication and rethinking of the role of innovation within industrial partners involved in the delivery of rural housing construction (an environment with very limited on-site quality checks due to accessibility challenges).
Relevantly for our research trajectory, the project takes place in Temuco – an area of the country with high deprivation rates, environmental issues originated in problematic forestry practices and low-quality housing, and conflict around land and land ownership with local indigenous mapuche communities. These frame the environmental and social aspects of this project in similar ways to our work in England, including sustainable forestry, regenerative landscapes, and social issues underpinning the decline of rural coastal communities.
Housing construction in Chile

How the project addresses the issue

The project poses a collaborative approach to jointly develop future scenarios of rural housing delivery, identifying gaps and possible funding opportunities to facilitate the adoption of modern methods of construction. This includes the use of modern methods of construction to produce off-site and high-quality building elements, minimising the need for on-site quality checks in remote areas. Additionally, we expect to work with local industry stakeholders to better understand their own adoption processes and risks, and how to better support the local industrial ecosystem to facilitate innovation with social and commercial value.
Construction tools in Chile
 

Partners

Addressing global challenges through the lens of place

Plymouth's cross-institutional place-based research aligns with government agendas for people and place, as well as UKRI and British Academy priorities.
A critical mass of Social sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) researchers in collaboration with Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) colleagues are tackling global challenges associated with health, marine and sustainability.
Place-based research concept: crowd of people standing on a computer motherboard.