(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Urgent need to generate creative future housing solutions – in Australia, the USA and elsewhere [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-17 These alternative houses have several things in common, including the construction material. Australians must now face the challenge of alternative housing with more urgency than has been shown in the past. Having had conservative Coalition governments for twenty of the last 27 years, Australia suffers badly from high homelessness rates and low scores on innovation. This article was published earlier today in Australia. Its message is equally relevant to policy makers – and voters – in the USA and elsewhere. * The four houses shown above are completely different in size, style, construction and location, but have several things in common. They are environmentally friendly, extremely cheap to build and fast to construct. Why? Because they are all made of bags filled with sand. Creativity worldwide Many countries with urgent social housing needs are now constructing low-cost houses using a range of alternative building materials. The four sandbag dwellings, above, are, clockwise from top left, in Veracruz, Mexico, Capetown, South Africa, Ahwaz, Iran and Durban, South Africa. Other construction materials, besides bags filled with earth or sand, include bamboo, plant fibre board, synthetic concrete, papercrete, dune sand cement, rammed earth, sawdust pykrete, old shipping containers and plentiful recyclables such as rubber tyres, reclaimed timber and glass and plastic containers. Several countries are encouraging alternative architecture and engineering, including earth sheltering and sustainable landscaping. The home below is made of used plastic bottles and other recycled waste. This is one of many innovations of Earthship Biotecture, based in Tres Piedras, New Mexico, USA. These dwellings feature solar and wind power for heating, cooling and other energy needs plus self-contained sewage treatment. Failing also on homelessness Last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that 122,500 Australians were homeless on census night in August 2021. That was 480 for every 100,000 in the population. Men comprised the majority of the homeless in 2021, with 550 in every 100,000 Australian males having nowhere to live. Homeless women numbered 420 in every 100,000. In 2021, 24,930 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were estimated to be homeless. That’s more than one in five of all homeless Australians. The Census revealed that three in five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were living in ‘severely’ crowded dwellings, almost one in five were in supported accommodation and nearly one in ten were living in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out. Thus the remote Indigenous communities are where alternative housing solutions will be most strategic. Dismal global rankings World Population Review (WPR) records the number of homeless people for 35 advanced member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Japan currently has the best record of housing its citizens, despite having the third-highest population, after the USA and Mexico. Second best is South Korea, also in the East Asian region, and then Switzerland. The two worst nations for homelessness, surprisingly perhaps, given their wealth and long cold winters, are the United Kingdom and France. See chart, below. The WPR currently ranks the USA 20th in the OECD, with Australia an appalling 32nd. Both countries can do much better. After all, both have plenty of sand. * This is an abbreviated version of an article published today in Independent Australia. The original article is available here in full for free: * https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/urgent-need-for-australia-to-generate-creative-future-housing-solutions,17427 * [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/17/2164348/-Urgent-need-to-generate-creative-future-housing-solutions-in-Australia-the-USA-and-elsewhere Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/