‘Total Housing’ Concept for the Slums of Africa as Containment Strategy for Epidemics

Housing has evolved over the ages in terms of both its meaning and practice. While the concept of housing as a physical entity serving the life activities of man has conservatively evolved through the millennia, the physical manifestation of housing has undergone a revolutionary change, especially in advanced nations. This change has resulted mainly from the social revolution and the technological advancement that has occurred in the short span of the modern era. However, housing in the slums of African cities has remained rudimentary to this day. Surveys of housing conditions in these settlements in several countries have confirmed them to be little more than just shelters against adverse climatic elements. Efforts to improve the quality of housing in the Informal Settlements of the Third World to make them compatible with modern living activities have had little success, especially in the sub-Saharan African region. Combinations of culture, ignorance, and poor economic status have worked to frustrate such efforts. The COVID-19 epidemic, which has been the most profound pandemic to date in the modern era, has thrown up added challenges to improving the conditions of these housing. The experience of this epidemic has had a significant influence on work, living and travel, among other life activities and accordingly calls for new housing. Based on the interim result of an ongoing housing survey of a Nigerian city backed by similar surveys from literature, a new housing concept- ‘Total Housing’ is proposed.