The Asia–Pacific research network on sustainable materials and prefabricated systems was established at the University of Melbourne in Nov 2017 to address the housing crisis in the region through resilient affordable housing. The funding is provided under the first round of the $3.2 million Regional Collaborations Programme, which is administered by the Australian Academy of Science and is part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda. The Regional Collaborations Programme is designed to build strong linkages between Australian researchers and businesses and their Asia–Pacific regional counterparts by supporting multi partner science, research and innovation collaboration activities that address issues of significance to our nation and the region.
Access to adequate and affordable housing is a current and growing problem in the majority of countries in Asia. An estimated 120,000 people flock to the cities in the Asia-Pacific region every day, creating a demand for 30,000-plus new dwelling units per day. Many people arrive without the resources for adequate shelter and end up living in informal settlements, or slums. The region is facing a significant challenge to construct over 10 million units each year to meet the increasing demand for affordable housing. In addition, over the past two decades, more than 300 million people have lost their homes due to thousands of natural disaster events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, windstorms, floods and landslides throughout the region. Recent events such as the earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Indonesia highlighted the vulnerability of communities and the urgent needs of housing and infrastructure.
In Australia, housing affordability represents a seemingly intractable issue. Australia’s housing sector is widely acknowledged as one of the least affordable in the world. Australia’s population is highly urbanised, with 89% living in cities. Further, 40% of Australians live in the two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. Both of these cities are amongst the top five least affordable cities in the world, and Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth are also in the top 25. Demand for public housing is estimated to rise by 28% by 2023; and by 2036 there will be an estimated deficit of 727,000 affordable rental properties for lower income renters.
Rapid population growth combined with under-supply and poor quality in the current construction industry has influenced key industry players to adopt alternative building technologies. Offsite prefabricated construction through advanced manufacturing techniques can address these time, cost and quality issues. Enabling technologies such as composite lightweight materials and systems, automated off-site manufacturing, and mass customisation are essential components of prefabricated housing.
“Rapid population growth combined with under-supply and poor quality in the current construction industry has influenced key industry players to adopt alternative building technologies. Offsite prefabricated construction through advanced manufacturing techniques can address these time, cost and quality issues. Enabling technologies such as composite lightweight materials and systems, automated off-site manufacturing, and mass customisation are essential components of prefabricated housing.” Professor Tuan Ngo, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne.
With natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, bush fires and tsunamis destroying human habitats around the world, post-disaster housing reconstruction has become a critical topic of discussion for practitioners such as engineers and architects, as well as the general public.
The current practice of post-disaster reconstruction consists of various approaches that carry affected home owners from temporary shelters to permanent housing. While temporary shelters may be provided within a matter of days as immediate disaster relief, permanent housing can take years to complete. However, time is critical, as affected communities will need to restore their livelihoods back to normal as soon as possible. Prefabricated modular construction has the potential to drastically improve the time taken to provide permanent housing from years to a matter of weeks. Due to this extreme time efficiency, which is an inherent characteristic of modular construction, it can be adopted as a very desirable strategy for post-disaster housing reconstruction.
Over the last year, APRAH has established a strong network and partnerships with leading universities, companies and government agencies in 12 countries in the region including Australia, USA, India, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Philippine, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Chile, and Thailand. The new Asia-Pacific research network has facilitated a coordinated approach for transforming the construction industry towards low cost, more resilient and sustainable housing based on advanced manufacturing techniques. The network will also enhance the capabilities of the Australian prefab industry to design, engineer, assemble and deliver high quality affordable housing for both local and global markets.
“The new Asia-Pacific research network has facilitated a coordinated approach for transforming the construction industry towards low cost, more resilient and sustainable housing based on advanced manufacturing techniques. The network will also enhance the capabilities of the Australian prefab industry to design, engineer, assemble and deliver high quality affordable housing for both local and global markets.” Professor Tuan Ngo, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne.
Our research team has developed innovative disaster shelters which can be manufactured and delivered very quickly as flat packs to remote areas to assist the urgent needs of desperate communities. The network has also provided multi-disciplinary research collaboration opportunities for research staff, students, industry partners and peak industry bodies across the entire Asia Pacific region.■