PLANNING FOR HEALTH

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21707, 14 February 1936, Page 18

PLANNING FOR HEALTH

THE HOUSING FACTOR

“Architecture, of all the arts, is the one which acts the most slowly, but the most ; surely, on the soul," is a quotation used by a leading architect in an article headed “Planning for Health, Happiness, and Economy.” “How long has the problem of housing been a vital one in the community?” the writer asks. “What haS been the cost in human lives, in physical health, in lack of happy surroundings, as a direct result of bad housing? These are questions which in this Dominion, with its targe number of houses owned by the individual and its practice of giving nearly every house its own garden, have not come up for consideration nearly as much as in older lands. It is true that there is a large number of rented houses: but the most of these have been erected by the effort of the individual, and the usual attitude to this problem is that, as the house is his own, he can build it to suit himself. But does he suit himself? “The problem of correct aspect and siting for even the smallest cottage is one for careful study. The full consideration of its arrangements to obtain the greatest advantage of sun, open space, proper relation of rooms to each other, and compact, economical planning, are matters in which the competent designer can demonstrate that the cost of his services is amply repaid. For the failure to place a value on such competent service, the individual and the community are paying both in hard cash and in the lack of amenities of good health, comfort, and efficiency. And they will continue to pay as long as they fail to secure an efficient service for the planning of a house as they would demand for the designing of a motor-car. “Admittedly New Zealand is one' of the healthiest countries in the world; but would not there be still greater health if there were not houses in which living rooms and bedrooms do not receive the sunlight' which they might do? It is true our smaller houses have not the disadvantages of the slum areas of older lands, but there are many houses which are so ill-arranged that they cause daily annoyance to their occupants. “These are vital matters which affect the cost of living and the national health—now and in the future. Neither the community as a whole nor you as the individual can aiford to ignore them. The remedy is efficient planning and supervision, and sound business method in the contract for erection.”