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I INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Homelessness means not having a home. An individual or family do

not have to be living on the street to be categorized homeless. One can

still be without a home even with a roof over the head. This may be

because the individual or family do not hold any rights to the place they

are occupying or it is not suitable for human habitation. (Scotland Shelter

2018) Being completely homeless means living without shelter; however,

there are many experiences of partial homelessness that may include

unclear, temporary or under-standard shelter. Homelessness is hard to

describe, so governments are struggling with uncertainty when they

create and implement policies that they hope will handle or eradicate

this issue efficiently (Ellen 2010).

Various local state and national programs are in place to assist the

homeless but often result in a program that focuses on side effects of

homelessness, such as drug addiction, personal and health problems. This

results in getting these people temporarily out of the public view rather

than helping them to improve their lives (Harris 2017). In the United States,

for example, there is a program called Substance Abuse and Mental

Health Services Administration Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Services Administration (SAMHSA) that help prevent homelessness among

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people with mental or substance use disorders by giving them treatment

(SAMHSA 2019).

Churches and other social agencies work to help people living

under the poverty level without suitable employment to locate ways to

find work and homes. Many recognizes that poverty today is a result of a

lack of affordable housing coupled with a lack of entry-level jobs that

provide income for the family to afford housing (Harris 2017).

Eliminating homelessness or reducing its volume substantially will

make certain changes in how housing markets operate. Homelessness,

after all, is ultimately a housing market condition. People who leave

homelessness have to live somewhere they were not living before. It is less

clear which housing policies will do the best job of reducing homelessness

(Ellen 2010).

The causes of homelessness are; poverty, unemployment, lack of

affordable housing, poor physical or mental health, addiction, family and

relationship breakdown, and violence or abuse. Even though a big

majority of homeless people are chronic or episodic, many of them are

simply families that have gone through various trials in life, struggling to get

back on their feet. It is impossible to know the exact number of homeless

people (Harris 2017).

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Homelessness is a global pandemic that needs all hands on deck. It

spans every society and country and continuous to derail people’s quality

and decency of life and their potential to economic empowerment.

Governments, Social Organizations, and individuals must all jointly and

severally tackle this problem to bring a lasting solution to it. It has been

proven over time that homelessness will not improve by itself without

concrete community, national, regional and global agenda to mitigate

and militate it. In 2005, the United Nations conducted a global survey and

came out with an estimation of 100 million homeless people worldwide.

But this number has jumped to 1.6 billion people lacking adequate

housing in 2015 representing 1,500 percent increase over 10 years. The

progression is simply staggering (Godson 2016).

Figures from a 2017 report by the Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) show that homelessness in Asia has been rising: from

2016 to 2017, that group experienced the highest growth in homelessness

among all racial groups (44 percent), followed by African-Americans, who

saw a 23 percent increase. The Department recorded approximately

6,700 Asians in homeless shelters and living on the street during a one-

night count in January 2017, and more than 10,000 living in transitional

housing — temporary housing that shelters homeless individuals for up to

24 months — or emergency shelters from October 2015 to September 2016

(Constante 2018).
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The Philippines has one of the highest birth rates in South East Asia

(New Statestman, 2014). Besides poverty, overpopulation, and damaging

effects of rapid urbanization, a major issue is regular natural disasters.

According to Internal Displacement, earthquakes, flooding, storms and

violence have driven millions away from their homes in 2018 alone. There

are about 4.5 million homeless people in the Philippines of a population of

about 106 million, according to the statistics office. About 3 million

homeless are in Manila, possibly the most in any city in the world, charities

estimate (Reuters 2018).

Safe and appropriate housing is a fundamental human rights issue,

but it has been hard to attain housing safety for the majority in the

Philippines, so this has remained a nagging issue. The Department of

Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has barely scratched the

surface in combating the issue (Ty 2015). There are government projects

that help the homeless people but cannot end homelessness like the

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). 4Ps is one of the projects

subsumed within the Philippine social protection agenda.

In an effort to extend social protection services to the homeless, the

DSWD launched Modified Conditional Cash Transfer for Homeless Street

Families (MCCT-HSF). The MCCT-HSF, viewed as an extension of 4Ps,

intends to provide immediate relief, support, and services to homeless

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families (Mendoza 2014). It includes beneficiaries who are not covered by

the regular CCT, such as homeless street families, the victims of natural

and man-made disasters who are rendered homeless and with no means

of livelihood, and indigenous peoples in geographically isolated and

disadvantaged areas. According to the DSWD Undersecretary Florita R.

Villar, there are 228,973 beneficiaries of the Modified Conditional Cash

Transfer Program for the Homeless Street Families (MCCT-HSF) (Raymundo

2018). There are 4,693 MCCT-HSF beneficiaries in Tacloban City for the

month of October 2019, according to Tacloban City's City Social Welfare

and Development Office.

According to the City Planning and Development Office of the City

of Tacloban, there are over 14,433 homeless that needed to be

relocated. The housing backlog of the year 2016 was 58,202, for the year

2017 was 59,442 while for the year 2018 was 60,708. According to our

computation of the housing backlog growth rate is 0.2 percent. The

housing backlog of the City in the year 2019 was 62,001 that are

composed of the doubled-up households, unacceptable housing units

and makeshift/salvage and improvised household. In addition to these,

informal settlers, homeless and those living along danger zones are also

included in determining the housing backlog. The data on the housing

backlog is the development plan target of the Tacloban City government

for the period 2017-2025. (CLUP Vol. 3 2017)

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The City Social Welfare and Development of Tacloban City has no

available data on the number of chronically homelessness in Tacloban

City.

City Social Welfare and Development Office is the welfare arm of

the City Government of Tacloban immediately provided social protection

programs through the delivery of comprehensive social services and

projects that are in tune with the present situation. The City Social Welfare

& Development Office covers programs with different target clientele

such as disadvantaged children, youth, women in difficult circumstances,

senior citizens, PWD among others. The following programs are

Family and Community Welfare Program, Senior Citizens Welfare Program,

Persons with Disability Welfare Program, Emergency Assistance Program,

Housing and Resettlement Welfare

Program, Sustainable Livelihood Program, Community Based Street Childr

en and Social Development Center for Children.

Transitional homeless shelter or transitional living facilities provide

temporary shelter for chronically, transitionally, and episodically homeless

individuals and families. It exists to provide residents with safety and

protection from exposure to weather while simultaneously reducing the

environmental impact on the community. They are similar to, but

distinguishable from, various types of emergency shelters, which are

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typically operated for specific circumstances and populations—fleeing

natural disasters or abusive social circumstances. Extreme weather

conditions create problems similar to disaster management scenarios,

and are handled with warming centers, which typically operate for short

durations during adverse weather (Wikipedia 2019).

Transitional housing refers to a supportive – yet temporary – type of

accommodation that is meant to bridge the gap from homelessness to

permanent housing by offering structure, supervision, support (for

addictions and mental health, for instance), life skills, and in some cases,

education and training. Transitional housing is conceptualized as an

intermediate step between emergency crisis shelter and permanent

housing. It is more long-term, service-intensive and private than

emergency shelters, yet remains time-limited to stays of three months to

three years. It is meant to provide a safe, supportive environment where

residents can overcome trauma, begin to address the issues that led to

homelessness or kept them homeless, and begin to rebuild their support

network (Homeless Hub 2019).

Historically, transitional housing programs were situated within

dedicated, building-specific environments, where there was more

common space and less private space than might be the case in

permanent housing environments. However, as the concept of

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transitional housing has evolved, new approaches that incorporate

scattered-site housing are now being adopted. In such cases, some of

the transitional supports are considered portable (Homeless Hub 2019).

Considering the ubiquitous homelessness issue, this study intends to

develop a biophilic sustainable transitional housing design for the

chronically homeless in Tacloban City. Chronic homeless are people who

have experienced homelessness for at least a year, or repeatedly, while

struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness,

substance use disorder, or physical disability and they do not have the

resources (family, friends, etc.) to change their living situation (National

Alliance to End Homelessness, 2019). The purpose of this temporary shelter

is not to completely solve homelessness in the City but to reduce the

problem. The concept of adopting biophilic architecture in the design of

the shelter aims to promote environment-friendly, and energy-efficient

housing and developments through effective natural resource

management. Biophilic design is an approach to architecture that seeks

to connect building occupants more closely to nature. Biophilic designed

buildings incorporate things like natural lighting and ventilation, natural

landscape features and other elements for creating a more productive

and healthy built environment for people (“Seven Principles of Biophilic

Design, 2016).
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Objective of the Study

Homelessness in Tacloban City is growing over year. Common to

cities, Tacloban City also has its own share of homelessness problem. To

alleviate the problem, this study conceptualized the idea of a transitional

homeless shelter for the chronically homeless. Ultimately, this study aims to

develop the design of a transitional homeless shelter using the biophilic

design approach.

The specific objectives to get data that will be utilized in the design

process are:

1. To select the most appropriate site for the proposed project.

2. To formulate a management approach that can be implemented in

the facility.

3. To determine the space and design standards and requirements for a

transitional living environment.

4. To know the law requirements that cover transitional housing.

5. To identify sustainable strategies and biophilic principles and/or ideas

that are suitable to the facility.

6. To identify applicable disaster-resilient strategies.

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Significance of the Study

People or Citizens of Tacloban City. This study may lessen homelessness in

Tacloban City.

Architecture Students/Future Researchers. The findings of this study may

serve as a point of reference for future researchers and architecture

students who will conduct a similar study.

Architect/Designers. This study may be beneficial in the future for those

who are in the design profession. The proposed project will promote a

disaster-resilient with sustainable strategies. The ideas in this study may

inspire Architects and Planners to adapt them.

Local Government. This study may help the local government implement

a facility for the homeless and on how to plan a transitional housing.

Significance of the Project

The project is focused to provide proper and secure transitional

housing for the homeless in Tacloban City. This project provides temporary

housing and support for the homeless until they can find permanent

solutions. Occupants are offered support with substance abuse,

employment services, childcare, and other areas that can help get them

back on their feet.