SANTOS, ANGELA A.

HOUSING
BS-ARCH 4-2

Housing and Human settlements Through the years.

Human Settlements is a place where people dwell, building a community and established
their own cultural identity. The Housing and human settlements evolves every time a man
know more about what he needs. the evolution starts ever since the start of human
civilization. For instance, As the world experiences rain, a man needs protection from it,
so they build huts, then they discovered they need to cook for their meals, so they discover
fire, and the cycle goes on. Every time a man realize basic needs to live, it has a
corresponding space to cater those needs. As the time goes on, the basic human
settlements require to have a space to sleep, to eat or dine, to take a shower, to cook
food, to have a proper drainage and sanitary requirements, to have proper air space and
setbacks, and must be compliance to pertinent codes to name a few.

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, Housing and Human settlements responds to

the basic human needs like the Physiological Needs, Food, Water, air; Safety needs such
as security, stability, protection, and order; Belongingness and love needs like love,
affection, and sense of belonging; esteem needs like self-respect, independence, and
esteem for others; and last the Self-actualization, the desire to fulfil the need of every
individual. As the self-actualization even more considered in the design process, it entails
more defined spaces and further advancement in the human settlements.

The factors that cause and guide the process of change in human settlements are, first,
the consideration of land, as the world filled with housing, and other establishments, the
world and its inhabitants needed to be take consideration of the land scarcity, so from
horizontal developments like Bahay-Kubo, Bahay na bato, to single detached houses,
single attached, row houses two storey or bungalow house, the accumulation of these
developments also requires access to work place, and leisure in order to have a balanced
life, so the developments had to be responsive to attain those needs, as the land needed
to maximize, vertical developments began to take its place, in order to cater more
individuals bridging them into a newer version of city and community wherein they can
achieve the day-to day needs- to live, work, play and connect.

To think of the drastic change in human settlements, it is originally a response to the

history or the historical revolution held in a city, for instance, in the Philippine Setting,
SANTOS, ANGELA A. HOUSING
BS-ARCH 4-2

numerous influence of the Spanish colonial period, in Intramuros, and in Escolta, Manila
the oldest street in manila where one the center of growth and commerce started
composed of the collection of architectural works in Beaux arts, neoclassical, art deco
buildings designed by famous architects and national artists of the Philippines like Juan
Nakpil, Andres Luna de san Pedro and Fernando Ocampo to name a few, based from
their education and exposure to American Architecture style, they brought it to the
Philippine setting, mainly to build shop houses, Mid-rise offices and commercial
establishments, and just as the World War II (1945) drastically take place and change the
city, city of Business and commerce began to spread in Cubao and Makati building cities
and megacities. In short, Historical Revolutions and change and Cultural factors had been
one of the core considerations to build and shape identity of community in Villages, Cities
and Mega Cities.