Floor area per person

(a)     Name:  Floor area per person
(b)     Brief Definition:  Defined as the median usable living space per
person.
(c)     Measurement Unit:  mý

(a)     Agenda 21:  Chapter 7:   Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement
Development. 
(b)     Type:  State.

(a)     Purpose:  This is a key indicator of housing quality, which measures
the adequacy of living space in dwellings. A low value for the indicator is a
sign of overcrowding.

(b)     Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development:  This is a key
indicator measuring the adequacy of the basic human need for shelter.  Human
settlement conditions in many parts of the world are deteriorating mainly as
a result of a low level of investment, although such investment has been shown
to generate considerable public and private sector investment.  Housing
policies, particularly in urban areas, greatly affect the living conditions
of people.  In low income settlements, reduced space per person can be
associated with certain categories of health risks.

(c)     Linkages to Other Indicators:   This indicator is closely linked to
several other socioeconomic indicators with which it should be considered,
including population density, rate of growth of urban population, area and
population of informal settlements, and infrastructure expenditure per capita.

(d)     Targets:  No targets have been developed for this indicator.

(e)     International Conventions and Agreements:  This indicator is one of
ten "key" housing indicators approved by the Commission on Human Settlements
(Resolution 14/13), to be collected in all countries and in a number of cities
in each country, to measure progress towards meeting the objectives of the
Global Shelter Strategy. Countries are to use the indicators to provide the
basis for their country reports to the Second United Nations Conference on
Human Settlements. 

(a)     Underlying Definitions and Concepts:  The floor area should include
all living space, along with bathrooms, internal corridors and closets.
Covered semi-private spaces such as corridors, inner courtyards or verandas
should be included in the calculation if used by the household for cooking,
eating, sleeping, or other domestic activities. Floor area refers to a housing
unit, defined as a separate and independent place of abode intended for
habitation by one household at the time of the census or other inquiry.

(b)     Measurement Methods:  The median floor area of a unit should be
divided by the average household size. If data from household surveys or from
a recent census are available, these can be used. In the absence of better
data, the floor area of the median priced dwelling may be used as an
approximation, although this may not be an accurate estimate. If the median
cannot be estimated, then the average should be provided. 

(c)     The indicator in the DSR Framework:  This indicator is a measure of
housing quality, an outcome of housing demand and housing supply, determined
by the overall housing policy framework. As such, this indicator is a State
measure in the DSR Framework.

(d)     Limitations of the Indicator: Results for this indicator may vary
considerably if collected at the city, national, urban/rural levels, given the
variations in land availability and types of human settlements and activities.
Informal settlements in particular are likely to have much less space per
person, as are disadvantaged groups. Various levels of data collection are
necessary to provide a full picture of this specific housing outcome. Housing
size and housing quality are usually but not necessarily linked, and floor
area per person may not give a complete picture of living conditions. 
Cultural values affect sensitivity to crowding.  For these reasons,
interpretation of this indicator is difficult, and should be completed in
conjunction with related indicators (see section 3c above). 

(e)     Alternative Definitions:  Alternative measures of crowding have been
the subject of data collection and reporting in international statistical
compendia. The two most common are persons per room and households per
dwelling unit, each of which was included among data collected during the
first phase of the Housing Indicators Programme (UNCHS, World Bank, 1992).
Surveys have shown that floor area per person is more precise and
policy-sensitive than the other two indicators. Habitat, the United Nations
Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) has developed and tested a series of
crowding indicators in low-income settlements. They include, among others,
percentage of housing units with more than one household, in-house living area
per person, percentage of housing units with more than three persons per room,
number of households per building and per housing unit, number of persons per
building.

(a)     Data Needed to Compile the Indicator:  Median floor area of housing
units; average number of persons per household.

(b)     Data Availability:  The data are generally available at the country
level.  This indicator was collected in 52 countries (one city per country)
by the Shelter Sector Performance Indicators Programme in 1992 (UNCHS, World
Bank). It is being collected worldwide by the UNCHS Indicators Programme in
preparation for the Habitat II Conference.  A detailed set of crowding
indicators has been developed and the data collected for Jakarta (Indonesia),
Bissau (Guinea Bissau), and Accra (Ghana).

(c)     Data Sources:  Primary data sources include censuses or household
surveys. The indicator is reported in the Housing Indicators Programme report
listed in section 7 below.

(a)     Lead Agency:  The lead agency is the United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (Habitat).  The contact point is the Director, Programme
Coordination, UNCHS; fax no. (254 2) 624 266.

(b)     Other Organizations:  The World Bank.

World Bank. Housing: Enabling Markets to Work. The World Bank, Washington
D.C., 1993 (A World Bank Policy Paper).

UNCHS (Habitat), World Bank. The Housing Indicators Programme. Report of the
Executive Director (Volume I). UNCHS, Nairobi, 1993. 

UNCHS (Habitat). Monitoring the Shelter Sector. Housing Indicators Review.
UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995. 

UNCHS (Habitat). Human Settlement, Interventions Addressing Crowding and
Health Issues, UNCHS, Nairobi, 1995.

LEAD AGENCY: HABITAT