1. Housing and Human Needs

2. People and Their Housing Housing as the word is used in this text, means any dwelling that provides shelter. Housing is your Near Environment, a small and distinct part of the total environment in which you live Your total environment includes all your interactions with people and buildings as well as different geographical areas outside your dwelling place, neighborhood, and local community. Housing affects your actions, and in turn, your actions affect your housing.

3. Housing Choices For example, if you live in a small apartment, you will not be able to host large parties. You will not have enough room, and your neighbors might complain about the noise. However, if you want to host large parties, you might choose to live in a large house that is set apart from other houses.

4. Meeting Needs Through Housing Needs are the basic requirements that people must have filled in order to live. All people have physical, psychological, and other needs. They share the need for shelter in which to eat, sleep, and carry on daily living activities. Psychologist Abraham Maslow prioritized human needs into a pyramid, as each type of need is met, you progress up the pyramid to the next level.

5. Maslows Theory of Human Needs

6. Physical Needs Physical Needs the most basic human needs. They have priority over other needs because they are essential for survival. Physical needs include shelter, food, water, and rest. They are sometimes called basic needs or primary needs.

7. Shelter The need for shelter and protection from the weather has always been met by a dwelling of some type. Archeologists are social scientists who study ancient cultures by unearthing dwelling places of past civilizations. Archeological findings reveal how ancient structures were made and used, and how they met the need for shelter a basic universal need.

8. Earliest Dwellings: Pueblo The earliest dwellings were in natural settings, such as caves and overhanging cliffs. The Pueblo Native Americans used adobe, which is a building material made of sun-dried earth and straw. They also used rafters made from native materials.

9. Earliest Dwellings: Apache Apache Native Americans built houses from tree branches. Their houses offered protection from the scorching sun, while cooling breezes circulate through the branches.

10. Earliest Dwellings: Nomads Some tribes throughout the world called nomads periodically move their residences depending on weather, available farmland, and other factors. A yurt is a portable hut made of several layers of felt covered with canvas. These huts are use din summer as the people move to more fertile areas.

11. Food and Water In the past, people located their housing near sources of food and water. Today, areas within dwellings are set aside storing, preparing, and eating food. However, people still like to prepare food and eat outside.

12. Psychological Needs Once the basic physical needs are met, people strive to meet the psychological needs, which are higher on Maslows pyramid of human needs. Psychological needs are needs related to the mind and feelings that must be met in order to live a satisfying life.

13. Security Housing provides security from the outside world. It offers protection from physical danger and the unknown. It helps you feel safe and protected. Living in a dwelling that is well built and locate din an area from from crime can help you feel secure.

14. Love and Acceptance Housing affects your feelings of being loved and accepted. If you have your own bedroom or private place, you know that others care about you. They have accepted you as a person who has needs. When you are assigned household chores, it is because you have been accepted as part of a group.

15. Esteem You need to feel esteem, or the respect, admiration, and high regard of others. Your housing tells other people something about you and can help you gain esteem. You also need self-esteem, awareness and appreciation of your own worth. Living in a pleasant, satisfying home can help you gain self-esteem.

16. Self-Actualization When you meet the need for self-actualization, you have developed to your full potential as a person. You have become the best you can be, and you are doing what you do best. For self-actualizing people, housing is more than a place to live. It is the place where each person can progress towards becoming what he or she is capable of being.

17. Other Needs Met Through Housing Recognizing the levels of human needs as described by Maslow can help you understand how important needs are in relation to housing. Beauty, self-expression, and creativity are also important needs. They can be achieved through your housing decisions.

18. Beauty Beauty is the quality or qualities that give pleasure to the senses. What is beautiful to you may not be beautiful to someone else. An appreciation of beauty develops over time as exposure to it increases.

19. Self-Expression Showing your true personality and taste is called self- expression, evident when you choose colors to decorate your house. Those colors are often a clue to your personality. For example, if you have an outgoing, vibrant personality, you might show it by using bright, bold colors inside your house.

20. Creativity Creativity is the ability to create imaginatively. It can be described as combining two or more things or ideas into a new whole that as beauty or value. Your housing provides opportunities for you to express your creativity.

21. Factors Affecting Housing Choices There are many factors that influence choices in housing. These include person priorities, family relationships, space needs, costs, roles, and lifestyle.

22. Personal Priorities Personal priorities are strong beliefs or ideas about what is important. When you choose something freely and take action on that choice, you are acting on a personal priority. All personal priorities you hold, such as family, friendship, money, status, religion, and independence, form your personal-priority system. Whenever you decide between two or more choices, you use your personal-priority system.

23. How Needs and Personal Priorities Relate Your needs and personal priorities are closely related. For example, you need a place to seep. A cot can satisfy this need. However, the cot may not meet your priority for comfort. If you have a choice, your personal priority for comfort may cause you to choose a bed with a mattress instead of the cot.

24. Space People have spatial needs. While too much space can make people feel lonely, they need a certain amount of space around them to avoid feeling crowded. They way space is used also influences the amount that is needed. In places where space cannot be added or removed, the right furnishings can make the space seem larger or smaller.

25. Privacy People need privacy to maintain good mental health. Sometimes they need to be completely alone, where others cannot see or hear what they are doing. A chair that is set apart from other furnishings in a room can create privacy.

26. Family Relationships Decisions in families that value relationships are made to benefit all family members, not just some. A family is two or more people living together who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption. When concern for family relationships is an important personal priority, several areas of the house can be designed for group living.

27. Costs For most people, the cost of housing is an important factor in making housing decisions. Whether people rent or buy housing, it costs money. When money is very limited, people choose dwellings that provide just enough space for their needs.

28. Roles Roles are patterns of behavior that people display in their homes, the workplace, and their communities. Examples are: wife, mother, sister, co-worker, teacher, hospital volunteer, etc. The roles people have can affect the type of housing they choose and the way the housing is used. To fulfill the role of student, a home needs a quiet area for studying. The role of wage earner can also impact housing choices. A lawyer may work from home, needing an office for working and a seating area for greeting clients.

29. Housing Needs Vary On almost a daily basis, you can be sure of change. Life situations and circumstances cause change and affect they way you live. In group housing, people generally are not related. Retirement complexes and college residence halls, are some common examples. The occupants live in separate units within the group dwelling. People in residential dwellings, on the other hand, are usually related to each other.

30. Households The most common residential dwelling is a household. A household is a group of people sharing the same dwelling The size of a household can vary, but most households contain families. There are five basic types of families.

31. Nuclear Family This family includes couples and their children. The children are either born into the family or adopted. None of the children are from a previous marriage.

32. Single-parent Family These families consist of a child (or children) and only one parent, often because a parent has died or left home. Other single-parent families consist of a never-married adult with one or more children.

33. Stepfamily This family consists of parents, one or both of whom have been married before. The family also includes one or more children from a previous marriage.

34. Childless Family These families consist of a husband and wife who have not had children. For some couples this is a temporary condition, delaying the arrival of children until their finances improve. For others, they may be unable to have children or chooses to remain childless, for whatever reason.

35. Extended Family There a two basic types of extended families, which are formed by adding one or more relatives to a household already identified. One type consists of several generations of a family, such as children, parents, and grandparents. The second type of extended family consists of members from the same generation, such as brothers, sisters, and cousins.

36. Single Person Household The smallest household is a single-person household, which consists of one person living alone in the dwelling. That person may be someone who has never married or whose marriage has ended because of the loss of a spouse through death, desertion, or divorce.

37. Life Cycles Life cycles are another way to view your housing needs. A life cycle is a series of stages through which an individual or family passes during its lifetime. In each stage, you have new opportunities and face new challenges.

38. Individual Life Cycle Each person follows a pattern of development called an individual life cycle It is divided according to age groups into the following four stages: Infancy Childhood Youth Adulthood Each stage can be divided into sub stages.

39. Family Life Cycle Just as you have a place in an individual life cycle, your family has its place in the family life cycle. A family life cycle has six stages. In addition, one or more sub stages may exist within each stage.

40. Beginning Stage The beginning stage is the early period of the marriage when the couple is without children. The husband and wife make adjustments to married life and to each other.

41. Childbearing Stage The childbearing stage is the time when the family is growing. It includes the childbearing periods and the years of caring for preschoolers.

42. Parenting Stage The parenting stage occurs when the children are in school. This stage includes the years of caring for school- age children and teenagers.

43. Launching Stage The launching stage is the time when the children become adults and leave their parents house. They may leave to go to college, take a job, or get married.

44. Midyears Stage The midyears stage is the time between when the children leave home and the parents retire. When all the children have left home, the couple is again alone.

45. Aging Stage The aging stage begins with retirement. Usually, at some point in this stage, one spouse lives alone after the death of the other. As people live longer, the length of this stage increases.

46. Life cycles and Housing Needs As you move from one stage or sub stage of a life cycle to another, your housing needs change. Therefore, you should consider what stage or sub stage of the life cycles you are in as you plan your housing. If you think about both your present and future needs, your housing can help you live the kind of life you desire.

47. Housing and The Quality of Life Quality of life is the degree of satisfaction obtained from life. Housing is considered good when it provides people with satisfying surroundings that can improve their quality of life.

48. Personal Quality of Life Quality of life is important to you as an individual. Your idea of an improved quality of life may not appeal to someone else. Your housing environment helps you meet your needs and personal priorities. It also adds satisfaction to your life and, therefore, improves the quality of your life.

49. Quality of Life for Society The future of a society depends on individuals and groups who work to make life better for everyone. Some of the work is social in nature. People must also work together and use their resources of time, money, and energy to maintain and support beautiful surroundings. Examples of such surroundings are well-kept buildings and natural landscapes.

50. Human Ecology Human ecology the study of people and their environment, is the focus of considerable research. People are concerned about the problems caused by pollutants entering streams, lakes, and underground water supplies. Instead of wishing for the good old days to return, people must move forward to find solutions for todays problems.