Affordable housing on contaminated land in Johannesburg

Abstract

The intention of this article is to look at radon contamination; the various housing design solutions that may be implemented to overcome the problem; as well as the possibility that private developers will buy into this form of development. It is not sufficient to have designs and a population willing to live on this land if private developers are not willing to take a risk and develop these sites (Simons et al., 2006). By addressing these issues, three questions shall be answered:
1. What are the potential complications in building housing on mining dumps?
2. What are the practical solutions for dealing with housing in such areas?
3. Are private developers willing to develop contaminated land?
The actual cost of construction on the sites although important to the overall feasibility of development shall not be discussed. This component certainly needs further research in order to sufficiently grasp the willingness to develop on behalf of the developers. From the onset of this research, the developers showed some ignorance towards the issues of radon contamination. They did show willingness to develop certain types of designs, but the recommendation of the research is the need for education to facilitate the use of this contaminated sites.