Arch2O.com

Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine
Government-funded public housing began with a common dream: to end slum life with safe affordable housing. Instead, most of these projects became synonymous with the city’s poverty and crime.
We usually only study the successful public housing projects, but it?s equally, if not more, important that we study the unsuccessful ones as well, so we don?t repeat the same mistakes in our designs. Check out the World?s 3 Utterly Unsuccessful Public Housing Projects to know What Not to Do.
1. Cabrini-Green Public Housing, Chicago
Cabrini-Green was a public housing development located near a flame-spewing gas refinery which gave it its nickname, the hellhole!
Courtesy of CHA
It initiated as few row houses and eventually had eight 15-storey towers covering a land area of 283,280 m2. In total, the gigantic complex had 3,607 units which housed over 15,000 residents. The government prioritized the poorest people, including single mothers and the homeless, to access the housing.
Courtesy of CHA, Photography: Matt Tuteur
The project was a symbol of hope for mitigating slum-life but soon became a high-rise slum itself. Cost-reducing measures taken during construction led to quick deterioration.
Courtesy of CHA, Photography: Matt Tuteur
Although original residents were the Italian families (who inhabited the land before), the housing later became exclusively black. Due to the racial biases in Chicago at the time, the maintena...