Research On Application Of Industrialized Housing System For Housing Development-The Case Of Housing Development In Addis Ababa,Ethiopia

The high rate of urbanization and the ever-increasing population growth have brought a great challenge in providing decent and affordable housing.The challenge is immense in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.The industrialized housing system is regarded as an effective building philosophy based on off-site construction techniques to achieve rapid and cost-effective housing development.Inspired by this,the study aims to understand,analyze,and develop the following four issues.First,the study aims to examine and review the application of the industrialized housing system in the context where there is a high demand for the provision of affordable housing.Second,the study develops and analyzes a decision-making model for the evaluation of suitable housing systems for affordable housing development in the context of Addis Ababa.Third,the objective is to understand the strategic business perspectives of industrialized building companies related to product-service offers and the life-cycle of the industry in order to enhance and sustain their capacity for the production of suitable housing system for housing development.Fourth,the study proposes and analyzes,and understands the model for the design-construction approach as well as to propose a framework for the purpose of quantitative evaluation of the stakeholders' collaboration for the purpose of optimization of the performance of the design and the construction efficiency in the industrialized housing development.The study methodology is a combined strategy case study,more precisely,a multi-method and multi-phase study.Several methodologies were used in the different studies that constitute the dissertation.These methodologies include survey-based literature reviews,qualitative and quantitative analysis,interviews,and case studies.The findings revealed that the adoption of the industrialized housing system requires a fundamental structural change in the industry as well as the way people in the building industry work,both in terms of the process and product.Furthermore,the suitable housing systems selected for application in affordable housing development have the characteristics of being lightweight,easy to produce,erect,and cost-effective,as well as use local input resources and semi-skilled labor.In addition,the study showed that the use of deep customer values,application of appropriate technologies as well as continuous improvement in product types and production platforms are the effective strategic business approach for industrialized house-building companies.Further findings revealed that the system structure view of the design-construction approach(including the material,technical,and assembly order)in industrialized housing construction simplifies the complex process and improves its efficiency.In addition,different sets and modes of collaborations had a direct impact on the performance of the design-construction efficiency of industrialized housing construction.This paper contributes to the theoretical construction of the decision-making model,and strategic business model as well as the design-construction analysis model including the framework and methods for quantitative evaluation of stakeholders' ' collaboration.In addition,the study has a practical implication to make informed and effective decisions,to understand the characteristics of strategic business perspectives,as well as to achieve designconstruction efficiency and effective stakeholders' collaboration.