United Nations Habitat Agenda Defines Housing
The United Nations Habitat Agenda defines housing to mean adequate privacy, adequate space, physical accessibility, structural stability and durability, adequate lighting, heating and ventilation, adequate basic infrastructure (water supply, sanitation and waste management facilities), suitable environmental quality and health-related factors, and accessible location to work and basic facilities. In addition, the Habitat Agenda defines adequate housing to mean affordability, and healthy housing to mean it is sited, designed, built, renovated, and maintained in ways to support the health of its residents.
According to David E. Jacobs, physical infrastructure, and housing in particular, determines “people’s very individual and collective identities.” The survival of a community depends on a “functional, protective, and equitable housing stock,” providing shelter from the elements and access to food, clean water, clothing, and other basic necessities. Jacobs says:
Physical infrastructure is a major part of what people need to build social norms. How well that infrastructure performs and which groups it serves best (and worst) have important implications…populations that are ill served by physical infrastructure and inadequate housing have a host of unmet needs and environmental diseases and injuries, making their full participation in a productive society problematic. This results in profound losses for society at large, as well for at-risk communities and individuals.
Jacobs outlines five different categories in which the conditions of the physical dwelling contribute to adverse health effects: physical conditions (heat, cold, inadequate light, ventilation, exposure to radon or other fine particulates); chemical conditions (carbon monoxide, secondhand smoke, lead, volatile organic chemicals); biological conditions (rodents, cockroaches and their associated allergens, dust mites, humidity, mold); building and equipment conditions (access to sewer services, accidents and injuries); and social conditions (architectural features related to mental health).
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spokesperson Ed Cabrera, "Housing needs are very extreme on tribal lands. They face a lot of challenges with sanitation, structural deficiencies, homelessness and other things we take for granted.” Homes for Native Americans need to be not only structurally sufficient but must also have working appliances, indoor plumbing, and heat. A 2017 HUD report noted that 34 percent of Native American homes have one or more physical problems (as opposed to just 7 percent in U.S. households), and 16 percent of homes in tribal areas are overcrowded, (compared to just 2 percent of all U.S. households). In addition, less than half of the homes on reservations are hooked connected to public sewer systems and 16% lack indoor plumbing.