ACCEPTABILITY OF VERTICAL HOUSING AMONG INFORMAL SETTLER FAMILIES

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and limited urban land have intensified the need for socially responsive housing for informal settler families. This descriptive quantitative study examined the stated acceptability of vertical housing among 377 adult household heads or representatives surveyed in Barangays Baybay, Cogon, Culasi, and Dumolog, Roxas City, Capiz. A researcher-developed questionnaire elicited household characteristics, housing preferences, and ratings concerning livelihood distance, utilities, services, inclusive accessibility, safety, tenure, and well-being. Frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used. Respondents commonly belonged to medium-to-large, low-income households, and fishing was the dominant livelihood. Most preferred concrete, multi-storey housing and three or more bedrooms. Location near work and transportation, functioning utilities, schools, markets and health services, accessible circulation, structural and fire safety, and documented tenure received very high ratings. A separate single item also indicated very high general acceptability (M = 3.538, SD = 0.79), although its greater dispersion showed less uniformity than the domain-specific ratings. The findings indicate favorable stated acceptability among the surveyed households, conditional on livelihood continuity, affordability, essential services, accessibility, safety, suitable unit size, and tenure security. They inform architectural criteria but do not establish citywide acceptance or the technical and financial feasibility of the proposed development.