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The SDC is playing a pioneering role in Georgia in the construction of social housing. The system draws on neighbourhood support in order to sustainably improve the socially and economically
weakest members of the community. This includes those who have been internally displaced due to conflict, elderly persons living on their own, or single mothers.
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| Dependent on help from her neighbours: Totchka Dartsmelia |
Totchka Dartsmelia is desperate: "My entire pension is spent on medication." The 27 years which the old lady spent working in a galvanizing factory have impaired her health. She can only walk a few
steps on crutches, and getting up is a trial.
"Fortunately I have my neighbours," says Totchka Dartsmelia. "They bring me my medication, do my shopping and take me to the doctor if necessary." She lives in shared accommodation in the Georgian
capital of Tbilisi, in what was formerly a hall of residence for students at the Polytechnic Institute. The building is home to some 1,500 residents who fled from the conflicts in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia in the early 1990s. The fate they share motivates them to help each other wherever possible.
Alternative to a retirement or nursing home
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| Venera Tshimsheleishvili is worried: she will probably have to leave her shared accommodation. |
Many state-owned properties in Georgia are currently in the process of being privatised. At present the residents do not know whether the Polytechnic's hall of residence will be affected by this
trend. The process has already gone one stage further at another shared accommodation building, the Sakhenergo Workers' Home, where invalid Venera Tshimsheleishvili and her fellow residents have been
given notice of eviction. They have lodged a court appeal against the decision but already fear that they will end up on the street, since it is extremely difficult to find another place to live.
Low-cost housing is a rarity in Tbilisi. People like Totchka Dartsmelia and Venera Tshimsheleishvili face an additional danger: If they are forcibly removed from their network of neighbourhood
assistance, they can no longer live on their own. The only alternative is a retirement or nursing home.
Institutionalising neighbourhood support
This situation prompted the SDC to formulate a "Social Housing in a Supportive Environment" concept. "Rather than leaving neighbourhood
support to chance," says Ernesto Morosin, humanitarian coordinator in the Southern Caucasus, "we institutionalise it." How does this work? In a suburb of Tbilisi four blocks are being built with
space to accommodate 30 apartments. 28 are designed for one to two persons who are able to live on their own but require external assistance now and again. Two significantly larger apartments are
intended for specially selected families who exhibit proven social skills despite coming from socially deprived segments of the community. They create the targeted social and supportive environment
in the settlement, helping other residents with little problems such as changing a light bulb, and calling on social services or a doctor whenever the need arises.
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| The former Polytechnic Institute students' residence in Tbilisi houses 1,500 internally displaced persons. |
Ernesto Morosin is convinced that this system works. The positive experience which the SDC has acquired with similar projects in Serbia and Armenia support his conviction. He believes that the
construction of the housing is the easiest part of the task. "The tricky part is selecting the tenants. The social mix must be just right". For example, to safeguard against any ghettoisation of
internally displaced persons, two fifths of the apartments are allocated to other socially disadvantaged members of the community, i.e. the elderly or single mothers.
The selection process is only just beginning in Georgia. Mamuka Katsarava, the official at the Tbilisi municipal administration responsible for the first pilot project in Georgia, believes that
transparency is essential in the selection process: "No-one should be able to accuse us of failing to select the persons with the greatest needs." The municipal administration will be the owner and
manager of the accommodation. This way, whenever an apartment becomes vacant it can be re-assigned to another needy individual. The city is also responsible for building maintenance, since the
residents have no means of bearing such costs themselves.
A concept with a positive impact
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| Construction of the social housing is almost complete – the first social housing to be built in Tbilisi since the end of the Soviet Union. |
Close to sixty persons will be housed in the new settlement: A tiny number compared to the 240,000 internally displaced persons throughout Georgia and the tens of thousands of poor who cannot afford
any housing. Ernesto Morosin is well aware of this. "But the main task is to demonstrate that it is possible to create social housing," he explains. "We want to show that the concept works." The
government in Serbia has adopted the concept for a national programme of social housing construction, and is now in the process of building such settlements.
Tbilisi is experiencing a building boom – but so far only for the wealthy. There is therefore a major need for social housing, according to Mamuka Katsarava of the municipal administration. This has
been neglected for too long, she adds: the city has not built a single social housing block since the end of the Soviet Union. Mamuka Katsavara therefore views the SDC project as a fresh start.
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The Project in Brief
Division
Humanitarian Aid, Section Europe and GUS
Country / Region
Georgia
Partners
Municipal administration of Tbilisi, Ministry for Refugees and Housing, Ministry for Labour and Social Welfare, UNDP, Principality of Liechtenstein
Introduction/ background information
Some 240,000 internally displaced persons currently live in Georgia in the wake of various conflicts. Around half this number lives in
state-run shared accommodation. These premises are increasingly being privatised, forcing residents to move out and threatening to destroy the networks of neighbourhood support, social and economic
assistance that have been built up over the years. In the dynamic housing market it is virtually impossible for poor and socially disadvantaged members of the population – including internally
displaced persons – to find a place to live.
Project objective
Reconstruction of basic health-care facilitieThe pilot project in Tbilisi provides ideas and the impetus for the construction of social housing in Georgia.
Its overriding aim is to persuade the government of Georgia to enshrine the concept of "Social Housing in a Supportive Environment" as a fixed element of national social welfare policy.
As a direct impact, internally displaced persons and needy members of the community will be able to live a largely self-sufficient life thanks to institutionalised neighbourhood support.
Financial framework
First pilot project in Georgia: CHF 1 million, of which the Principality of Liechtenstein contributed CHF 450,000
Duration
August 2007 to September 2008
Contact
Swiss Coordination Office for the Southern Caucasus in Tbilisi
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Projects Overview