ABSTRACT

Although it is commonly stated that there is a relationship between housing conditions and the health and well-being of residents, there is still no widely shared consensus about the nature of that relationship. None the less, there are some pathological conditions that can be attributed to the quality of dwelling units and their surroundings. For example, it is generally recognized that adequate housing provides protection against exposure to agents and vectors of communicable diseases by ensuring a supply of non-polluted potable water, the disposal of sanitary and solid wastes, adequate drainage of surface water, protection against diseases transmitted from the building structure, non-polluted indoor and outdoor air and facilities for maintaining personal and domestic hygiene, including safe food preparation. In these respects, the performance of built environments in general, and of domestic environments in particular, can be evaluated by examining these kinds of indicators in relation to the health and well-being of the occupants.