Incremental Housing as a method to the Sustainable Habitat

The article discusses the research relate to the study of Incremental Housing models as a contribution to achieve sustainability in developing societies. The slums as products of unsustainability and uncontrolled urban growth generate social disparities on the quality of life. These areas characterized by an organic morphology generated without rules results in a precarious and no minimum standards housing. This contributes negatively to social development and has consequences in public health. The research focuses the housing model that can be applied to promote the slums transformation and its integration in the formal urban area. The intervention model also allows the rehabilitation and improves the housing security by regenerating the local activities to change the dynamics of unregulated development of theinformal areas. The integration and involvement of residents during the process was developed using participatory processes. This social integration component in the planning, housing construction and neighborhood development allow the achievement of the most appropriate solution to the needs and at the same time, reinforce the sense of belonging to the neighborhood and contributing to sustainable development. The research findings are applied to a case study: The Slum Barruncho, Odivelas. The conclusions shows the advantages of integration and participation of the population and make clear some of the options taken by the population for the application of vernacular construction techniques that influences the transformation model of a debilitated environment.