Megacities are a nightmare for both their residents and planners. The sheer size, density, traffic jams, social problems, vulnerability of energy, food, and water supplies, waste disposal, and overall safety problems are features that are hardly controlled or not controlled at all. Nevertheless, a large city is a strong magnet, and large-scale immigration raises the question of housing. Although uncontrolled settlers and squatters must be dealt with by urban and social planners, the scope of this paper is the narrow but significant segment of urban dwelling design. This can be considered a further development of twentieth-century mass housing, but under different conditions. These include higher density, higher land costs, changes in social structure (smaller and nonstandard families), the globalization of living patterns, and dwelling culture in general. The old rules, norms, and algorithms are no longer appropriate. Several case-study examples show that changes are implemented in architects’ traditional attitude to dwelling design. In urban-planning zoning, a wellestablished method but a superposition of functions remains desired to achieve a proper urban life pattern. In the dwelling design as well, the principle of ‘one room, one function’ is in opposition to the trend toward the ‘open plan’ of multipurpose spaces. Copyright©2012 IAHS.
