Ger District Insights
Throughout the month of December I sought to live in Ulaanbaatar’s most polluted District, Songino Khairkhan, in order to develop a more intimate understanding of Ger District life. In seeking to empathize with families living in the Ger Areas, I lived with three different families living in 5 Khana Gers (284 sq.ft.).
While living with different families, I developed a better understanding of the day to day challenges and advantages of living in a Traditional Ger in Ulaanbaatar. Throughout my stay I interviewed an additional 15 families to cultivate a more extensive understanding of families’ current living situations as well as their future housing aspirations.
Figure 2: Map of Ulaanbaatar on the left, in purple is the Songino Khairkhan District, the most polluted district of UB.
Figure 3: Map of EcoTown Ger District Community where insights were collected from 18 families. The pink building is EcoTown's head quarters. The 18 families interviewed are highliteghted in purple.
The questions asked sought to understand each families: reasons for moving to Ulaanbaatar, employment, expenditures, loans, financial situation, health, current living practices in a ger and/or baishin, preferences surrounding their future home as well as current laws and regulations surrounding housing in the ger districts. Some of the key information collected during this time included:
Monthly household income
Monthly electrical Bill
Coal Consumption throughout the year
Existing household loans
Existing medical and grocery costs
Household living preferences: Traditional Mongolian Ger vs. Baishin (Western style home)
For more information on the qualitative and quantitative research, click here →.