Urbanisation, Housing and the Development Process


Book Description

Initially published in 1981, this book examines the problems of housing provision for the urban poor in developing countries, within the context of the development process as a whole. The investigation concentrates on the political economy of housing investment and illustrates how programmes and policies are often determined by broader development issues. Commencing with a discussion of urban growth in the Third World, the author then provides a general discussion on housing provision within contemporary development planning in the Third World. Four main types of accommodation âe" government construction, private sector, squatter housing and slum âe" are examined in terms of their contemporary and potential roles in meeting low cost housing needs. Drawing on evidence from a number of Asian countries, the study argues that the real needs of the urban poor are not being met, and that other political and economic objectives, set by the established elites of society, predominate.




Rental Housing


Book Description

The discussion of where people live and how people pay for their housing has undergone a significant shift. Until the mortgage crisis erupted in 2008, the housing policy of most nations focused on increasing home ownership. There had been very little discussion about rental housing, less about social housing, and virtually none about public housing. The mortgage crisis showed the challenges inherent in pushing for home ownership for all. With homes going into foreclosure and with credit tightening in many countries, the need for rental housing increased dramatically. However, most countries are only beginning to consider supporting rental housing as a shelter option. This book is an effort to bring rental housing to the forefront of the housing agenda and to provide general guidance to policy makers. The information it provides can assist key players in housing markets--government officials, private rental property owners, financiers, and nongovernmental organizations--in including rental housing as a critical housing option and in having an informed discussion on how best to stimulate this sector.




Affordable Housing in the Urban Global South


Book Description

The global increase in the number of slums calls for policies which improve the conditions of the urban poor, sustainably. This volume provides an extensive overview of current housing policies in Asia, Africa and Latin America and presents the facts and trends of recent housing policies. The chapters provide ideas and tools for pro-poor interventions with respect to the provision of land for housing, building materials, labour, participation and finance. The book looks at the role of the various stakeholders involved in such interventions, including national and local governments, private sector organisations, NGOs and Community-based Organisations.




The Invisible Houses


Book Description

Winner of the ACSA/AIA Housing Design Education Award! There is an increased interest among architects, urban specialists and design professionals to contribute to solve "the housing problem" in developing countries. The Invisible Houses takes us on a journey through the slums and informal settlements of South Africa, India, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti and many other countries of the Global South, revealing the challenges of, and opportunities for, improving the fate of millions of poor families. Stressing the limitations of current approaches to housing development, Gonzalo Lizarralde examines the short-, mid- and long-term consequences of housing intervention. The book covers – among others – the issues of planning, design, infrastructure and project management. It explains the different variables that need to be addressed and the causes of common failures and mistakes, while outlining successful strategies based on embracing a sustained engagement with the complexity of processes that are generally invisible.




The Mystery of Capital


Book Description

A renowned economist argues for the importance of property rights in "the most intelligent book yet written about the current challenge of establishing capitalism in the developing world" (Economist) "The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph," writes Hernando de Soto, "is, in the eyes of four-fifths of humanity, its hour of crisis." In The Mystery of Capital, the world-famous Peruvian economist takes up one of the most pressing questions the world faces today: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail? In strong opposition to the popular view that success is determined by cultural differences, de Soto finds that it actually has everything to do with the legal structure of property and property rights. Every developed nation in the world at one time went through the transformation from predominantly extralegal property arrangements, such as squatting on large estates, to a formal, unified legal property system. In the West we've forgotten that creating this system is what allowed people everywhere to leverage property into wealth. This persuasive book revolutionized our understanding of capital and points the way to a major transformation of the world economy.




International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home


Book Description

Available online via SciVerse ScienceDirect, or in print for a limited time only, The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home, Seven Volume Set is the first international reference work for housing scholars and professionals, that uses studies in economics and finance, psychology, social policy, sociology, anthropology, geography, architecture, law, and other disciplines to create an international portrait of housing in all its facets: from meanings of home at the microscale, to impacts on macro-economy. This comprehensive work is edited by distinguished housing expert Susan J. Smith, together with Marja Elsinga, Ong Seow Eng, Lorna Fox O'Mahony and Susan Wachter, and a multi-disciplinary editorial team of 20 world-class scholars in all. Working at the cutting edge of their subject, liaising with an expert editorial advisory board, and engaging with policy-makers and professionals, the editors have worked for almost five years to secure the quality, reach, relevance and coherence of this work. A broad and inclusive table of contents signals (or tesitifes to) detailed investigation of historical and theoretical material as well as in-depth analysis of current issues. This seven-volume set contains over 500 entries, listed alphabetically, but grouped into seven thematic sections including methods and approaches; economics and finance; environments; home and homelessness; institutions; policy; and welfare and well-being. Housing professionals, both academics and practitioners, will find The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home useful for teaching, discovery, and research needs. International in scope, engaging with trends in every world region The editorial board and contributors are drawn from a wide constituency, collating expertise from academics, policy makers, professionals and practitioners, and from every key center for housing research Every entry stands alone on its merits and is accessed alphabetically, yet each is fully cross-referenced, and attached to one of seven thematic categories whose ‘wholes' far exceed the sum of their parts




Housing and Human Settlements in a World of Change


Book Description

The challenge of housing is increasingly recognised in international policy discussions in connection to the processes of migration, climate change, and economic globalisation. This book addresses the challenges of housing and emerging solutions along the lines of three major dynamics: migration, climate change, and neo-liberalism. It explores the outcomes of neo-liberal »enabling« ideas, responses to extreme climate events with different housing approaches, and how the dynamics of migration reshape the urban housing provision in a changing world. The aim is to contextualise the theoretical discourses by reflecting on the case study context of the eleven papers published in this book. With forewords by Raquel Rolnik (University Sao Paulo) and Mohammed El Sioufi (UN-Habitat).







A Neoliberal Framework for Urban Housing Development in the Global South


Book Description

A Neoliberal Framework for Urban Housing Development in the Global South highlights the factors which predict urban housing development from developing countries’ perspective, providing a guide for countries in the sub-Sahara.