Housing in Developing Cities Experience and Lessons

Universally, the production, maintenance and management of housing have been, and continue to be, market-based activities. Nevertheless, since the mid-twentieth century virtually all governments, socialist and liberal alike, have perceived the need to intervene in urban housing markets in support of low-income households who are denied access to the established (private sector) housing market by their lack of financial resources.

Housing in Developing Cities examines the range of strategic policy alternatives that have been employed by state housing agencies to this end. They range from public sector entry into the urban housing market through the direct construction of (?conventional?) ?public housing? that is let or transferred to low-income beneficiaries at sub-market rates, to the provision of financial supports (subsidies) and non-financial incentives to private sector producers and consumers of urban housing, and to the administration of (?non-conventional?) programmes of social, technical and legislative supports that enable the production, maintenance and management of socially acceptable housing at prices and costs that are affordable to low-income urban households and communities. It concludes with a brief review of the direction that public housing policies have been taking at the start of the 21st century and reflects on 'where next', making a distinction between ?public housing? and ?social housing? strategies and how they can be combined in a ?partnership? paradigm for the 21st century.

Foreword. Preface. Chapter 1. Informal housing procurement processes Chapter 2. Public sector intervention in low-income group housing Chapter 3. Enabling supports & ‘non-conventional’ housing strategies Chapter 4. Three case studies of enabling support strategies Chapter 5. The return to ‘conventional’ public housing production & incentives to private sector developers Chapter 6. Where Next Chapter 7. Partnership paradigm for the 21st Century Chapter 8. Components of support to incremental development Chapter 9. Some conclusions, capacity building & the way forward

Patrick Wakely is an independent consultant and Professor Emeritus of Urban Development in London University and former Director of the Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London (UCL). An architect (AA Dipl, London), he has 40 years of experience of research, consultancy and teaching in housing, planning and urban development, on which he has worked in more than 20 developing countries.