Edmundo Werna

Modes of housing provision in developing countries

Abstract In the face of an estimated one billion people living in inadequate housing conditions in developing countries the need for scaling up housing supply has become an urgent focus of policy debate. To this end the expansion of the role of the private markets has formed the central thesis of the ‘enabling strategy’ for developing the housing sector as a whole rather than relying on project based approaches such as sites and services and settlement upgrading programmes. Policy recommendations emanating from such a standpoint concentrate on adjustments to supply and demand through deregulation and institutional development of the land and housing markets in developing countries in order to overcome largely external constraints to a more efficient market mechanism. This conception of the enabling strategy, however, has been subject to much debate and criticism for its over-concentration on the private markets and exclusion of alternative/complementary modes of housing provision from serious policy consideration. By utilising the structure and agency approach as its basic methodological tool of analysis this paper provides a comprehensive review of the scope and potential of different modes of housing provision in different contexts in developing countries. Thereby providing a firm comparative basis for examining the potential for expanded private market activity. The paper concludes that the severe underdevelopment of institutional capacities and human and material resources coupled with intricate and complex social, political, cultural and economic interactions between various agents and structures of provision create major obstacles to the efficiency of private land markets in developing countries. Therefore, while private markets can and should be supported they can not form the focus of the enabling strategy in most developing countries. Instead, the paper argues for a comprehensive approach to enabling strategies which combines adjustments to overall supply and demand conditions with the identification and inclusion of different modes and agents of housing provision in a holistic integrated policy.

Refocusing the housing debate in developing countries from a pluralist perspective

Abstract The debate on housing policy in developing countries since the late 1980s has been dominated by the World Bank led strategy of developing the housing sector as a whole by enabling primarily formal private markets to work more efficiently. Yet, the emphasis on private markets has led to the exclusion of complementary and alternative public, co-operative/community based and informal modes of housing provision from serious policy consideration. This paper argues for the adoption of a more integrated housing policy that is based on the recognition and better co-ordination of plurality of provision. Thereby, not only allowing further development of specific modes in appropriate socio-economic settings but also enabling the creation of synergies through combining complementary modes in order to overcome their relative weaknesses, we can boost supply to specific target groups.

Shelter, employment and the informal city in the context of the present economic scene: implications for participatory governance

Abstract This paper analyses the scope of policies related to both shelter and employment for reducing urban poverty. It puts forward suggestions on how to strengthen such policies through local governance processes. Yet, the paper states that such local processes and associated shelter–employment policies are constrained by the broad economic context: although valuable local actions to combat poverty have indeed succeeded to some extent (e.g. support to small-scale, labour intensive, informal production), counteracting global trends have in many circumstances strengthened conditions such as capital-intensive production, unstable employment, unemployment and/or intra-urban differentials. The paper challenges the possibility of a comprehensive and sustainable development without significant changes in the current global context. It elaborates on the links between the shelter–employment policies at the local level and the overall economic trends, and makes recommendations for action.

From healthy city projects to healthy cities

This paper discusses experience to date with the formulation and implementation of Healthy City projects in the South. After describing the origin of the Healthy Cities movement and what constitutes a Healthy City project, it reviews the experience of Healthy City initiatives in Fayoum (Egypt), Quetta (Pakistan) and Campinas (Brazil). It then discusses the roles of three critical stakeholders: international agencies (and how their support should facilitate local action rather than dictate it); local government staff and politicians (and the difficulties in getting their sustained support); and citizens and grassroots organizations. It ends by discussing how the real success of any Healthy City project is when it ceases to be a project, because the system it set up to ensure that health issues are given priority, to involve all stakeholders and to ensure that all sectors recognize that their role in healthy cities becomes part of the structure of local governance.

Working in Green Cities: Improving the Urban Environment While Creating Jobs and Enhancing Working Conditions

This paper analyzes the relationship between the urban environment and labor. Cities and towns will not be sustainable if the livelihoods of their inhabitants are not adequately addressed. At the same time, a well-trained labor force working in proper conditions is a vital asset for improving the urban environment. The paper shows that urban environmental problems have a negative impact on the lives and productivity of workers, and hence limitations for social and economic development. Improving the urban environment will not only counteract this impact, but also create businesses and employment. Initiatives to improve the urban environment require the active involvement of workers and enterprises. Therefore, the paper also notes the need for promoting training on green technologies, as well as the need for securing decent working conditions in the transition to greener cities and towns. The paper concludes by advocating an integrated approach to labor in urban areas, with particular considerations for the role of local authorities.