Housing Policies for the Urban Poor in Developing Countries

Abstract

A large proportion of the urban population in developing countries lives in informal settlements due largely to rapid population growth and widespread poverty. Traditional regulatory measures—price control, minimum physical standards, eradication of squatter settlements, and urban growth control have failed to improve the housing conditions among the poor. More recently, international donor agencies have encouraged new policies based on affordability for consumers, and many developing countries are shifting their priorities to upgrading existing informal settlements and to sites and services projects for low-income settlements. Both traditional and recent government policies are guided by three key norms—unique occupancy, minimum physical standards, and one-step regularization—which are not in line with the individuals' behavior in the housing market. Therefore, governments and donor agencies need to critically examine the impacts of these norms and to consider alternative strategies such as multiple occupancy, adaptable shared housing, and multistep housing development.