Housing

The Gamble of Land: Russians in Africa

When talking about foreign investment in Africa, China springs to mind first. Chinese malls, Chinese highways, Chinese bridges. But Chinese housing? Not so much. Because like so many other investors, the Chinese failed to link the target market with the much-needed quality social housing. On a continent where mortgage markets barely exceed 5% of GDP (compare that with 40% of GDP in North America and a whopping 80% in Denmark!), owning a house is merely a dream for most — a pretty far-off dream. Read more.

Submitted by Editor — Wed, 07/10/2013 - 12:43

Slum clearance calls for better social housing initiatives

The Makoko riverfront is an informal residential area that is Lagos' largest and most visible slum. It is located right beside the busiest highway in the state, which is the most used route to link the mainland to Lagos Island. Makoko village is mostly made up of fishermen and their families, and it is here that the famous floating school is being built. This informal community has been a bone of contention for the state government for three main reasons: it is unsanctioned, shanties have expanding beyond the established boundary, and some of the erected shanties are dangerously close to electric lines and poles. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Wura — Mon, 07/01/2013 - 00:00

Toolkit to protect housing rights

On July 13, 2010, approximately 15 buildings in the areas of Establ Antar and Ezbet Khairallah were demolished. As written in the 2011 Amnesty International report, families in these buildings were forced to remove their personal possessions and pay 200 LE (approximately $36 USD) for truck to take their belongings to alternative housing units in 6th of October City. Once the demolition began, security forces at the scene began to offload the belongings of 21 families, claiming that they were trying to cheat the enumeration process for free housing and they weren't residents of the area. These families were then told that by paying 5000 LE ($890 USD) to a middle-man, they could be placed on the enumeration list. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Howaida Kamel — Mon, 07/01/2013 - 00:00

Upgrading Mumbai's slums from within

Mumbai's quest to become a world-class city shines with rhetoric of "clean" and "green." The efforts have spawned policies of making the city slum-free; demolitions, relocations and high-rise government slum redevelopment buildings define much of the existing plan and actions. Standing in between the government's Shanghai dream and the existing state is 62 percent of the city's population who lives in slums. The "eyesores" are taking up precious city land that has grown in value exponentially over the decades. Plans to deal with the impediments ignore the vibrant upgrading and development that has been taking place inside these settlements all over the city. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Carlin Carr — Mon, 07/01/2013 - 00:00

طاقم أدوات لحماية حقوق السكن

في اليوم الثالث عشر من يوليو سنة ٢٠١٠، تم هدم ما يقرب من ١٥ مبنى في منطقتي إسطبل عنتر وعزبة خير الله. بين تقرير منظمة العفو الدولي Amnesty International report 2011 أن العائلات التي كانت تعيش في هذه المساكن أجبرت على إزالة ممتلكاتهم الشخصية ودفع ٢٠٠ جنيها مصريا (حوالي ٣٦ دولار أمريكي) لشحن أمتعتهم إلى الوحدات السكنية البديلة في مدينة ٦ أكتوبر. عندما بدأت عملية الهدم، قامت قوات الأمن بإفراغ هذه الوحدات السكنية، مدعين أن هذه الاسر ليس لها الحق أن تعيش في هذه المباني لأنها حاولت غش عملية التعداد للحصول على السكن المجاني. ثم قيل لهؤلاء السكان أنهم يمكنهم دفع ٥٠٠٠ جنيه (٨٩٠ دولار أمريكي) لتسجيل اسمهم في قائمة التعداد.

Submitted by Howaida Kamel — Mon, 07/01/2013 - 00:00

Mafalala is the capital of Maputo — a story about city identity, cultural heritage and poverty alleviation

"Mafalala is the capital of Maputo," Ivan told me the first time we met in Mafalala, Maputo's oldest township. As in many other informal settlements, the population of Mafalala (21,000 inhabitants) lives in severely disadvantaged conditions, with insufficient and inadequate basic services and infrastructure, inadequate houses and social services, acute security and health problems, and high unemployment levels. Mafalala is, however, also a place of national pride and collective identity, with a rich history infused with the struggle for independence, a landscape marked by colorful historic corrugated iron and wood houses, and a multicultural population that live together in mutual respect for each others' traditions. Read more.

Submitted by Editor — Tue, 06/25/2013 - 10:22

Protests are just the beginning — change will come to Brazil

Anyone comparing countries can quickly conclude there isn’t a direct fixed relationship between economic growth and quality public services. Per capita income can be terrible while total national income is high. Economic growth can be high yet maintain widespread inequality. This is not a sustainable way to run a country, yet this is how things are and have always been done in Brazil, the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery and today the world’s 7th largest economy where 21% of the population is still under the poverty line. Brazil today is 106th in GDP per capita. We also rank among the worst in inequality, at number 17, although this is a significant improvement over the 1st place position we occupied two decades ago. Read more.

Submitted by Catalytic Communities — Thu, 06/20/2013 - 11:08

Makoko's floating school project — an uncertain future

Makoko is a slum settlement on the Lagos Lagoon. There are no reliable population figures, but estimates for the number of inhabitants range from 100,000 to 300,000. According to the NGO Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC), Makoko supplies forty percent of the dried fish sold in Lagos. The settlement is not a face of Lagos that the state government is proud of, and there have been attempts to pull it down and evict the inhabitants, as has been done elsewhere. The first time I visited Makoko, in November 2011, residents showed me (I was visiting with two foreign journalists) evidence of what the demolitioners had accomplished on a previous mission. Read more.

Submitted by Tolu Ogunlesi — Fri, 05/10/2013 - 09:37

Partnerships key for equity in Transit Oriented Development

The term Private Public Partnerships (PPP) in India is a dirty one. While partnerships present an opportunity for stakeholder collaboration that generate value by pooling of complementary expertise and resources, the practice in India has meant subcontracting of tasks and strategy by public sector to the private sector with little accountability or responsibilities on outcomes. The only driver of the partnership has been project finance and profits. This has been especially true in housing or slum redevelopment schemes from Dharavi in Mumbai to Katputali colony in Delhi driven by PPPs between city governments and large private developers. Maximizing the value of land while delivering maximum number of low-income housing are contradictory and misleading national policy objectives with fatal social outcomes. Read more.

Submitted by Rakhi Mehra — Fri, 04/05/2013 - 04:51

Interview with a homeless youth

Homelessness in Nairobi is not always apparent to the passer-by. By night the streets of central town are not full of people sleeping rough as is often the case in affluent "developed" cities. Even in slums, homelessness is quite contained, with people cramming into tiny huts but not on the beaten paths outside. There is, however, one part of the population that makes a living in the shadows of Nairobi's streets. These are youth, constantly on the run from the police, many of whom make a bed for themselves when night falls wherever they can. Read more or join the discussion.

Submitted by Katy Fentress — Mon, 03/11/2013 - 01:00

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