Abstract
<p><em>This paper investigates the impact of cultural lineage (wantokism) in Papua New Guinea on public housing affordability and sustainability in the country, using the two largest cities of Port Moresby and Lae as case studies in a country that has maintained strong cultural bonds of families, clans and tribes for centuries to support each other in the Melanesian way. In principle, public housing units are subsidised by government and other public institutions to cushion the harsh effects of inflation and property market externalities on low- and middle-income civil servants who can hardly afford market rentals. However, other factors such as cultural lineage (wantokism)</em><em> </em><em>tend</em><em> </em><em>to wipe off the intended benefits of the so-called subsidy. A study of eight (four from each city) randomly selected public housing areas in the two cities of Port Moresby and Lae was carried out in 2016witha representative, stratified random sample of 157 sitting tenants. The stratification of the population was based on low, medium and high</em><em> </em><em>income groups using the country’s public servants’ performance salary scale 2012-2013, which is a secondary database. Data collection instruments were structured questionnaires, formal and informal interviews combined with simultaneous field observations through transact walk. Based on a theoretical framework gleaned from the General Systems Theory, findings indicate that the “cultural lineage” of the indigenous people of PNG has a significant negative impact on public housing affordability exacerbated by adverse economic factors including low</em><em> </em><em>income and low housing allowances paid to public housing tenants by public employers, including the government. The study also reveals that cultural lineage has a significant negative impact on the aggregate income of households due to</em><em> </em><em>extended family size, high incidence of family members who are not gainfully employed,</em><em> </em><em>high dependency rate in the extended families with expected responsibilities as guardians,</em><em> </em><em>marital status of many tenants with many children who attend schools, and the low educational qualifications of some tenants with daunting commitments to the lineage group. The paper makes strategic recommendations including speedy codification of PNG customs, mass empowerment, and improved economic emancipation of the general public for purposes of raising housing affordability levels in PNG in general and in the two cities of Port Moresby and Lae in particular.</em><em></em></p>
Highlights
This study is an investigation of the impact of cultural lineage or customs manifesting as wantokism on the affordability of public housing units in Papua New Guinea, with focus on the two largest cities of Port Moresby and Lae
This paper investigates the impact of cultural lineage in Papua New Guinea on public housing affordability and sustainability in the country, using the two largest cities of Port Moresby and Lae as case studies in a country that has maintained strong cultural bonds of families, clans and tribes for centuries to support each other in the Melanesian way
Based on a theoretical framework gleaned from the General Systems Theory, findings indicate that the “cultural lineage” of the indigenous people of PNG has a significant negative impact on public housing affordability exacerbated by adverse economic factors including low income and low housing allowances paid to public housing tenants by public employers, including the government
Summary
This study is an investigation of the impact of cultural lineage or customs manifesting as wantokism on the affordability of public housing units in Papua New Guinea, with focus on the two largest cities of Port Moresby and Lae. Our literature review and field investigations both confirm that family bonds in PNG (extended networks of family ties) link back to the cultural lineages of tribalship and clanship in the rural communities of the household head or spouse where customary land is owned by tribes or clans These are strong cultural bonds that are still practised today in both the rural communities and urban centres of the country. Thetraditional lineage group’s culture has incrementally blended itself with the emergent and modern PNG society’s lifestyle due to the former’s significance to the lives of the indigenous people through the generations This cultural practice has been identified in this paper as a major driving force behind the seeming intractable public housing affordability dilemma facing most public service tenants in PNG today. The framework demonstrates how a tenant in a public housing unit who is saddled with lineage bonds is economically and socially inhibited by the various housing needs of the lineage group, which eventually result in public housing affordability dilemma (Figure 1)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
