Reflections on urban public housing paradigms, policies, programmes and projects in developing countries

Abstract

This article examines the range of strategic policy alternatives, employed by state housing agencies. 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 other 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 twenty-first century and reflects on ‘where next’, making a distinction between ‘public housing’ and ‘social housing’ strategies and the importance of the principle of subsidiarity to ensure the political and managerial sustainability of urban development and housing production, maintenance and management.