Urban and Housing Indicators

(b) Urban housing programme

Financing Urban Housing and Infrastructure

INURBE National Urban Housing Institute

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

The new Urban Housing Strategy of 1996 focuses on land, housing markets and financial strategies.

F. Resolution 15 6 Urban and housing performance indicators

261. In the field of housing and urban development, the issue is to adjust housing and the urban living space to the needs of children.

Providing improved housing and associated services to the urban poor

267. The most important area of commitment in housing and building policy is publicly subsidized urban renewal, governed by the Act on Urban Renewal and Housing Improvements.

Lesotho is currently reviewing the national housing policy, which will address urban as well as rural housing.

In addition the Government has formulated guidelines for urban reforms, which included the establishment of public housing funds for urban dwellers, rental increases for public housing and the sale of the existing public housing stock.

In order to improve housing conditions for the urban poor, the Government is proposing two programmes for the next five years urban renewal and public rental housing construction.

Botswana is extending the coverage of its self help housing programme which has produced more than 50 per cent of the housing stock in the urban areas and provides housing for some 63 per cent of the urban population.

The African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development is another example.

545 (XXV) Housing and urban development in Latin America and the Caribbean

A National Urban Policy is under way, which includes a large housing component.

Sri Lanka plans to expand the collection of indicators to all urban areas, and establish a national housing and urban data bank.

This is a subsidy programme operating in urban areas through the National Institute of Urban Housing (INURBE) and the Social Support Network.

Resolution 20 2 Establishment of the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development

In addition, housing policy is also to be integrated with urban management and transportation.

In improving housing for the urban poor, Governments can assume two functions facilitating housing provision and improvement by individuals and private entrepreneurs and directly providing affordable housing to the poor.

Within YUVA Urban there has emerged a gradual shift from an entity dealing primarily with issues such as housing and livelihood, in Mumbai, towards a universal urban entity that includes the agendas of urban environment and urban governance.

Under the Act on Urban Renewal and Housing Improvement the individual municipality is responsible for initiating, planning and implementing urban renewal at the local level.

The application of the urban and housing indicators has identified the need for human resource development in several areas in the urban and shelter sectors.

Construction costs have increased during recent years and the housing crisis is serious, with a high proportion of informal housing in the largest urban centres.

The measures implemented included a new housing credit system, implementation of several housing programmes in urban centres and a review of systems of land acquisition.

Kenya drew from the Urban and Housing Indicators to identify its own set of policy sensitive housing indicators, namely, needs indicators and national performance indicators.

Twelve specific issues in housing and urban management were identified for concerted action in the region.

(e) Accessibility adequate housing is not always accessible to indigenous peoples, especially in urban areas, as a result of the discriminatory attitudes of housing providers, which create barriers in the rental housing market.

It is directed especially towards the large urban municipalities in which there are many rental housing units or where there have been periods of housing shortage.

The Build together National Housing Programme being implemented through the participatory process includes new housing in urban and rural areas, upgrading and regularization of informal settlements, and community based cooperative housing and savings schemes.

As in the case of providing land for social housing and urban development, its activities are part of the general effort to improve urban and territorial planning.

Urban areas should provide opportunities in terms of access to better housing, health services, schools and employment.

These will be achieved through the strengthening of the housing finance system and existing institutions in charge of housing decentralization of urban development reconstruction of old housing and promotion of multilevel housing together with the improvement of road infrastructure in residential areas.

It relied on modern and environmentally sound techniques in the planning of urban development and construction of housing which met rigorous quality standards in rural and urban areas.

There will be upgrading of rural housing and the construction quality of both urban and rural housing and their capacity to resist natural disasters will register new improvements.

It has also supported the efforts of several Governments in the application of the urban and housing indicators.

In urban areas, overcrowding, invasion by squatters, slums, condemned housing and lack of access to housing programmes are some of the factors affecting the living conditions of Panamanian women.

Jordan is undertaking reforms in the housing and urban sector, aiming to engage the private sector in housing provision for the low income groups, by simplifying the processes involved and empowering private sector developers to apply the same procedures and standards as are used by the main public sector agency, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation.

The objectives are to promote a quantitative increase in housing production in the rural areas, introduce technologies involving local materials and resources for rural and peri urban housing and to promote low cost and self build housing programmes.

Mongolia plans to formulate a national urban and housing policy which would include laws and regulations on urban management and planning and programmes for decentralization, infrastructure development, capacity building and creation of awareness in the area of urban management.

The Government is focusing its housing strategy on the establishment of the Permanent Housing Chamber within the National Urban Policy Council, the revision of codes and housing legislation according to Brazilian realities and the needs of low income groups.

The Urban Economy and Finance Branch within the Monitoring and Research Division conducts research on policies and strategies in urban planning, economic development, poverty eradication, and municipal and housing finance systems.

(c) Mr. Dennis Shea, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the United States of America