Enabling Shelter Strategies

ENABLING SHELTER STRATEGIES:
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

GUIDE FOR POLICYMAKERS
Quick Policy Guide Series - Volume 2
‘Quick Housing Policy Guides’ Series
As the scale of the housing challenge in the developing world increases at an alarming pace, the
need for real action to address affordable housing supply is becoming increasingly critical. To deal
with this challenge governments and local authorities need up-to-date knowledge on global housing
policy approaches in order to formulate effective policy instruments. Therefore, the objective of
the Quick Policy Guides series is to present, in an easy-to-read format, concepts, policy approaches,
tools, and recommendations to facilitate policy development for addressing the growing housing
challenge. The ongoing series is coordinated and produced by the Housing Policy Section of UN-
HABITAT and to date the following volumes have been published:
Volume 1: A Policy Guide to Rental Housing in Developing Countries
Volume 2: Enabling Shelter Strategies: Design and Implementation Guide for Policymakers
ENABLING SHELTER STRATEGIES:
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
GUIDE FOR POLICYMAKERS
Quick Policy Guide Series - Volume 2

ENABLING SHELTER STRATEGIES: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE FOR POLICYMAKERS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Principal Author: Michael Majale

Team Leader: Claudio Acioly Jr.
Contributors: Claudio Acioly Jr., Matthew French, Christophe Lalande,
Ellen Daltrop
Programme Assistant: Helen Musoke
English Editors: Matthew French, Ellen Daltrop and Roman Rollnik
Design and Layout: Gideon Mureithi
Printing: UNON, Publishing Services Section, Nairobi,
ISO 14001:2004-certified.
Disclaimer
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this guide do not imply
the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations
concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations Human
Settlements Programme, the United Nations, or its Member States.
Excerpts may be reproduced without authorisation, on condition that the source is indicated.
HS Number: HS/032/11E
ISBN number (Series): 978-92-1-132034-3
ISBN number (Volume): 978-92-1-132334-4
An electronic version of this publication is available for download from the UN-HABITAT web-site at
http://www.unhabitat.org, from our regional offices, or directly from:
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT),
P.O Box 30030,
Nairobi 00100,
KENYA
info@unhabitat.org
ii
PREFACE
PREFACE
G
overnments around the world solutions conducive to the development
have to be more proactive and delivery of affordable housing.
in ensuring that everyone,
especially the poorest of the It thus calls for a fundamental shift in
poor, can get decent, affordable housing. the role of government, from provider
As we grapple with the living conditions to enabler of affordable housing. While
in the world’s growing cities, especially for such strategies have been practiced
those living and coping with life in slums for a generation already, there are few
or sub-standard housing in developing publications documenting the successes,
countries, we have to help people get the the approaches and ways of implementing
best shelter possible. them.
We have to plan and manage housing The guide provides a clear description of
policy in a way that makes cities inclusive, how to design and implement an effective
welcoming places for all. enabling shelter strategy covering key
areas such as resource mobilisation, land,
Urbanisation is one of the most powerful, and construction. Importantly, it offers
irreversible forces in the world. It is guidance on how to involve a wide array of
estimated that over 90 percent of future government, local communities and their
urban growth will occur in the cities of Asia organizations, the business sector, and
and Africa, and to a lesser extent, Latin policy makers at all levels that so crucial to
America and the Caribbean. implementing a successful outcome.
Cities make countries rich. Highly urbanized It carries many examples from around the
countries have higher incomes, more stable world, and a list of relevant publications
economies, and stronger institutions. They and websites that deal with enabling
are better able to withstand the volatility shelter strategies.
of the global economy. But they cannot
maintain and in some cases even reach It is my hope that this state-of-the-art
these heights if large percentages of their guide addresses this great need for a
populations live in shelter so poor it is not succinct reference text on enabling shelter
worthy of the name. strategies, what they are and how they can
be implemented.
This calls for a shift in government thinking,
urban planning, and leadership.
Dr. Joan Clos
In UN-HABITAT parlance, the concept of
enabling shelter strategies, as described in
this publication, means that governments
have to nurture and create public policies, Executive Director
encourage more debate, and promote UN-HABITAT
QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 iii

CONTENTS
1 Enabling Strategies – a new approach to shelter 1
1.1 What is the Enabling Approach to Shelter? 1
1.2 The positive effects of successful enabling shelter strategies 7
1.3 Challenges with design and implementation of Enabling Shelter
Strategies 10
2 How to design and implement an effective Enabling
Shelter Strategy 13
2.1 Political will 13
2.2 Institutional reform 13
2.3 Legal and regulatory frameworks 15
2.4 Getting the Enabling Strategy elements right 16
2.4.1 Mobilization of human resources 16
2.4.2 Access to land for housing 18
2.4.3 Access to land for housing 20
2.4.4 Shelter production and improvement 22
2.4.5 Housing finance 25
3 How to initiate and facilitate a participatory shelter
strategy process 31
3.1 Government’s facilitative role 31
3.2 Participation in the shelter strategy process 32
3.3 Initiating and facilitating a participatory shelter process: a
tentative approach 32
3.4 Costs involved in a participatory strategy process 37
3.5 Typical problems encountered in implementing participatory
initiatives 38
4 Checklist 41
5 “The Do’s and Don’ts of the Enabling Approach to Shelter” 43
6 Underlying Principles of Enabling Shelter Strategies 47
7 References, bibliography and useful web-sites 49
iv
LIST OF BOXES
LIST OF BOXES
Box 1: The right to adequate housing 2

Box 2: Government involvement in the shelter sector 4
Box 3: What is ‘affordable housing’? 5
Box 4: Enabling housing strategies in Thailand 9
Box 5: South Africa: national legal recognition of the right to adequate housing 10
Box 6: Ways of increasing the supply of affordable serviced land 17
Box 7: The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), Karachi, Pakistan 20
Box 8: Actors involved in shelter production and improvement 22
Box 9: Components of slum upgrading 23
Box 10: Examples of urban poor federation funds 28
Box 11: Community-led infrastructure and finance in India 29
QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 v

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Housing policy evolution from direct public provision

to the enabling approach 3
Figure 2: A conceptual view of the shelter development and improvement
process 4
Figure 3: How the housing market works 6
Figure 4: A Model of the Housing Sector 7
Figure 5: The range of land rights 18
Figure 7: Indonesia’s Kampung Improvement Programme is characteristic
of slum upgrading and has improved 15 million lives 24
Figure 8: Enabling environment issues for housing finance 26
Figure 9: Types of participation in strategy design and implementation 32
Figure 10: The participatory strategy-making cycle 33
Figure 11: Key stages and actions in the strategy process 36
vi
ACRONYMS AND SPECIAL TERMS
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND SPECIAL TERMS
BLP Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme, UN-HABITAT

CAP Community action planning
CBO Community-based organization
CLIFF Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility
COHRE Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
GSS Global Shelter Strategy to the Year 2000
GUO Global Urban Observatory
HIC WAS Habitat International Coalition Women and Shelter Network
HUDCO Housing and Urban Development Corporation
NACHU National Co-operative Housing Union, Kenya
NGO Non-governmental organization
SACCO Savings and credit co-operatives
SPARC Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres
UCDO Urban Community Development Office, Thailand
UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme
QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 vii

Social housing programme in South Africa © UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly
viii
01
CHAPTER 1
ENABLING STRATEGIES
- A NEW APPROACH TO SHELTER
1.1 What is the Enabling Approach illustrated in Figure 2. These actors

to Shelter? include public organizations, the private
sector (both formal and informal), non-
The concept of the “enabling approach
governmental organizations (NGOs) and
to shelter” was first introduced in 1988
most importantly, the people themselves.
with the adoption of the Global Shelter
This is achieved through the creation, by
Strategy to the Year 2000 (GSS).1 Before
government at all levels, of facilitating
this, governments played a predominant
measures and incentives for housing
role in formulating and implementing
shelter housing policies and strategies.
They also had primary responsibility for The concept of “enabling
production and allocation of housing. In
this notion, governments were in charge
shelter strategies” calls
of housing development and improvement for a fundamental shift in
programmes and projects (Figure 1). The
GSS introduced a new comprehensive
the role of government,
framework for action—towards the from provider to enabler.
goal of facilitating adequate shelter for This is clearly outlined
all by the year 2000—that called for a
major shift in the role of government. in the “Global Shelter
This was subsequently endorsed and Strategy to the Year
comprehensively elaborated in The Istanbul
Declaration and The Habitat Agenda,2 2000” and the “Habitat
which provided a blueprint for achieving Agenda.”
the twin goals of ‘adequate shelter for
all’ and ‘sustainable human settlements
action to be carried out to a greater degree
development’.
by these actors. Thus, the government’s
The fundamental policy change was the role is essentially an “enabling” one—
adoption of an “enabling” approach mobilizing the resources of other actors
that mobilizes the full potential and and facilitating their deployment for
resources of all the actors in the housing the efficient provision of housing.
production and improvement process Ultimately, the enabling approach implies
the elements of which are conceptually that the people themselves can improve
QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 1

Box 1: s Affordability: the cost does not

threaten occupant’s enjoyment of other
The right to adequate housing5 rights.
Adequate housing was recognised as a part s Habitability: physical safety, adequate

of the right to an adequate standard of space, protection from environmental
living in the 1948 Universal Declaration of and health hazards.
Human Rights and in the 1966 International s Accessibility: for specific needs of
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural disadvantaged and marginalised
Rights. Key aspects of the right to adequate groups.
housing include:
s Location: close to employment,
Freedoms including: health-care, schools, and other social
s Protection against forced evictions facilities and not located in polluted or
and the arbitrary destruction and dangerous areas.
demolition of one’s home s Cultural adequacy: accounts for
s The right to be free from arbitrary expressions of cultural identity
interference with one’s home, privacy s Protection against forced evictions.
and family.
s The right to choose one’s residence,
to determine where to live and to
freedom of movement.
Entitlements including:
s Security of tenure
s Housing, land and property restitution;
s Equal and non-discriminatory access to
adequate housing
s Participation in housing-related
decision-making at the national and
community levels.
Adequate housing must provide more than
four walls and a roof.
For housing to be adequate it must, at a
minimum, meet the following criteria:
s Security of tenure: protection against
evictions and harassment and other
threats.
s Availability of services, materials,
facilities, infrastructure: provision
such as energy and safe water and
sanitation. Evicted families in Zimbabwe © UN-HABITAT
‹‹
2
CHAPTER 1
their housing conditions according to the an appropriate legal, institutional and

needs and priorities that they themselves regulatory environment, and ensuring
define. availability of housing finance for all
sectors of society. This will enable the
The enabling approach does not,
other actors in the shelter process to fulfil
however, mean that governments
their own potential and optimize their own
should withdraw completely from
contributions to housing development
housing. Indeed, governments have
and improvement.
a paramount role to play in creating
Modernisation and
urban growth
Physical planning and
direct shelter provision
by public authorities
Redistribution with
growth and basic
needs
State support to
self-help ‘sites and
services’ and slum
upgrading projects
The enabling
approach/urban
management
Securing an enabling
framework for action
by people, private
sector and markets
Sustainable urban
development
Holistic enablement
planning to balance
efficiency, equity and
sustainability
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Figure 1: Housing policy evolution from direct public provision to the enabling approach3

POLICIES
Actors Land Actors
FRAMEWORK
FRAMEWORK
REGULATORY
Infrastructure Housing Finance
LEGAL
development
&
improvement
Building Labour
Actors Materials Actors
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Figure 2: A conceptual view of the housing development and improvement process4
The enabling approach also requires

governments to recognize, promote, s Providing equal and secure access to
protect and ensure the full and progressive land and protection from illegal forced
eviction;
realization of the right to adequate
housing, which is enshrined in various s Ensuring transparent, comprehensive
international human rights treaties and and accessible land rights and tenure
instruments, for example the right to systems;
adequate housing (Box 1). s Promoting access for all to water,
sanitation, and other basic services
and amenities, especially for the poor,
Box 2: women, and other vulnerable and
disadvantaged groups;
Government involvement in the s Promoting equal access to appropriate
housing sector and affordable housing finance for
all, including mobilizing innovative
Actions that governments can take towards financial and other resources, both
promoting, protecting and ensuring the full public and private;
and progressive realization of the right to
adequate housing include: s Making housing habitable, affordable
and accessible by, among other ways;
s Prohibiting, and guaranteeing
protection from, housing s Mobilizing resources - both public and
discrimination on any ground; private - for housing development;
‹‹ ‹‹
4
CHAPTER 1
s Expanding the supply of affordable broadly defined as that which is reasonably

housing through appropriate regulatory adequate in standard and location for a
measures and market incentives; lower- and middle-income occupant(s) and
does not cost so much that it prohibits the
s Promoting the upgrading of existing occupant(s) meeting other basic living costs
housing stock through maintenance or threaten their enjoyment of basic human
and rehabilitation and provision of rights.
adequate basic services and amenities;
In European and North American countries
s Incentivising the private sector
affordability is principally assessed with
to develop affordable rental and
reference to the percentage of occupant
ownership housing;
income spent on housing expenses.
s Increasing affordability by providing Generally, housing is deemed affordable
subsidized and rental housing and other when a household spends less than 30 per
forms of housing assistance; cent of their income on housing related
expenses, such as mortgage repayments
s Supporting community-based, (for owner-occupiers), rent payments (for
cooperative and non-profit rental and tenants), and direct operational expenses
owner-occupied housing programmes; such as taxes, insurance and service
s Promoting support services for the payments.
homeless and other vulnerable groups.
The other common affordability
s Effectively monitoring and evaluating consideration is ‘purchasing affordability’.
housing conditions. It is calculated in reference to the median
purchase price of housing units and annual
median income in any given country; that
is, the number of annual median salaries
Box 3: it takes to buy a median-priced house.
While there is no universally agreed ratio
at which housing is deemed unaffordable,
What is ‘affordable housing’? purchasing affordability ratios enable
cross-country comparisons as well as the
The term ‘affordable housing’ is often used ability to track housing affordability within
to describe a type of housing for low- a country over time, as incomes and house
income people, which has a variety of other prices rise and/or fall.
names for instance ‘social housing’, ‘public
housing’, and ‘low-cost housing’. In this In developing countries where a significant
guide, however, it does not refer to a type proportion of housing is developed through
of housing (i.e. low-cost, social or public informal self-built methods and is of
housing) but rather relates to the financial variable quality, such informal housing may
affordability of housing with respect to be affordable in terms of cost but it may be
occupants’ income. of a very low quality. Nevertheless, when
assessing housing affordability in such
While there are no universally agreed countries the same principle can be used:
definitions of ‘affordable housing’, it is relating the cost of adequate-standard
typically associated with two fundamental housing (operational and purchase costs)
elements: housing costs and occupant’s to occupant income, for both renters and
income. Affordable housing can be owner-occupiers.
‹‹

Inputs Production Demand
Land P P
Landowners Renters
Infrastructure R R
Homeowners Homeowners
Finance I I
Landlords (Income &
Labour
C Developers C Population)
Materials
E E
Figure 3: How the housing market works6
How the housing sector works Enabling markets to work

Access to adequate and affordable Hundreds of millions of people live in
housing is determined by the performance inadequate housing in slums and informal
of the housing sector. Thus, an indepth settlements, in particular in developing
understanding of how the housing countries. A primary reason for this is
sector is structured and how it the failure of housing markets in those
functions is key to enabling access to
adequate and affordable housing for
all.
Figure 3 shows how the housing sector can
be viewed as an integrated market in which
trends in any one of the three segments—
inputs, production and demand—affect
performance in the other two segments.
In many countries, the housing market is
the principal housing delivery mechanism.
It is critical, therefore, that governments
enable it to function well. In particular,
government interventions are required to
address the high demand for housing at
affordable prices from the poor and other
disadvantaged and vulnerable groups,
which are insufficiently served by the Sun-dried brick production for self-help housing
market. processes in Chad © UN-HABITAT
6
CHAPTER 1
countries to deliver adequate housing 1.2 The positive effects of successful

at affordable prices. Effective enabling enabling shelter strategies
shelter strategies address market failures
directly and improve the functioning of Many countries in different regions of
the housing sector. In doing so, they serve the world have successfully designed and
the interests of all stakeholders in the implemented enabling shelter strategies,
housing sector—consumers, producers with positive results.
and financiers, as well as central and local
governments. The overall result is a well- In the Africa region, several governments
functioning housing sector. have revised their national strategies
and reviewed legislative, regulatory and
institutional frameworks related to shelter
development. The role of government
is gradually changing from provider to
Housing
policies
&
strategies
Housing Housing
demand Housing demand
outcomes
Socio-
economic
impacts
Housing policies and formulated and implemented by governments at all levels impact directly on
strategies housing demand, housing supply and housing outcomes
Housing demand is determined by demographic conditions, e.g., the rate of urbanization, new
household formation, household incomes
Housing supply is affected by the availability of inputs and resources, e.g., land; infrastructure;
building materials; labour; finance
Housing outcomes include prices, physical conditions, levels of investment, tenure choice,
residential mobility.
Socio-economic impacts health and well-being; income levels; savings rates; capital formation.
Figure 4: A Model of the Housing Sector7

facilitator of public-private partnerships, In India, NGOs and CBOs are

and supporter of community-based increasingly involved in shelter and
initiatives in the housing sector.8 infrastructure delivery, through
provision of micro-credit for both
The Republic of Djibouti has
enterprise and housing development.
elaborated a legislative framework that
enables access to adequate shelter by In the Latin America and the Caribbean
all income groups. region, most countries are making great
efforts to promote access to secure land
In Namibia, the Build Together
ownership for their inhabitants. Several
Programme assists poor households to
are examining alternative pro-poor and
gain access to land and build their own
‘gender aware’ land tenure options.11
housing through self-help.
Brazil has improved existing
In the West Asia region, new or revised
legal instruments to enable the
housing policies and strategies adopted
municipalities to promote land tenure
by several governments have relieved
regularization programmes and
public authorities of the financial burden
improve access to urban land and
of investing in the housing sector. This
housing.
responsibility has shifted to the private
sector and other stakeholders such as In El Salvador, advances in access to
banks, housing finance institutions and land tenure and housing have been
housing cooperatives.9 made while ensuring the participation
of citizens in decision-making
Lebanon and Syria have strengthened
processes.
their housing delivery processes by
involving and increasing the role of the One of the most positive effects of
private and civil society sectors. successful enabling shelter strategies has
been the change in government attitudes
In Jordan, Oman and Yemen,
towards, and recognition of, slums and
specialized financial institutions offer
informal settlements.
non-discriminatory loans to low
income groups at a lower interest rate In Kenya, there has been a radical
compared to commercial banks. change on the part of the Government
from intolerance to acceptance of
In the Asia-Pacific region, there has
slums; and it is currently implementing
been a shift in many governments’ policies
the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme
towards an enabling role and partnerships
(KENSUP) in collaboration with UN-
with the private sector, NGOs and
HABITAT.
Community Based Organisations (CBOs).10
In Thailand, official attitudes towards
In the Philippines and the Republic
slums have also changed dramatically,
of Korea, there has been emphasis
as evidenced by the government-
on demand-driven, market-oriented
initiated nationwide slum upgrading
housing programmes spearheaded by
programme, Baan Mankong, which is
the private sector.
being implemented in 200 cities and
towns.
8
CHAPTER 1
The right to adequate housing is now

also widely recognized internationally. arrangements for secure land tenure.
Women’s rights, in particular, have been Urban poor communities themselves
increasingly emphasized in recent years, are the key actors in initiating, planning
with many countries revising their policies and implementing housing and
and legislation to enable women to gain infrastructure improvements in individual
access to land and housing. communities, in close collaboration with
their community networks, municipal
South Africa’s land policy now and district governments, NGOs,
advocates the removal of all forms of universities, professionals and other local
development organizations.
Box 4: The Baan Mankong slum upgrading

programme in Thailand12
Enabling housing strategies in

Thailand BEFORE
In January 2003, the Government of

Thailand launched two programmes
aimed at providing adequate and
affordable housing with security of
tenure to one million poor urban
households within five years. The first is
the Baan Ua Arthorn Programme (“We
care” in Thai), in which the National
Housing Authority designs, constructs,
and sells ready-to occupy flats and
houses at subsidized rates to lower
income households on a “rent-to-own” AFTER
basis.
The second, the Baan Mankong

Programme (“secure housing” in
Thai) aims to upgrade the housing,
infrastructure and living environment
of 300,000 households, in 2,000
urban poor communities in 200
towns and cities across Thailand. The
Baan Mankong programme channels
government funds, in the form of
infrastructure subsidies and soft housing
loans, directly to poor communities,
and facilitates negotiations and
‹‹

1.3 Challenges with the design and

Box 5:
implementation of Enabling
Shelter Strategies
South Africa: national legal
recognition of the right to adequate
The design and implementation of
housing
enabling shelter strategies is not without
challenges. Perhaps the most immediate is
The 1996 Constitution of the Republic
a lack of genuine political will to achieve
of South Africa expressly guarantees
adequate and affordable housing for all
the right to adequate housing and
in a fundamentally structured, sustainable
prohibits the practice of forced eviction.
and large scale manner.
Specifically, it provides that:
While many governments now see slums
1. Everyone has the right to adequate and informal settlements in a different
housing as provided by law. light, official attitudes are still a significant
2. The state must take reasonable barrier to the adoption of enabling shelter
legislative and other measures, strategies. Many governments remain
within its available resources, to suspicious of, and even antagonistic to,
achieve the progressive realization of them—disregarding the fact that they
this right. provide affordable housing for poor
3. No one may be evicted or have households. Consequently, millions of
their home demolished without a slum dwellers do not receive infrastructure
court order made after consideration
of all relevant circumstances.
Arbitrary evictions are not permitted The enabling approach
by law.
calls for policy shifts away
The South African Constitution also from direct provision of
provides that anyone who believes this
right has been violated can take legal housing by governments
action in court to enforce this right. to alternative approaches
to housing development
discrimination against women’s access and improvement
to land. involving all stakeholders
In the Republic of Korea, revision of (including the public,
relevant legislation has enabled women private, academic and
to enjoy equal inheritance rights with
men, particularly concerning land and civil society actors) and,
property. most importantly, people
themselves.
10
CHAPTER 1
services or other forms of necessary evaluation. They have thus been closer to
support to enable them to improve their ‘policies’ than ‘strategies’. Indeed, this is
housing conditions. one reason why, to date, implementation
of enabling shelter strategies been
Strengthening the capacities of all the
disappointing.
actors in the housing process is a very
important aspect of enabling shelter The enabling approach calls for policy
strategies, as is local control over resource shifts away from direct provision of
mobilization and management. Both of housing by governments to alternative
these require capacity-building, including approaches to housing development and
training and improving the resources improvement involving people themselves.
available to each actor—which many However, women are often excluded from
governments have failed to do. participating owing to eligibility criteria,
planning, design and implementation
Most national housing strategies have
approaches, thereby reducing their
lacked a detailed plan of action, time
significant potential contribution to shelter
frame, resources to implement proposed
provision and improvement.
actions, and indicators for monitoring and
Housing reconstruction in Banda Aceh, Indonesia © UN-HABITAT

Popular housing in Capetown © UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly
12
CHAPTER 2
HOW TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT AN

02
EFFECTIVE ENABLING SHELTER STRATEGY
There are a number of prerequisites for

the successful design and implementation Governments have a
of an effective enabling shelter strategy.
paramount role to play
2.1 Political will in the formulation and
implementation of enabling
The effective design and implementation
of enabling shelter strategies requires shelter strategies through
sustained high level political will. Political creating appropriate
will is commitment by those in government
to address the problem. Coupled to this
institutional, legal and
is the necessity for legislative and policy regulatory environments.
recognition of the right to adequate They should intervene
housing, and determination on the
part of the government and the people appropriately and effectively
themselves—the greatest resource of any in land, housing and
country.
financial markets, and
Political will can be generated in various in the infrastructure and
ways. The media, both print and electronic,
can be effective in mobilizing political
construction sectors.
support, as can lobbying and advocacy
through strategic networking. Small-scale
demonstration and pilot projects can also 2.2 Institutional reform
be very useful. The institutional arrangements
underpinning housing development and
Indicators of “getting it right” are: improvement are integral to the success
9Legislative and policy recognition of enabling shelter strategies. Creation
of the right to adequate housing of appropriate institutional frameworks
will likely require reform in three key
9Official endorsement of enabling areas - decentralization, participation and
shelter strategies partnerships.

Decentralization and devolution of driven and relevant, thereby encouraging

responsibilities and resources to the lowest participation and partnership working.
practical level (subsidiarity) are important
Participation—the active involvement
elements of enabling shelter strategies.
of all the actors in the housing process—
Effective decentralization of political,
is fundamental to effective design and
administrative and financial authority
implementation of enabling shelter
results in:
strategies. Governments should, therefore,
stronger local authorities; promote widespread consultation and
improved urban governance and the full and equal participation of the
management; poor, women, and other disadvantaged
improved policy- and strategy groups; and also empower them to do so
formulation through increased effectively. This will require establishing
public participation; appropriate legislative, regulatory and
increased efficiency and institutional frameworks, and, in addition,
responsiveness of urban housing capacity building.
and service delivery; Partnership is another crucial principle of
equity. the enabling approach. Governments, as
Decentralization, in particular, improves part of their facilitator role, should form and
communication and consultation promote partnerships with, and between,
mechanisms at the local level leading to the various actors in the shelter process.
better information and knowledge about All have distinct and valuable roles to play,
housing demand, land supply, available as well as comparative advantages. These
resources and people’s priorities. Shelter should be optimized through the creation
strategies can thus be more demand- of appropriate legislative, institutional,
and financial frameworks.
Collective self-help housing construction © UN-HABITAT
14
CHAPTER 2
or too costly, both in terms of money and

Indicators of “getting it right” are: time. This leads to illegal occupation of
9Local authorities are strengthened land and the development of slums and
informal settlements, often in hazardous
with the transfer of necessary
locations. There is urgent need, therefore,
financial and human resources to for policy makers to review and address
undertake responsibilities relating inappropriate planning and building
to housing and infrastructure standards.
delivery.
9Clearly defined roles and Land use and building regulations
participation of all actors,
including women, in all stages of The full and progressive realization
the shelter process. of the right to adequate housing is
strongly linked to the ability to access and
9Partnership formation and use land, and to the regulations controlling
working between the various actors building housing thereon. In a context
in the shelter process. of decreasing availability of affordable
serviced land and rising construction costs,
a most important role for government in
the enabling approach is to optimize use
2.3 Legal and regulatory frameworks of existing land and to promote the use
Reforming legal and regulatory frameworks of local building materials resources and
so as to provide affordable and secure technology.
access to land and adequate housing is In many countries, it is local authorities
critical to enabling shelter strategies. Thus, that are responsible for land-use planning
an ability to deal with controversial issues, and regulation. How they allocate land for
including land ownership and property various purposes and the extent to which
and tenure rights, and reform of legal, they enforce regulatory frameworks will
regulatory and institutional frameworks largely determine if and where urban poor
governing housing and infrastructure households can legally acquire land on
provision, is crucial. which to build their homes. It is important,
Formulation and enforcement therefore, that policymakers ensure that
of urban planning and building local authorities execute their roles in the
standards regard to the benefit of the poor.
The urban planning and building standards More efficient land use can be achieved
in force in many developing countries by reviewing plot sizes, in particular in
have been derived from foreign contexts. low-income areas and relocation schemes.
They include standards for plot sizes and Reducing plot sizes can also lower the cost
infrastructure provision, and also standards of land significantly, thereby increasing
for housing design and construction. affordability and accessibility for the poor.
Many are inconsistent with the realities The building codes, by-laws and
faced by urban poor households, who regulations in use in many developing
disregard those they consider irrelevant countries are either a colonial inheritance

or have been simply adopted from Such a strategy is applicable to all

developed countries. They consequently governments. However, the relative
impose the use of inappropriate priorities of different strategic elements
materials and construction standards. will vary from one country to another.
They should therefore be revised on the
basis of local conditions, resources, and
2.4.1 Mobilization of human
building practices; and standards should
resources
be performance-oriented rather than
material-specific. It is widely acknowledged that the
greatest asset of any country, is its human
resources. This is evidenced in cities and
Indicators of “getting it right” are: towns of developing countries where
most of the housing stock, in the form
9 Government willingness to address
of slums and informal settlements, has
controversial issues and to pursue a been built through the efforts of the
reform agenda. people themselves. Indeed, it is this very
9 Planning and decision-making is manifestation of the potential of human
open, transparent and participatory. resources that led to the formulation of
enabling shelter strategies. Mobilization of
9 Available land for housing is being human resources is thus a key component
efficiently used. of enabling shelter strategies.
9 Land use and building regulations
are appropriate to the local context. Mobilisation of human resources has
various facets:
Public awareness and access to

2.4 Getting the Enabling Strategy information on shelter issues. The
elements right success of enabling shelter strategies is
The enabling approach calls for dependent upon public awareness and
governments to shift their role from the different actors in the shelter process
that of provider to that of facilitator. having a good understanding of the issues
They thus have a paramount role to they are supposed to address and how
play in creating an appropriate legal, to do so most effectively. Extensive civil
institutional and regulatory environment; society consultation, social mobilization
ensuring availability of housing finance; and participation in policy and strategy
and providing facilitative measures and formulation will help ensure broad political
incentives for housing action to be carried support; ownership of the process; and
out to a greater degree by all the actors co-responsibility and creative thinking for
in the housing process. An enabling implementation. Governments should,
strategy should allow each actor to therefore, promote equal access to reliable
perform its role as efficiently as possible; up-to-date information, at all levels,
leaving government to focus its attention through public information campaigns
and imited resources on the needs of the and using appropriate information and
poorest and most disadvantaged groups.
16
CHAPTER 2
communication technologies (ICTs) and In Uganda, the Masese Women’s Self

networks. Help Project adopted a slum upgrading
approach that enabled women to take
Training in alternative shelter
responsibilities in shelter development
provision options. Sufficient numbers of
and improvement.
trained and skilled people are required for
the successful design and implementation
of enabling shelter strategies. This need Box 6:
applies to policymakers, administrators,
professionals and other personnel who Ways of increasing the supply of
will be involved in formulating and affordable serviced land
implementing housing policies, strategies,
programmes and projects. It likewise Land expropriation. Most
applies to the developers, contractors and countries have legislation that
artisans who will produce housing, as well enables governments to purchase or
as the public at large. Governments should expropriate private land in the interests
therefore promote comprehensive gender- of the community at large, either at
sensitive human resources development, or below market prices, which they
training and skills upgrading programmes. can use to enhance the supply of
affordable land.
The involvement of women and their
organizations. Enabling shelter strategies Land banking is primarily used to
recognize the importance of women in acquire public or private land for
the housing process—in the values they development in advance of need at
attach to housing as it relates to household relatively cheap cost. It can also be
livelihoods and welfare and child rearing; used to contain land speculation,
in their particular needs; and in their redistribute land to the poor, and
contribution to shelter development and finance infrastructure investments.
improvement. However, their multiple However, there is also a risk that it
responsibilities often prevent them from may generate land scarcity, causing
achieving their full potential. This problem land prices to rise and, consequently,
is compounded by discrimination, lack of increased informal land and housing
education and training and, often, severe development.
poverty. Removing these constraints is
therefore especially important; and even Land sharing typically involves the
more so because of the increasing number owner of the land occupied by a slum
of women-headed households. or informal settlement being given
In India, the women’s street dwellers incentives to lease or sell part of their
organization, Mahila Milan, has property to the occupants (squatters
formed savings groups, negotiated or tenants) below market price. The
with the state and helped urban poor landowner then develops the most
women gain access to adequate and economically attractive part of the
affordable housing. land. In this way, land sharing brings
gains to both parties.
‹‹

Resettlement is commonly used

Land readjustment entails land-
where governments want to enhance
ownership and land use of fragmented
the use of land where slums have
adjoining sites being re-arranged to
developed. However, it generally
provide land for development purposes,
creates more problems than it solves,
e.g., slum upgrading or planned
especially following forced eviction and
housing development. It often includes
demolition of slums, which destroys
negotiated and participatory solutions,
a substantial stock of conveniently-
and has the potential to work as a self-
located housing affordable to the
financing technique
urban poor as well as livelihoods. It
should therefore be avoided, unless
Incremental land development
absolutely necessary or justifiable.
strategies. Allowing people to settle on
unserviced land and infrastructure to be
installed incrementally, over time’ can 2.4.2 Access to land for housing
increase the supply of affordable land
Land is fundamental to housing
for housing.
development processes. In particular, an
adequate supply of serviced land should
Transfer of Development Rights be available at scale, in the right place, at
(TDR) can be used to generate low the right time, and at an affordable price
income housing on high value urban for the poor. If not, existing slums and
land through the participation of private informal settlements will continue to grow
landowners and developers. It works and new ones will be created.
where land is at a premium and where
permitted densities for residential Equitable and secure access to land for
development are high enough to leave housing is thus a critical element of
surplus land after building low-income enabling shelter strategies. Governments
housing. should play a leading role in eliminating
‹‹ legal, regulatory and social barriers to
Perceived tenure Adverse

approaches Occupancy possession Leases
Informal Formal
land land
rights rights
Customary Anti evictions Group tenure Registered

freehold
Figure 5: The range of land rights1
18
CHAPTER 2
the equal and equitable access to land, often too costly and time-consuming.
especially for women. Governments should thus explore
alternative ways through which the
Provision of urban land for housing, urban poor can gain secure tenure, which
particularly for low-income households include: collective ownership, community
property rights, rental agreements, and
Governments have a wide variety of temporary occupancy rights.
planning and regulatory tools and
mechanism available to them to carry out Recognition and integration of
their responsibility of providing urban land, informal land markets
and managing, monitoring, assessing and
regulating the market. They can increase The failure of urban land markets and
the supply of, and access to, land by, government policies to allocate land to the
among other ways: poor for housing have strengthened the
role of informal land markets in developing
Revising planning regulations, countries. This adverse situation can be
standards and administrative turned into an opportunity by integrating
procedures to accelerate supply the actors, institutions and procedures
and reduce costs. Options include which are being deployed in informal land
relaxing restrictions on plot size markets and housing supply into formal
and development, and simplifying land management strategies and plans.
administrative procedures.
Integration of formal and informal land
Monitoring land prices and formulating markets is highly dependent on land
appropriate policies and strategies governance— the process by which
to enable urban poor households to decisions are made regarding the access
access affordable serviced land for to and use of land, the manner in which
housing. those decisions are implemented and
Introducing and collecting taxes on all the way that conflicting interests in land
are reconciled. Good land governance
urban land, whether developed or not.
is characterised by participation,
Access to urban land for housing, in transparency, accountability, rule of law,
particular for low-income households, can effectiveness and equity (see Table 1).
also be provided through the alternative
approaches summarized in Box 6: 5. Indicators of “getting it right” are:
Secure tenure and property rights 9 Legal framework recognizes
alternative property rights and tenure
Security of land tenure should be
understood as a continuum from informal arrangements.
to formal land rights—with perceived or 9 Land markets and land price
de facto tenure security at one end and formation are properly understood.
titling at the other. Indeed, security of
9 An adequate supply of well-located
tenure does not necessarily imply private
property rights or issuance of individual and affordable serviced land is
freehold or leasehold titles, which is available at scale so as to provide an

cost basic infrastructure and services

alternative to informally supplied (water, sanitation and garbage
land. collection). Such partnerships and
9 Existing informal land markets are participation should be strengthened
recognized and integrated with formal through capacity-building; and even
more so because they also have
land markets.
great potential to generate both
employment and local economic
development.
2.4.30 Provision and operation of
00000 infrastructure and services s 0RIVATIZATION The enabling approach
calls for the creation of a favourable
Central governments and local authorities environment and incentives to
in many developing countries lack the motivate private sector participation
capacity and resources to effectively in infrastructure and service delivery.
deliver infrastructure and services to their However, guidelines and mechanisms
citizens. Enabling shelter strategies thus (such as cross-subsidization and
shift governments’ role in the provision of safety nets) should be developed and
infrastructure and services from provider installed to ensure that privatization
to enabler, with an emphasis on the or other forms of concession do not
capacity to act as: exclude or disadvantage the poor and
other vulnerable groups.
s )NITIATOR instigating policy, regulatory
and institutional reform and setting in
motion broad participation. Indicators of “getting it right” are:
s #ATALYST providing incentives 9 All households have access to
and streamlining regulations and basic infrastructure and services.
procedures. 9 Other actors are participating
s 0ARTNER contributing to project in infrastructure provision and
finance, either directly or through operation.
credit enhancements. 9 Services, in particular those
that have been privatized, are
s 2EGULATOR monitoring service
quality, preventing excessive pricing affordable to the poor.
and ensuring equitable access
s 0ARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY 2.4.40 Shelter production and
involvement. NGOs, CBOs and 00000 improvement
small-scale private/informal sector The enabling approach calls for
enterprises, working in collaboration governments to withdraw from the direct
with the state, are playing a growing provision of housing. Instead of focusing
role in providing good-quality, low- on provision of houses, policies are geared
towards increasing the production and
supply of fundamental inputs—land,
infrastructure, building materials; labour
20
CHAPTER 2
Governance Principles Land Issues/Response

Sustainability Affordability
Subsidiarity Maintenance
Systemic reforms
Capacity -building
Information requirements at different levels
Decentralization
Equity No forced evictions; housing rights
Access to land: upgrading & prevention
Inheritance: adjudication
Customary & Common Property
Continuum of Rights
Social Domain Model
Efficiency Administrative procedures/processes
Transparency Informal and formal systems
Accountability Computer aided design
Readjustment, land sharing
Access to information
Due process
Land Administration
Indicators
Corrupt practices
Political will & vested interests
Codes of conduct
Civic Engagement Land policy formulation
Land reform
Enumeration & adjudication (community)
Negotiated resettlement
Security Security of tenure
Post-conflict/post-disaster
Alternative dispute resolution
Table 1: Land Governance Framework14

and finance at affordable cost. However, Box 8:

governments are still required to intervene
directly to provide shelter to the poorest
Actors involved in shelter
and most vulnerable and disadvantaged
production and improvement
groups.
Public organizations are still actively
The enabling approach also calls for a involved in direct provision of housing
radical shift away from central-provision in some countries. They include
embedded in government-supplied government agencies, financial bodies
housing processes to decentralized forms and specialized institutions. They
of housing production in which the other are enabled to do so through the
actors play a leading role. The various formulation of appropriate strategies,
key actors in the public, private, NGO legislative and regulatory frameworks,
and community sectors contribute to and financial arrangements.
shelter development and improvement in
The formal private sector can
different ways, as summarized in Box 7.
increase access to adequate shelter
for the urban poor in various ways.
Box 7: These include investing in low-income
rental housing; extending services to
The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), slums and informal settlements; and
Karachi, Pakistan facilitating access to housing finance.
The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), Government should, therefore,
which began working as an NGO in establish legislative, institutional and
Karachi’s largest slum, Orangi, in 1980, financial frameworks and measures
demonstrates what can be achieved that will enable and incentivize
through partnerships between private sector participation in shelter
communities NGOs and government. production and improvement.
OPP has five basic programmes: low Housing co-operatives: should be
cost sanitation, housing, health, promoted and supported as they serve
education and credit for micro three basic functions towards the goal
enterprise. of adequate and affordable shelter for
In the Low Cost Sanitation Programme their members. They:
households finance, manage, operate s enable households to pool
and maintain sanitation facilities resources to acquire and develop
and sewer lines, while government land and housing;
provides main sewers and treatment
plants. The OPP-Research and Training s enable groups to join forces and
Institute (RTI) provides social and reduce construction costs; and
technical guidance to both, and
s facilitate access to finance.
facilitates partnerships.
NGOs are playing an important
role in shelter development and
‹‹
22
CHAPTER 2
Rental housing is an essential option

improvement. Many produce housing in most cities of developing countries
directly; but even more indirectly as homeownership is out of reach for
support the efforts of the poor to a majority of poor households and,
house themselves in various ways. for various reasons, some households
These include: social mobilization, prefer to rent.
organization and representation;
technical and legal assistance;
mediation and facilitation; participation As part of their enabling role,
in policy-making; and demonstration governments should encourage and
projects. facilitate rental housing production
by the private sector in particular.
Community groups should be They can do this through a range of
facilitated to fully contribute to shelter measures, including promotion of
development and improvement a favourable legal and regulatory
through the establishment of enabling environment such as introduction of
legislative, institutional and financial fiscal and property tax concessions,
frameworks, along with the private streamlining of planning standards
sector and NGOs. and building codes, and relaxation of
rent control measures.
NGO and CBO roles in enabling
strategies should however not be seen Box 9:
as a replacement for local government’s
essential role in shelter strategies.
Components of slum upgrading15
By adopting informal settlement
The informal sector is producing the regularization and slum upgrading
bulk of new urban housing in most strategies, governments can create
developing countries—up to 85% conditions for home improvement
in some cases. The contributions of and housing opportunities without
small-scale contractors and skilled engaging in new housing construction.
artisans are especially important, as Facilitating improvement of their
they provide building and construction housing conditions by slum dwellers
services at a cost and pace that themselves is an effective way of
urban poor households can afford. promoting enabling shelter strategies.
An important role for governments
within the enabling approach is to Actions carried out in slum upgrading
support these producers so that they typically include:
can generate as much housing as
s regularizing security of tenure;
possible. A key way of doing this is to
remove the legislative and regulatory s installing or improving basic
barriers that prevent their legitimate infrastructure, e.g., water
participation in shelter delivery. reticulation, sanitation, waste
collection, storm drainage, electricity
and security lighting; ‹‹

s home improvement;
s constructing or rehabilitating
community facilities;
s removal or mitigation of
environmental hazards;
s providing incentives for community
management and maintenance;
s enhancement of income-earning
opportunities through training and
micro-credit;
s building social capital and the
Figure 6: Artisans in Kenya constructing rental
institutional framework to sustain housing using stabilized soil blocks © UN-HABITAT
improvements”;
s relocation/compensation for those
Slum upgrading, in its narrowest
dislocated by the improvements
sense, refers to physical improvements
in shelter and infrastructure.
However, in its broadest sense,
upgrading also includes economic
and social interventions that enable
such improvements (see Box 10:
8). It is usually carried out by slum
communities, local authorities
and external agencies working in
partnership.
Worldwide, about one out of every

three urban dwellers is living in
‘housing poverty’— in slums and
informal settlements. Enabling shelter
strategies require governments to
promote, where appropriate, the
upgrading of slums and informal
settlements. Indeed, slum upgrading is
widely seen as the most pragmatic way
of achieving Millennium Development
Goal 7, Target 11, which aims to
Figure 7: Incremental self-built housing in improve the lives of at least 100 million
Favela Mata Machado, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil slum dwellers by 2020.
© UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly
The
development and use of
appropriate building materials
and technologies should be
enabled and promoted, especially in
24
CHAPTER 2
a context of rising construction costs. standards in the revised building by-

Governments, at the appropriate laws has enabled the use of a wider
levels, can do this by: range of local building materials and
> reformulating and adopting construction technologies.
building standards and by-laws
that permit the use of such Indicators of “getting it right” are:
materials, paying adequate
attention to safety needs. 9All the actors in the housing
> encouraging and supporting the process are able to participate
establishment of environmentally effectively in shelter development
sound, small-scale, local building and improvement.
materials industries through,
9Private-sector participation in low-
among other ways, legal and fiscal
income housing provision.
9Development of rental housing is
supported and promoted.
Enabling shelter
9Slum upgrading is prioritized and
strategies thus implemented.
emphasize mobilizing
sources of finance -
2.4.50 Housing finance
both public and private
Housing finance is one of the most
- and promoting broad, important factors in shelter development
non-discriminatory and improvement. It enables households
to access financial resources that they
access to affordable otherwise do not have to purchase an
housing finance. asset which will represent their largest
single investment. Finance is important
to pay for key housing inputs, such as
land, building materials and labour.
Enabling shelter strategies thus emphasize
incentives and the provision of mobilizing sources of finance—both
information, credit, and research public and private—and promoting broad,
and development. non-discriminatory access to affordable
> promoting research and housing finance.
development of local building
materials and construction Government banks and state-
technologies to bring them up owned housing finance institutions
to competitive levels of quality, in developing countries are generally
performance, efficiency, safety and unable to meet the demand for
cost housing finance
In Kenya, for example, the introduction Commercial banks and housing

of performance-oriented building finance institutions are the primary

Housing and Property Household Issues Financial Services Provider

Issues Issues
t Land availability t Income t Financial services

t Security of tenure t Affordability legislation and
t Planning regulations regulation
t Building codes t Number of providers
t Laws on collaterals & t Adequacy of existing
foreclosure products
t Guarantee funds
& housing micro-
financing
Figure 8: Enabling environment issues for housing finance1
source of formal housing finance in Lowering interest rates can make

most developing countries. housing finance more affordable and
accessible.
Housing finance can be extended to
more people and, in particular, the poor, In Venezuela, a salary-tax funded
through government-led legal, regulatory, housing programme grants below-
institutional and administrative measures market loans to developers for
and reforms (e.g., reducing interest rates, housing projects, and also to eligible
easing collateral requirements and flexible households to purchase housing units
repayment schedules), and the creation of in these projects.
innovative housing finance mechanisms.
Easing regulations on collateral,
which is often the major barrier to
formal credit sources, can significantly
improve access to housing finance.
26
CHAPTER 2
Resettlement area for Kibera residents in Nairobi, Kenya © UN-HABITAT
Hence the urgent requirement for Earmarking of funds for low income
acceptance of the kinds of assets groups is another useful mechanism
typically owned by the poor. to improve access to housing finance
among the poor
In Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank
grants collateral-free loans. In the Philippines, the Home
Development Fund provides targeted
In El Salvador, the NGO FUSAI
housing finance to low-income
provides housing and microenterprise
groups, and also plays a more socially
loans, using long-established kinship
active role.
or friendship ties to guarantee loans.
Involvement of informal
Flexible repayment schemes. Given
settlements in formal housing
the irregular incomes of most urban
finance. Mobilization of finance for
poor households, rigid repayment
housing that meets the needs of
schedules are a major constraint to
people living and working in slums
access to formal housing finance. One
and informal settlements is a major
way around this problem is to allow
concern for enabling shelter strategies.
flexible repayment terms in line with
their variable income streams. In Kenya, two formal housing finance
institutions have extended housing
In India, the Housing Development
improvement and development loans
Finance Corporation (HDFC) offers
to small-scale landlords in informal
flexible repayment schemes that
settlements.
include a range of repayment options.

Most of the housing in developing build or improve their own homes

countries is financed from sources other and, in some cases, infrastructure and
than commercial financial institutions. related services.
Households use alternative financial
arrangements, including community- Box 10:
based financing schemes, to build their
homes incrementally over time, which
should be encouraged and supported. Examples of urban poor federation
funds
Community initiatives in housing
finance. s In Namibia, the Twahangana Fund
has US$ 300,000 in member
Community savings and credit co- savings and support from
operatives (SACCOs) offer shorter- government and international
term credit which is better suited to donors.
the needs of the poor better than
formal longer-term loans. s In Cambodia, the Urban Poor
Development Fund was set up
Community-based rotating savings with US$ 103,000 contributed
and credit organizations (ROSCAs) by the federation, the municipal
take a variety of forms and are a government, the Asian Coalition
worldwide phenomenon. Many of the for Housing Rights and MISEREOR,
incremental housing improvements a German NGO. It now has US$
that urban poor households make are 365,000, including funds from the
financed through ROSCAs. Prime Minister’s fund.
Daily savings schemes: can create s In India and Thailand, much larger
a collective financial pot from funds support community-driven
which members can borrow at development. In Thailand this
affordable interest rates for shelter is a combination of savings and
development and improvement. government support (US$ 13.8
Daily savings schemes are a vital million); in India, it is a combination
part of many organisations of the of savings and international donor
urban poor and CBOs. Slum/Shack support.
Dwellers International (SDI) promotes s The Urban Poor Development Fund
community mobilisation around daily in the Philippines has US$ 700,000
savings schemes and community-led in federation members’ savings
development initiatives. and US$ 1.7 million in funds from
the Philippine government and
The Federation of the urban international agencies.
poor have evolved from daily
savings schemes and have mobilized
considerable sums through members’
savings. These initiatives have
facilitated access to housing finance
by the poor, and have enabled them to
28
CHAPTER 2
Community mortgage programmes Homeless International’s Guarantee

can enable access to housing finance Fund provides banks with a low-risk
by the poor by providing loans to option for lending to the urban poor to
community groups for onward lending encourage them to lend to Homeless
to individuals at low interest rates International’s partners for the
with long repayment schedules. The purpose of housing and infrastructure
Community Mortgage Programme in development.
the Philippines is a prime example.
In addition, non-conventional approaches Box 11:
and systems can be promoted and
supported. A number have been tried and/ Community-led infrastructure and
or are in operation, with varying degrees finance in India
of success, in several countries. They
include housing micro-finance and NGO CLIFF (Community-Led Infrastructure
programmes. Finance Facility) loan finance was
provided to this housing project in
Housing microfinance refers to Dharavi, Mumbai, whilst negotiations
small loans to low- and moderate- with banks and government authorities
income households typically for self- took place. Later, the National Housing
help home improvement but also for Bank provided loan finance which
new construction. Good practice in took over the majority of the CLIFF
housing microfinance involves loans at loan finance that had been approved
unsubsidized interest rates and short for the project, freeing up CLIFF loan
terms, relative to traditional mortgage finance for helping kick-start other new
finance. schemes.
NGO programmes
The NGO BRAC in Bangladesh grants
housing loans to village organizations
members at a relatively low interest Indicators of “getting it right” are:
rate (10 per cent). 9 Housing finance is accessible and
The Kuyasa Trust in South Africa, affordable.
grants loans designed to reflect the 9 Housing finance institutions and
borrowing patterns already familiar to
lenders accept alternative forms
low-income.
of collateral.
Habitat for Humanity International
provides interest-free homebuilding
loans, using a mix of charitable funding
combined with loan repayments from
beneficiaries.

Social housing estate in Uberlandia, Brazil © UN-HABITAT/ Alessandro Scotti
30
CHAPTER 3
03
HOW TO INITIATE AND FACILITATE A
PARTICIPATORY SHELTER STRATEGY PROCESS
Many governments are reluctant to open

up policy, strategy and decision-making
processes to enable participation by Participation - the active
stakeholders at all levels, in particular the involvement of all the
poor. However, the many failed top-down
housing policies and strategies, and the actors in the housing
growing number of urban poor households process - is fundamental
living in inadequate housing conditions,
underscore the urgent need for more to enabling shelter
participatory shelter strategy processes. strategies.
Shelter strategies need to consider which
issues can be addressed at a national and
central level, and which can be addressed
more effectively at a local level through a 3.1 Government’s facilitative role
participatory process. Indeed, it is at the
latter level that decisions are taken daily by Governments have an important role in
individuals and groups which affect their initiating and facilitating a participatory
housing conditions. Hence, it is the people shelter strategy process in terms of:
themselves who are best placed to identify
making the commitment and setting
local trends, challenges, problems and
the agenda;
needs; and to agree on their own priorities
creating an open and participatory
and preferences.
‘environment’ for the processes
This section proposes a way forward. Based involved;
on experience from some developing inviting all the actors in the shelter
countries and drawing on literature on process to participate in all strategy
participatory policy and strategy processes, tasks, and
it offers tentative outline guidance on how providing support where needed.
to initiate and facilitate a participatory
shelter strategy process.

Types of participation in strategy-making

1. Participation through listening only: actors are informed about what is being/has been
planned, without any attempt to elicit local opinion or knowledge.
2. Participation through problem identification and formulation: actors are asked about
their situation, needs, priorities and preferences. This information is fed into the strategy
process without feedback.
3. Participation through consultation: actors are given the opportunity to interact and
provide feedback, and may express suggestions and concerns. But those leading the
process are not obliged to take their views into account
4. Participation in agenda-setting: actors can influence the issues that will be addressed.
5. Participation in consensus building on the main strategy elements: actors can negotiate
positions and help determine priorities.
6. Participation in decision-making: actors have a role making decisions on the strategy or
its components and implementation
7. Participation in strategy formulation, e.g., of the general rules, guiding principles or text;
of the actual text.
8. Participation in strategy implementation - e.g., through involvement in programme
implementation.
9. Participation in monitoring and evaluating the strategy.
Figure 9: Types of participation in strategy design and implementation
3.2 Participation in the shelter 3.3 Initiating and facilitating a

strategy process participatory shelter process:
A tentative approach
Participation in the design and
implementation of enabling shelter The strategy process can be seen a cyclical
strategies can happen in different ways, process involving four key stages—
at various stages, and to varying degrees. situation analysis; strategy formulation;
It can range from simple information strategy implementation; and monitoring
sharing through to more extensive and evaluation—as shown in Figure 10.
consultation and joint decision-making
If it is to be truly participatory, the key
to monitoring and evaluation. This is
actors in shelter development and
illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 9.
improvement—public organizations, the
private sector (both formal and informal),
NGOs, and most importantly, the people
themselves—should be enabled to
participate fully and effectively in all the
key stages of the shelter strategy process.
This will require building the capacity of
the actors involved so that they are able
32
CHAPTER 3
Strategy
implementation
Monitoring Strategy
& evaluation PARTICIPATION formulation
Strategy
implementation
Figure 10: The participatory strategy-making cycle - UN-HABITAT
to engage fully; and this will need to Carry out participatory rapid urban
continue throughout the cycle. appraisals/surveys to establish the
socio-economic and institutional
The main stages in initiating and facilitating
profile and to supplement existing
a participatory shelter strategy process,
information and data.
and the issues and actions involved, are as
follows:17. Determine if conditions are
appropriate: e.g. a conducive
Situation Analysis
political and socio-economic climate,
Conduct a Situation Analysis: adequate resources (financial, human,
Compile and analyse information technical), high-level political support.
e.g., through background studies,
Conduct a housing needs
government agencies, research and
assessment through a participatory
policy institutions, or independent
process to use as a basis to guide
professionals.
formulation and implementation of
an enabling housing strategy that will
adequately address both quantitative
and qualitative housing needs.

OUTLINE OF HOUSING NEEDS ASSESSMENT MODEL19

Current Need:
Minus
Available Stock:
Plus
Newly Arising Need:
Minus
Future Supply of Affordable Units:
Equals
Net Shortfall (or Surplus) of Affordable Units:
Table 2: Housing needs assessment model
A housing needs assessment will Evaluate the performance of

present statistical and analytical the housing sector from different
information which provides an overall perspectives, against set goals, and
picture of the nature and extent of efficiency and equity objectives to
the housing needs. There are four identify key strategy imperatives to
broad address the most critical deficiencies
analytical stages which lead to an Identify and define the problems
overall estimate of the net shortfall (or to be addressed in ways that
surplus) of affordable housing. These lead to commonality of interest.
are shown in Table 2. It is important to work to identify
common ground so as to build a
Carry out an assessment of
consensus as all the key actors are
the housing market. Analyse
needed to develop and implement
the bottlenecks and constraints
effective enabling shelter strategies.
to availability and access to the
necessary inputs and the necessary Prioritize problems requiring
levels of production. Inputs include immediate action though a
land, infrastructure, finance, labour participatory process in order to
(availability of workers with needed address them more efficiently and
skills) and building materials (see effectively.
Figure 3).
34
CHAPTER 3
Set an agenda for action. Develop Define actor participation:

and implement a proactive problem Determine the participation of the
solving agenda to address identified various actors: who will be involved?
problems. What will they do? Why are they
being involved (what can they offer)?
Shelter Strategy Formulation
How are they being involved? Where
Formulate the shelter strategy are they participating? Participation
through a participatory process. implies full involvement of all
Establish principles, goals and the actors in the shelter sector in
objectives appropriate tasks including strategy
formulation, information exchange,
of the strategy, and targets for decision-making, implementation etc.
achieving objectives.
Two storey housing built by women’s self-help groups supported by NGO-CCODE in Malawi

Carry out action planning and set building for government, NGOs and
targets to achieve the objectives. local communities; and a range of
The enabling approach is a “macro” programmes and projects.
approach that needs on-the-ground
“micro” actions. These can include:
policy, legislative, regulatory and
institutional reform; capacity-
Stage of the strategy process Actions
Key actors should have a good understanding of

the operation of the local housing market and
Situation analysis the level and nature of unmet housing needs
Conduct a participatory through:
situation analysis - Housing needs assessment
- Housing market assessment
- Housing sector performance assessment.
All actors should have a good understanding of

Strategy formulation the different options. Only then can they make
Formulate the strategy through informed decisions about which strategy to
a participatory process. implement.
Key relevant actors should be involved in

strategy implementation in order to improve
the effectiveness of shelter development and
Strategy implementation improvement initiatives.
Implement the strategy with the Design, construction and maintenance of shelter
full participation all the actors development and improvement initiatives (e.g.,
land supply/ infrastructure improvement/ slum
upgrading/ sites-and-services projects/ low-cost
housing schemes/ etc.)
Monitoring and Evaluation Develop a participatory monitoring and evaluation

framework to determine the effectiveness of the
Monitor and assess the strategy
implemented strategy and shelter development
process and impact of initiatives and improvement initiatives to provide the basis
through a participatory process for future strategy-making
Figure 11: Key stages and actions in the strategy process - UN-HABITAT
36
CHAPTER 3
Determine the scope of the ‘enabling environment’ for action by

strategy, the issues to address, all the actors—public organizations,
the approach, and how to manage the private sector (both formal
the individual elements in the and informal), NGOs, and most
implementation stage. importantly, the people themselves.
Develop the draft strategy using Communicate. Generate wider
inputs from the above process. This understanding of the strategy
is an iterative process with various process and keep actors informed
combinations of recommendations of progress—through press releases
being tested in different forums for and other informational materials,
consistency and acceptability. electronic media coverage, public
forums, etc.
Address the hard questions.
Opinions and attitudes about the Monitoring and Evaluation
major issues, challenges, obstacles,
Monitor and evaluate both the
risks, costs and benefits may differ. If
process and outcomes through a
so, there are likely to be both winners
participatory approach.
and losers and trade-offs will be
necessary to achieve a win-win result. Monitor goals, objectives and
targets to ensure that they are
Shelter Strategy Implementation
continually met, using internal and
Establish an institutional and external participatory evaluations and
organizational framework. Define reviews, whilst giving long-term
decision-making roles and who
support to assess and improve
is responsible for what aspects of
performance as necessary.
implementation.
The key stages in the housing shelter
Develop an implementation
strategy process and the actions
timeline, with short-term
involved are summarized in Figure 11.
benchmarks and longer-term
milestones to monitor progress and
responsible parties designated for 3.4 Costs involved in a participatory
each step. This can help in ensuring strategy process
that implementation stays on track
and goals, objectives and targets There are costs involved in initiating and
are achieved within the specified facilitating a participatory shelter strategy
timeframe. process, which will depend on various
factors (OECD 2001):
Implement the strategy with
the full participation all the actors The numbers and types of
in the shelter development and participants, their location, and
improvement process. Government the opportunity costs of their
should create an participation. Some participants
will need to take time from their
livelihood activities (e.g., those self-

employed in the informal sector and Lack of transparency over the criteria
women). Ways of compensating or for selecting participants.
assisting them may need to be found Failure to represent the poorest,
to enable their effective participation. most marginalised groups.
Lack of follow-up and feedback.
Time requirements. It takes time to
establish trust, especially at some local These problems can be overcome in the
levels, and to foster a willingness to following ways:19
engage in the strategy process.
Expectations: Pay attention to
Specialist skill requirements. Skills investigating and reconciling
in participatory processes are essential stakeholders’ expectations.
in order to establish the right linkages
Timing: Give adequate notice and
and ensure quality of participation
allow sufficient time for genuine
and communications.
consultation and participatory process
Communication requirements. to occur.
The many actors need to have Information: Ensure open, timely
access to, and understand, key and adequate access to all relevant
information important to participatory information in appropriate formats
strategy processes. This requires and languages; and disseminate
communication through appropriate information widely.
channels, which have cost Representation: Ensure that the
implications. criteria for participation are clear
and publicly available; and ensure
representation of all stakeholder
3.5 Typical problems encountered groups, including women, the
in implementing participatory poorest and the most vulnerable and
initiatives disadvantaged.
Participatory initiatives often suffer from Follow-up: Make adequate provision
weaknesses that can jeopardise the for conducting follow-up with actor
process and reduce their impact. Common groups involved; and be aware of
problems include: possible threats to the sustainability of
processes.
Unrealistic or unstated expectations
which can create frustration and
cynicism.
Insufficient time allowed for proper
participation or consultation.
Inadequate information
dissemination or providing it in
unsuitable language/formats.
38
CHAPTER 3
Community-based infrastructure improvement in Guatemala © UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly

Intergrated housing development programme in Ethiopia © UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly
40
CHAPTER
04
CHECKLIST
The following checklist outlines the key of all the actors, particularly
aspects necessary for the implementation women, youth, and vulnerable
of a successful enabling shelter strategy: groups?
Political will: Is there the political Partnerships: Have strategic
will (and the professional will) partnerships been identified and
among all policy makers and all established, and the partners
actors in the shelter process to secured; and have roles and
design and implement enabling responsibilities been agreed?
shelter strategies?
Land: Is affordable land (serviced
Access to information: Do all or un-serviced) available to
the actors in the shelter process those who need it for housing
have easy access to relevant construction?
information in appropriate
formats/languages through Housing finance: Is affordable
appropriate channels? housing finance available to all
those who require it, through
Legal and regulatory both formal and alternative
frameworks: Can these be easily finance systems?
understood by all those required
to conform to them as well as Human resources: Are the
those required to enforce them; human resources required to
and are they enforceable? design and implement enabling
shelter strategies available?
Institutional framework: Does
the institutional framework Building materials and
facilitate the efficient and effective construction technologies: Do
implementation of enabling the regulations and standards
shelter strategies? in force allow the use of local,
readily available building materials
Participation: Have measures and construction technologies?
been taken to ensure the full,
equal and effective participation

Energy efficiency improvement by residents in Sofia, Bulgaria © UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly
42
CHAPTER
THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF THE ENABLING

05
APPROACH TO SHELTER
3
DO ´DON’T
Role of 3
Shift from the role of provider ´Withdraw completely
governments to enabler from the shelter process or
abrogate responsibility
Institutional 3
Decentralize Ćentralize authority and
arrangements responsibility
Participation 3
Do ensure the full and equal ´Don’t exclude or
participation of all the actors marginalize any key
in the shelter process stakeholder groups
Partnerships 3
Do form and strengthen Éxclude any actors in the
partnerships with all the shelter process
actors in the shelter process
Legal 3
Create enabling legal Ćondone restrictive,
frameworks frameworks that recognize and unjust and discriminatory
protect the right to adequate legislation
and affordable housing
Regulatory 3
Create appropriate regulatory Ímpose inappropriate
frameworks frameworks and conduct regular regulatory that can’t
regular regulatory audits be enforced
Human 3
Prioritize human resource ´Discriminate in training
resources development in the shelter and capacity building
sector

3
DO ´DON’T
Housing finance 3
Encourage and support Ímpose restrictive collateral
alternative housing finance arrangements
systems
Urban planning 3
Promote efficient and Ćarry out forced evictions
and provision of accessible land markets, and without due process and
land alternative tenure forms without providing adequate
alternatives
Provision of 3
Promote partnerships in ´Provide unaffordable
infrastructure infrastructure and services infrastructure and services
and services development, operation and
maintenance
Shelter 3
Facilitate and support the ´Demolish slum housing
production and initiatives of all the actors in unless it is absolutely
improvement the shelter process and, in necessary
particular, women
Building 3
Promote the use of local Ímpose inappropriate
materials and readily available building building material
construction materials and construction specifications and
technologies technologies construction standards
Labour 3
Support the use and capacity ´Prevent the employment
building of local labour and of local labour and
contractors contractors though
restrictive conditions
44
CHAPTER 5
UN-HABITAT sponsored shelter construction in Liberia © UN-HABITAT

Social housing an resettlement project in Complexo do Allemao, Rio de Janeiro

46
CHAPTER
UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF ENABLING

06
SHELTER STRATEGIES
If enabling shelter strategies are to guarantee success, non-compliance will

contribute to the goal of ‘adequate shelter definitely result in failure. These principles
for all’, there are certain principles to which require that enabling shelter strategies
they must adhere. While compliance should be:
to these principles will not necessarily
Politically endorsed and supported: by government at all levels with governments

facilitating the process and broad-based participation in the design and implementation
of the shelter strategy.
Participatory: involving all the actors involved in shelter development and

improvement—public organizations, the private sector (both formal and informal),
NGOs, and most importantly, the people themselves.
Needs-driven: recognising and understanding the realities on the ground, and taking
into consideration the priorities and preferences of the people themselves.
People-centred: whereby local communities actively participate in the shelter

development and improvement process.
Pro-poor: in particular, focusing specifically on the housing needs of the poor and
other vulnerable, marginalized and disadvantaged groups.
Results-oriented: identifying goals, objectives and targets, and action planning to

achieve them.
Comprehensive: taking account of the multi-dimensional nature of housing needs;

and recognising the depth and complexity of some of the changes needed.
Based on partnership: between governments and other actors in the housing

process.
Sustainable: designed for people-driven, sustainable shelter development and

improvement.

Housing reconstruction in Pakistan © UN-HABITAT
48
CHAPTER
REFERENCES, BIBLIOGRAPHY
07
AND USEFUL WEB-SITES
Endnotes the Implementation of the Habitat

Agenda, New York.
1 United Nations (1988) “Global 9 UNCHS (2001). Synthesis
Shelter Strategy to the Year 2000” of national reports on the
(A/43/8/Add.1), United Nations implementation of the Habitat
General Assembly, New York, Agenda in the West Asia Region.
6 June 1988. Special Session of the General
2 UNCHS (1997) The Istanbul Assembly for an Overall Review and
Declaration and The Habitat Appraisal of the Implementation of
Agenda, UN-HABITAT. the Habitat Agenda, New York.
3 UN-HABITAT (2006) Enabling 10 UNCHS (2001). Synthesis
Shelter Strategies: Review of of national reports on the
experience from two decades of implementation of the Habitat
implementation. Agenda in Asia and the Pacific
4 Source: Claudio Acioly Jr. (1994, Region. Special Session of the
2003), IHS. General Assembly for an Overall
5 UN-HABITAT/ OHCHR (2010) The Review and Appraisal of the
Right to Adequate Housing. Fact Implementation of the Habitat
Sheet No. 21/ Rev 1. Agenda, New York.
6 Malpezzi, S. (1990) Urban housing 11 UNCHS (2001). Synthesis
and financial markets: Some of national reports on the
international comparisons, Urban implementation of the Habitat
Studies 27(6): 971-1022. Agenda in Latin America and the
7 Source: World Bank (1993) Caribbean Region, Special Session
Housing: Enabling Markets to of the General Assembly for an
Work. Overall Review and Appraisal of
8 UNCHS (2001) Synthesis of national the Implementation of the Habitat
reports on the implementation Agenda. New York.
of the Habitat Agenda in the 12 Source: http://www.codi.or.th/
Africa Region. Special Session downloads/english/Baanmankong/
of the General Assembly for an Newsletter/What%20is%
Overall Review and Appraisal of 20Baan%20Mankong.pdf

13 Source: UN-HABITAT and GLTN experience. Environmental Planning

(2008) Secure Land Rights for All, Issues, No. 8, September 1995,
UN-HABITAT. London, International Institute for
14 Source: Adapted from S. Fricska, Environment and Development.
S. (2007) Land Governance: Issues 19 Source: ODPM (2005) Housing
andPerspectivesfromUN-HABITAT. Market Assessments: Draft Practice
15 Source: Adapted from Cities Guidance. London, Office of the
Alliance (1999) Cities Without Deputy Prime Minister.
Slums: Action Plan for Moving Slum 20 McGee, R. and A. Norton (2000)
Upgrading to Scale. Washington, Participation in poverty reduction
DC. strategies: a synthesis of experience
16 Source: Adapted from Cities with participatory approaches to
Alliance (2003) The Enabling policy design, implementation and
Environment for Housing Finance in monitoring. Brighton, Institute of
Kenya. CIVIS Shelter Finance for the Development Studies.
Poor Series. Washington, DC.
17 Dalal-Clayton, B., S. Bass, et
al. (1994) National Sustainable
Development Strategies: Experience
and Dilemmas, Environmental
Planning Issues, No. 6. London,
International Institute for
Environment and Development.
18 Bass, S. and B. Dalal-Clayton (1995)
Small island states and sustainable
development: strategic issues and
50
CHAPTER 7
Annotated Bibliography
Grundström, K. and A. W. Jere (Eds) replicable experiences and experiments,

(2007). Shelter for the Urban Poor: bottlenecks in implementing enabling
Proposals for Improvements - Inspired strategies and appropriate indicators for
by World Urban Forum III. Lund, Lund measuring progress,
University.
UNCHS (2001) Implementing the
This report is a compilation of papers on
Habitat Agenda: The 1996-2001
housing and urban development with
Experience. Nairobi: UNCHS (Habitat)
a focus on the urban poor. Taking the
This report presents a multi-faceted review
built environment as a starting point,
of, and draws general lessons, from variety
the authors, who are involved in housing
of national and city experiences in the
as public, private and NGO sector
concrete implementation of the Habitat
practitioners and academics, discuss and
Agenda in very different contexts. The
present proposals on how decent shelter
case studies describe good policies and
and sustainable urban development can
practices applied at country or city levels
contribute to poverty alleviation, and,
that can be replicated or adapted.
hence, improve the living conditions and
lives of the urban poor. UN-HABITAT (2002) International
Instruments on Housing Rights.
Payne, G. and M. Majale (2004) The
This compilation report contains excerpts
Urban Housing Manual: Making
of relevant international instruments
Regulatory Frameworks Work for the
on housing rights, such as the
Poor. London: Earthscan.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
This handbook tackles the issue of
International Covenants (most importantly
regulatory frameworks for urban
the International Covenant on Economic,
upgrading and new housing development,
Social and Cultural Rights), Conventions,
and how they impact on access to
Declarations, Recommendations, and
adequate, affordable shelter and other key
other similar guiding documents. It also
livelihood assets, in particular for the urban
includes excerpts from some relevant
poor. The book illustrates two methods
regional instruments.
for reviewing regulatory frameworks and
expounds guiding principles for effecting UN-HABITAT (2003) Handbook on
change, Best Practices, Security of Tenure and
Access to Land: Implementation of
UNCHS (1991) Assessment of
the Habitat Agenda. Nairobi: UN-
Experience with the Project Approach
HABITAT
to Shelter Delivery for the Poor.
This handbook shows how governments,
Nairobi: UNCHS (Habitat)
both central and local, and other
This report evaluates initial efforts at
stakeholders, are implementing the land
implementing the Global Strategy for
related principles enshrined in the Habitat
Shelter to the Year 2000 (GSS) based on
Agenda at a practical level in the cities and
case studies and evidence from several
towns. It identifies recent innovations and
countries. Particular attention is given to
good practice at the global level in land

management and providing secure access of conventional mortgage finance; the

to land. financing of social and rental housing;
the emergence of housing microfinance;
UN-HABITAT (2003) Rental Housing:
and the increasing popularity of shelter
An Essential Option for the Urban
community funds for upgrading slums and
Poor in Developing Countries. Nairobi:
informal settlements.
UN-HABITAT
This report reviews the role of rental UN-HABITAT (2006) Enabling Shelter
housing in housing markets worldwide, Strategies: Review of Experience from
demonstrating its extent and diversity. It Two Decades of Implementation.
discusses the problems associated with Nairobi: UN-HABITAT.
rental housing and critically examines eight This report reviews of the evolution of
broad approaches to how the existing enabling shelter strategies and examines
rental housing stock might be improved how the roles of the various actors in
and expanded. the shelter process have changed with
the adoption of the enabling paradigm.
UN-HABITAT (2003) The Challenge
It also provides an in-depth assessment
of Slums: Global Report on Human
of particularly successful experience in
Settlements 2003. London: Earthscan.
implementing enabling strategies and
This report presents the first global
initiatives in the shelter sector.
assessment of slums and examines the
factors underlying their formation, as UN-HABITAT (2006) State of the
well as their spatial and socio-economic World’s Cities 2006/7. London:
characteristics. It evaluates past policy Earthscan.
responses to the slum challenge and points Guided in focus by the Millennium
the way forward, identifying promising Development Goals, this report considers
approaches to achieving the Millennium the wide range of issues that affect the
Development target on slums. lives of (mainly poor) urban dwellers,
including: water and sanitation, shelter,
UN-HABITAT (2004) Urban Land for
overcrowding, employment, education,
All. Nairobi: UN-HABITAT.
and HIV/AIDS. The report concludes with
The brochure presents ways in which
practical guidelines for assessing urban
policymakers can improve urban land
poverty and recommendations for policy
markets and tenure policies in their cities
reform.
and countries; and examples of innovative
approaches to improving land and UN-HABITAT (2007) How to Develop a
property rights for the poor. Pro-poor Land Policy: Process, Guide
and Lessons. Nairobi: UN-HABITAT.
UN-HABITAT (2005) Financing Urban
Based on experience in various countries
Shelter: Global Report on Human
in Asia and Africa, this guide outlines a
Settlements 2005. London: Earthscan.
participatory process, involving a wide
This report examines the challenges of
range of stakeholders, which can be
financing urban shelter development,
adapted as appropriate to the situation
highlighting the necessary contribution of
in each country and the specific aspect of
government towards financing shelter for
land policy that needs to be addressed.
the urban poor. It reviews the performance
52
CHAPTER 7
UN-HABITAT (2007) Policy Makers UN Millennium Project (2005) A Home

Guide to Women’s Land, Property in the City. London: Earthscan
and Housing Rights Across the World. This report describes the needed
Nairobi: UN-HABITAT. interventions and proposes operational
This guide aims to supplement existing means of implementation to meet the
knowledge on land policy and practice Millennium Development Goal target of
in respect of women’s rights, by bringing improving the lives of 100 million slum
together various studies in an easily dwellers and to provide alternatives
accessible and usable form. It also provides to slum formation. Using successful
a series of recommendations on how to examples from around the world, it shows
effectively implement innovative proposals ways to provide core urban infrastructure,
with respect to women’s security of tenure. adequate shelter and improved public
services.
UN-HABITAT and OHCHR (2002)
Housing Rights Legislation: Review
of International and National Legal
Instruments.
This report reviews housing rights in
international and national law, and
discusses housing rights as progressive
legal obligations. The report also how
housing rights legislation is being
implemented. Examples that provide a
framework for model legislation with
respect to specific components of the right
to adequate housing are also presented.

Websites
Asian Coalition on Housing Rights Homeless International www.

www.achr.net homeless-international.org
Basin – building advisory service and Orangi Pilot Project Research and
information network www.basin.info/ Training Institute (OPP-RTI), Pakistan
Best Practices and Local Leadership www.oppinstitutions.org
Programme (BLP) Practical Action (formerly Intermediate
http://www.unhabitat.org/categories. Technology Development Group)
asp?catid=34 www.practicalaction.org
Building and Social Housing SDI – Shack Dwellers International
Foundation http://www.bshf.org www.sdinet.org/
Cities Alliance www.citiesalliance.org Toolkit participation www.
COHRE – Centre on Housing Rights toolkitparticipation.nl
and Evictions www.cohre.org UN-HABITAT www.unhabitat.org
Development Planning Unit (DPU) Upgrading Urban Communities
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/DPU (Cities Alliance) http://web.mit.edu/
The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) urbanupgrading
http://www.gltn.net/ World Bank http://www.worldbank.
Habitat for Humanity http://www. org
habitatforhumanity.org
HIC WAS Habitat International
Coalition Women and Shelter
Network www.hicwas.kabissa.org
54
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi 00100, KENYA
Tel: +254 20 762 3120
Website: www.unhabitat.org

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Enabling Shelter Strategies

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ENABLING SHELTER STRATEGIES:

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

Volume 1: A Policy Guide to Rental Housing in Developing Countries

Quick Policy Guide Series - Volume 2

Principal Author: Michael Majale

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 iii

Box 1: The right to adequate housing 2

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 v

Figure 1: Housing policy evolution from direct public provision

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND SPECIAL TERMS

BLP Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme, UN-HABITAT

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 vii

Social housing programme in South Africa © UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly

1.1 What is the Enabling Approach illustrated in Figure 2. These actors

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 1

Box 1: s Affordability: the cost does not

Adequate housing was recognised as a part s Habitability: physical safety, adequate

their housing conditions according to the an appropriate legal, institutional and

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 3

Figure 2: A conceptual view of the housing development and improvement process4

The enabling approach also requires

s Expanding the supply of affordable broadly deﬁned as that which is reasonably

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 5

Inputs Production Demand

Figure 3: How the housing market works6

How the housing sector works Enabling markets to work

countries to deliver adequate housing 1.2 The positive effects of successful

Figure 4: A Model of the Housing Sector7

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 7

facilitator of public-private partnerships,  In India, NGOs and CBOs are

The right to adequate housing is now

Box 4: The Baan Mankong slum upgrading

Enabling housing strategies in

In January 2003, the Government of

The second, the Baan Mankong

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 9

1.3 Challenges with the design and

Housing reconstruction in Banda Aceh, Indonesia © UN-HABITAT

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 11

Popular housing in Capetown © UN-HABITAT/ Claudio Acioly

HOW TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT AN

There are a number of prerequisites for

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 13

Decentralization and devolution of driven and relevant, thereby encouraging

Collective self-help housing construction © UN-HABITAT

or too costly, both in terms of money and

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 15

or have been simply adopted from Such a strategy is applicable to all

Public awareness and access to

communication technologies (ICTs) and  In Uganda, the Masese Women’s Self

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 17

Resettlement is commonly used

Perceived tenure Adverse

Customary Anti evictions Group tenure Registered

Figure 5: The range of land rights1

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 19

cost basic infrastructure and services

Governance Principles Land Issues/Response

Table 1: Land Governance Framework14

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 21

and finance at affordable cost. However, Box 8:

 Rental housing is an essential option

QUICK POLICY GUIDE SERIES VOLUME 2 23

facilitator of public-private partnerships, In India, NGOs and CBOs are

communication technologies (ICTs) and In Uganda, the Masese Women’s Self

Rental housing is an essential option

In Kenya, for example, the introduction Commercial banks and housing

source of formal housing finance in Lowering interest rates can make

Community mortgage programmes Homeless International’s Guarantee

Politically endorsed and supported: by government at all levels with governments

Participatory: involving all the actors involved in shelter development and

People-centred: whereby local communities actively participate in the shelter

Results-oriented: identifying goals, objectives and targets, and action planning to

Comprehensive: taking account of the multi-dimensional nature of housing needs;

Based on partnership: between governments and other actors in the housing

Sustainable: designed for people-driven, sustainable shelter development and

Asian Coalition on Housing Rights Homeless International www.