Gilbert, A. (1992) - Third World Cities. Housing, Infrastructure and Servicing.

Urban Studies, Vol. 29, Nos .
3/4, 1992 435-460
Third World Cities : Housing, Infrastructure and

Servicing
Alan Gilbert
Introduction
Over the next three years I have been given are discussed. The second (to be published
the rather intimidating task of reporting on in 1993) will discuss changes in urban and
recent developments in urban study and regional systems in less-developed coun-
practice in the Third World .' I have imme- tries and their relationship with the chang-
diately reduced my task by unilaterally ing structure of the world economy, to-
excluding China from the Third World on gether with the issues of cityward migra-
the grounds of its distinctiveness and my tion and the state of the urban environ-
own limited knowledge of it. I have also ment . The final review (to be published in
decreed that Hong Kong and Singapore 1994) will be concerned with employment,
should join Japan in the developed world . gender and household-survival strategies .
Even so, my brief still covers a not- The main theme running through this
insignificant chunk of the globe, much of first review is that economic conditions in
Asia, and the whole of Africa, Latin most less-developed countries have de-
America and the Caribbean. What is pat- teriorated during the 1980s and, as a
ently clear is that these three continents consequence of that deterioration, the cor-
often show more differences than similar- pus of planning recommendations has
ities-differences which will be high- changed . A surprising feature of this shift
lighted wherever they seem to be signifi- is that there is a strong tendency for the
cant. Also, there are important variations political Right and Left to be saying not
within continents ; Saudi Arabia and India, dissimilar kinds of things . Both recognise
for example, may both be in Asia but there that economic decline and the debt crisis
the similarities end. Two apologies are also have made life harder for everyone . De-
in order. First, I will no doubt miss much cline has forced governments to cut back
significant work . The boom in academic on expenditure, which has prompted the
writing is such that it is almost impossible realisation that government cannot now
to keep up . Secondly, I will no doubt give play the role that we perhaps should like it
too much emphasis to Latin America, a to play. For those on the ideological Right,
bias explained by my greater familiarity privatisation, and the removal of the damp
with that region . hand of government, is the solution in
My plan is to concentrate on the litera- itself (Stren, 1991) . Reaganism and
ture published since the end of 1987 and to Thatcherism have convinced some that
divide up the literature into three broad privatisation is the answer and that the
areas, each of which will be the subject of a recipe for the Third World is obvious : let
single review . In this first paper, the issues people do more things for themselves . Of
of shelter, servicing and urban government course, the optimism in this recommenda-
Alan Gilbert is Professor at the Department of Geography, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WCIH OAP,
UK. The author wishes to thank Richard Stren for helpful comments on this paper .
Downloaded from usj.sagepub.com at RUTGERS UNIV on April 11, 2015
435

436 ALAN GILBERT
tion is likely to prove ill-founded; with some benefits, especially for the affluent
national and urban economies in decline, minority who can afford to pay for quality
there will be much less opportunity for services . But the majority will have dis-
innovative entrepreneurs in the informal covered how exploitative most illegal sub-
sector . However justified the case for pri- dividers are, about the dangerous state in
vatisation, the ability of private enterprise which most private companies run their
to supply services will be undermined by buses, and how few private entrepreneurs
the ability of most customers to pay . On are prepared to provide services to the
the Left, there is a clear realisation that the unprofitable poor . Most will also have
structure of the state has been anti-partici- realised that government has maintained
patory, authoritarian and inequitable . The the urban fabric even less effectively than
removal of oppressive rules and regula- previously. At this stage there will once
tions is clearly to be welcomed . The disap- again be a greater clamour for public
pointment is that increased freedom could intervention, regulation and control . I just
hardly have come at a worse time . If the hope I am wrong!
urban literature is now full of praise for It is this rather sad interpretation that
neighbourhood control and community has led to the structuring of this first
participation, there will be few resources to review . First, my intention is to look at the
support local initiatives . The most effec- wider economic conditions facing LDCs
tive support for the contentions of both and how they have affected the urban
Right and Left is provided by the current sector . Second, I will consider the housing
economic situation . In the absence of debate, showing how the fears of commo-
resources, most governments do not need dification undermining the self-help hous-
convincing that they should do less ; they ing sector have been much exaggerated .
will do less anyway . During economic decline the fears of those
Unfortunately, deteriorating economic on the Left have not materialised ; a worse
conditions also mean that the belief in fate has been in store for the low-income
automatic progress that we held during the population than commodification . Third,
long post-war boom is no longer justified . the discussion moves on to the issue of
The awful truth of the 1980s, at least in public services and the role of urban
most parts of Africa and Latin America, is government, bringing in the arguments in
that the quality of life deteriorated, some- favour of privatisation and the need for
times dramatically . The 1990s may not administrative reform within the public
prove much better, especially in Africa . sector . Finally, the question of whether
This means that however much we urge social protest has increased as a result of
government to improve its actions or economic recession is examined, address-
encourage the private sector to take up the ing the issue of whether such a form of
slack, the reality is that they will be unable protest is a satisfactory way of modifying
to do so . In many cities, neither govern- public policy .
ment nor private enterprise will provide
decent shelter, services and infrastructure . The Effect of the World Recession and the
The truth in all too many parts of the Third Debt Crisis on Urban Living Conditions
World is that the quality of life will
continue to deteriorate unless economic The debt crisis hit many Third World
conditions change . countries very hard but its medium-term
My pessimistic prediction is that by effect has been highly variable . In general,
about 1995, government regulations will Africa and Latin America suffered
have been cut back a great deal and people throughout the 1980s whereas most parts
will have been left even more to their own of Asia recovered surprisingly quickly .
devices. No doubt this will have brought Within Asia the growing cubs of the Far

THIRD WORLD CITIES 437
Table 1. Estimates of total, urban and rural populations living in absolute poverty, 1970-85
Population (per cent) Millions
Percentage change
1970 1985 1970 1985 1970-85
Developing countries
Total 52 44 944 1156 22
Rural 59 49 767 850 11
Urban 35 32 177 306 73
Africa
Total 46 49 166 273 64
Rural 50 58 140 226 61
Urban 32 29 26 47 81
Asia
Total 56 43 662 737 11
Rural 61 47 552 567 3
Urban 42 34 110 170 55
Latin America
Total 40 36 116 146 26
Rural 62 45 75 57 -24
Urban 25 32 41 89 117
Source: UN (1989, p. 39) .
East suffered very little, and even the and 1985 the numbers of people living in
Indian subcontinent did not fare that badly . urban poverty rose faster than the numbers
Predictably, the pattern of economic of rural poor in every region . Whereas the
growth and decline has been reflected in absolute number of rural poor declined in
the changing incidence of poverty . Table 1 Latin America and increased very little in
shows that poverty increased in most parts Asia, the numbers of urban poor exploded .
of Africa and Latin America during the Certainly, Cohen (1990, p . 49) has few
1980s, whereas it declined in most parts of doubts that the recession has hit Third
Asia (World Bank, 1990, pp . 42-43) . And, World cities particularly hard :
even if the proportion of poor people in the
Third World as a whole fell from 52 to 44 One of the most striking features of the
per cent, their absolute numbers rose from macroeconomic adjustment process in
0.94bn to 1 .16bn . Indeed, the depressing developing countries in the 1980s has
fact is that the total numbers of poor been its impact on cities . Macroecon-
people rose in every region . If figures were omic policies to improve the productiv-
available to compare the situation in 1985 ity of agriculture, reduce protection of
with that in 1980, the comparison would inefficient industries, reduce subsidies
be even more depressing . for public services, and reduce public
The debt crisis and the associated reces- expenditures have had major conse-
sion have probably had a greater impact on quences for urban residents in countries
cities than on the rural areas . This is such as Brazil, Mexico, the Ivory Coast,
fortunate in the sense that the cities are Morocco and the Philippines . Prices of
generally more prosperous than the rural food, water, energy and housing have
areas and that, on average, urban house- increased, while real wages have fre-
holds live much longer and in much better quently fallen in the face of inflation and
circumstances than their country cousins . dislocations in labour markets . Rural-
However, as Table 1 shows, between 1970 urban terms of trade have shifted in the

438 ALAN GILBERT
direction of the rural sector, as farmers ration has been permanent, increasingly so
are beginning to receive higher producer in Africa (Gilbert and Gugler, 1992) . But
prices and urban residents benefit less temporary migration continues to be im-
from subsidized food . portant and in Asia and Latin America has
grown in significance . As Grindle (1988)
Again, however, the regional impact of points out for Mexico, temporary migra-
recession and adjustment has been vari- tion has increased in recent years and
able. In Africa, the World Bank (1990, p . many rural families have survivied only
114) argues that rural areas tend to gain through their reliance on family members
from adjustment as a result of rising moving temporarily to supplement the
producer incomes whereas the urban poor household income . This strategy, "which
tend to be most at risk . Urban incomes in appears to be a reasonable choice for rural
the early 1980s fell rapidly in Ghana, households in many parts of Mexico, offer-
Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire ing them a viable means of maintaining
whereas rural incomes increased or at themselves in their communities and in
worst stagnated . In Latin America, the some cases making real improvements in
evidence probably supports a similar con- their standards of living" (Grindle, 1988,
clusion but is less clear cut . Certainly, the pp. 48-49) has become a critical ingredient
urban areas have suffered greatly with real in their survival strategies .
incomes in several major cities falling by It is possible that rural recession, and in
around one-half during the decade (UNE- places drought, famine or war, has pushed
CLAC, 1990) . In Asia, however, the pat- more people into the urban areas as a
tern is less marked because structural destiny of last resort (Stren and White,
adjustment has been both less widely and 1989) . It is equally clear that deteriorating
less stringently applied. urban conditions have reduced the absorp-
But, if urban areas generally have suf- tive capacity of the cities . In countries such
fered most, it is clear that the rural areas as Chile, there are even signs that net
have also seen a deterioration in living migration to urban areas is now zero (IDU,
conditions . Admittedly, rural produc- 1990) . There is anecdotal evidence of a
tion-especially for export-has risen dra- slowing of migration in parts of Africa
matically in places, but this has not always (Amis and Lloyd, 1990, p . 6) . The pattern of
reduced poverty . "Although agricultural rural-urban flows during economic reces-
production in Latin America in the .aggre- sion is one fascinating issue which will be
gate responded fairly well to credit, price clarified by the publication-one hopes
and exchange rate policies, labour absorp- promptly-of the 1990 round of census
tion has been minimal and real wages fell data.
dramatically" (UN, 1989, p . 42) . In Whatever the relative impact on urban
Mexico, while those with sufficient land to vis-a-vis rural areas, it is clear that during
support their families did not fare badly, the 1980s many urban-dwellers paid a
labourers and others dependent on wage terrible price as a result of economic
income suffered greatly from the decline in recession and adjustment policies . In Tur-
real wages (Lustig, 1990) . The rural sector key, real wages fell by 40 per cent in the
also suffered badly from cuts in govern- 1980s (Aricanli and Rodrik, 1990, p .
ment expenditure (Harvey, 1991) . 1348) . In Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra
The relevance of rural recession to this Leone and Tanzania, real incomes in ur-
paper lies in its impact on cityward migra- ban areas declined by as much as one-half
tion . Migration has been critically impor- in the first half of the decade (UN, 1989, p .
tant in recent years as rural population 42). In urban Peru, manual workers in the
pressure increased and the structure of the private sector saw their incomes fall by
rural economy changed . Much of the mig- two-thirds between 1980 and 1990 . The

THIRD WORLD CITIES 43 9
real value of the minimum wage fell in the ing fewer houses and providing more sup-
same period by three-quarters in Lima, port for informal, self-help efforts. African
more than three-fifths in Ecuador's cities, experience is typical of this shift: "The role
and by more than half in urban Mexico of housing in national development policy
(UNECLAC, 1990). The effect on the poor . . . has undergone three main phases, from
in so many countries is clear . In Chile, "in an emphasis on state-built public housing,
1983, for the first time since 1975, there through an aided self-help phase, to the
was a deterioration in some of the survival present phase, during which the concern has
indices and in the nutritional status of shifted to the proper `management' of
children, the decline in infant mortality services and infrastructure" (Stren, 1990, p .
slowed down, while the child (1-4) death 49) . Throughout the world, fewer govern-
rate increased markedly" (Raczynski, ments are building public housing and more
1988, p . 75). In Ecuadorian shanty-towns, are seeking to provide assistance to the self-
more mothers were forced to work, house- help housing sector (Azuela, 1989 ; Pugh,
holds consumed less protein, and malnu- 1989a, 1989b ; Bhattacharya, 1990 ; Keles,
trition among children became rife (World 1990 ; Potter and Salau, 1990) . There has
Bank, 1990, p . 104 ; Klak, 1992) . In the also been a down-grading in the nature of
Philippines, where real wages also plum- intervention in the informal sector ; a change
meted and levels of unemployment rose, which has even affected World-Bank urban-
"there is evidence of rising malnutrition project lending. "Sites and services", for
among children from 1982 ; the fall in the example, " . . . started out as core housing
infant mortality rate decelerated . . . [and] which could be progressively developed, but
in public elementary school . . . drop-out which has evolved into low-cost land devel-
rates rose" (UNICEF, 1988, p . 214) . opment and the upgrading of existing
In summary, urban living conditions settlements" (Malpezzi, 1990, p . 972) .
have deteriorated in many parts of the I believe that there are few among the
world and the cities now contain more poor who will lament this general shift in
poor families than ever before . As a result, policy, since few gained access to public-
while the need for government interven- housing programmes anyway . Nor will
tion has increased, the ability of most many architects and planners regret the
governments to deal with this widespread change ; indeed, most have been advocat-
impoverishment has been greatly reduced ing some kind of shift in this direction for
by the debt crisis . Structural-adjustment some time (Payne, 1989) . As Baross and
programmes have been very unpopular van der Linden (1990, p . 12) approvingly
and in places have sparked off riots and note " . . . official thinking has become
social protests . The recent urban literature more realistic, and has absorbed at least
on Africa, Asia and Latin America can some of the lessons to be learned by
only be understood if read in this context . observing the relative success of organic
development" .
Like most shifts in policy, however, the
Housing and Shelter impact on the poor is not entirely predict-
Ramirez (1990, p. 217) argues that " . . . the able . It will clearly depend on the manner
most important issue in this field today- in which it is implemented in individual
one with unforeseeable social and political cities . Having said that, there remain
implications-is not the intervention of the several areas of general concern .
state in housing but the widespread attempt
all through the world to withdraw the state Access to Self-help Ownership
from housing provision" . Such a shift has in
some senses been underway for some time . For several years a transformation has
Broadly speaking, the state has been build- been underway in the tenure structure of

440 ALAN GILBERT
most Third World cities. While there are a ing to Amis and Lloyd (1990, p . 20) : "the
few significant exceptions, most have seen commercialisation or commodification of
a strong shift out of tenancy into owner- low-income housing is the dominant pro-
occupation (UNCHS, 1989) . The change cess throughout African cities . In this we
has been facilitated by the rapid growth of are in agreement with the suggestion that
self-help housing, a development permit- contemporary processes in capitalist peri-
ted in turn by improved transport, services pheral states are breaking down informal
and infrastructure, and encouraged-often housing mechanisms" . Similarly, Durand-
covertly-by the authorities . Illustrative of Lasserve (1990, p . 50) notes how illegal
this shift has been the change that has commercial markets are expanding :
occurred in Bombay where the proportion "While the growth of this new submarket
of owner-occupiers increased from 10 per offered a more secure and officially toler-
cent of households in 1961 to 39 per cent ated access mechanism to land and hous-
20 years later. In Sao Paulo, a similar ing for a large number of low-income
change has occurred; in 1940 two-thirds of families, it also foreclosed the informal
all homes were rented ; 40 years later little and virtually free access to land by the very
more than one-third (Sachs, 1990, pp. poor" .
74-75) . If commercialisation is undoubtedly
Higher rates of owner-occupation have rampant in many Third World cities, is it a
been generally welcomed because the auth- universal process that is increasing in
orities believed that it would give more intensity rather than a process which
households a firmer stake in urban society . ebbs and flows according to local economic
It was also a shift which appeared to be and political circumstances? Even if com-
compatible with the stated preferences of mercialisation develops, does this auto-
low-income families (Gilbert and Varley, matically exclude the poor from the land
1991) . In the light of the increasingly overt market?
support being given to self-help housing by My own reading of the literature sug-
government, the continued expansion of gests that there is no general pattern . There
low-income owner-occupation appeared are certainly numerous interesting
certain. In practice, the literature has been examples of what appear to be reversals of
pointing to a number of difficulties which this general process . Sao Paulo is a particu-
may slow the process . larly significant exception because a highly
The principal barrier to the further developed commercial market for poor
growth of self-help ownership may be people had been operating for many years .
access to land . The literature has been Compared to Rio de Janeiro, where many
arguing for several years now that land for low-income settlements were developed
low-income housing is becoming more through invasion, most settlements in Sao
difficult for the poor to obtain (Angel et al ., Paulo were created through the process of
1983 ; Payne, 1989) . This is because infor- illegal subdivision . With the change from
mal land alienation processes are being military to democratic government in
phased out, due principally to the commer- 1985, however, an important change oc-
cialisation of land and growing state con- curred. Suddenly, there was a major in-
trols over the land market . In the past, the crease in land invasions and in the number
poor in African and some Asian cities of new favelas (Taschner, 1988 ; Sachs,
obtained plots on communal or tribal land 1990) .
with the agreement of the chief (Payne, The example of Sao Paulo underlines an
1989) . In Latin America, the poor fre- important change that has occurred in a
quently obtained land through organised number of Latin American countries . In
invasions. It is argued that such informal brief, the process of democratisation that
processes are now less widespread . Accord- swept through the region during the 1980s

brought important changes in land alloca- Nor does commercialisation necessarily

tion processes . The new democratic gov- mean that land prices will rise . Indeed, for
ernments are less willing to repress land the first time in many years I am beginning
invasions; indeed, some seem to be en- to read statements to the effect that urban
couraging informal processes of land land prices are falling in real terms . Re-
alienation . The reason why seems obvious . cently, Durand-Lasserve (1990, p . 49) has
With the debt crisis cutting the ability of noted that: "The contradiction between
governments to supply urban populations rapid land price increases and stagnant or
with either housing or services, political declining urban incomes at least during the
parties are looking for less expensive ways first phase of the crisis led to the erosion of
to resolve the housing question . The poor the formal land market" . This erosion is
need to be housed but, if proper housing reflected in the relative stabilisation or the
cannot be supplied and properly serviced, falling-off of land-price increases and the
it becomes a question of encouraging the outflow of capital from the land sector
poor to do it themselves. Since impov- either to other economic sectors or to the
erished governments cannot improve up-market real-estate business . Evidence is
housing conditions, they will simply inter- available from Chile and from several
vene less. That may not be a satisfactory Mexican cities that real land prices have
response, but at least it is less unpopular fallen (Gilbert, 1989 ; CED, 1990 ; CENVI,
than repressing land invasions or insisting 1990 ; Jones, 1991) . From a literature
on unrealistically high levels of service prone to claim that spectacular profits are
provision. Democratic governments will made from land speculation in virtually
not be re-elected if they react otherwise . I every city, this kind of statement must
admit that there is some plausibility in the mean something .
converse argument, that : "It is in the In one sense, however, it is surprising
interests of the ruling elite to prevent easy that land prices should fall in Third World
access to land by the urban poor because cities, even during a severe recession . This
controlling access to land as a scarce is because traditionally land has been an
resource provides a source of cash income excellent hedge against economic troubles
and political support" (Lee-Smith, 1990, p . and especially against inflation . As Amis
187) . But preventing easy access is not the and Lloyd (1990, p . 19) put it : "In general
same as preventing access to all . Land it seems fair to suggest that in stagnant
invasions are good politics if carefully economies and/or in periods of economic
controlled ; let your supporters obtain land recession land and housing are likely to be
but not those of the opposition! seen as secure and/or lucrative outlets for
But the most significant point is that investment . This is clearly the case in
there is still today a great deal of variation contemporary Africa" . That used to be the
between Third World cities in the way that case also in Latin America but unlike the
the poor acquire land . One consequence is situation in the 1940s or 1950s, those
that the cost of land varies dramatically . Latin Americans with money have now
Even where land is clearly commercialised, become part of the international financial
plots are sometimes cheap . In Mexico, for community. There are now better invest-
example, the commercialisation of ejidal ment opportunities abroad ; wealthy Mexi-
land has not raised the cost so much that it cans and Venezuelans can simply open a
has become inaccessible to the poor . Re- US bank account and wait for the dollar to
cent research reveals that plots of land soar relative to the local currency . Why
around three large Mexican cities cost invest in the local land and property
between two months' and five months' market? The laundering of drug monies
earnings at the minimum salary (CENVI, notwithstanding, it is at least arguable that
1990 ; Gilbert and Varley, 1991) . the big money usually goes elsewhere .

442 ALAN GILBERT
But how certain can we be that the real Renting and Sharing a Home
price of land has begun to fall or that the
In some cities land for the poor is scarce .
rate of increase is much lower than previ-
In cities where there are physical limits on
ously? So far the evidence is very patchy .
land expansion, as in Caracas or Rio de
Limited information obtained from Gua-
Janeiro, or where governments do not
dalajara suggests that the recession in
permit informal land processes, as in Har-
Mexico did have an impact on land
prices . Between 1975 and 1980 the aver- are, Santiago or Seoul, owner-occupation
age price per square metre rose in real is likely to prove difficult and alternatives
terms by 14 .4 per cent, while between must be sought .
1980 and 1985 it fell by 3 .1 per cent The two main alternatives are renting
(Gilbert and Varley, 1991, p . 93).2 In and sharing a home with kin . Both strat-
Puebla, land prices fell markedly relative egies are common in the less-developed as
to other prices for several years after the well as the developed world . In practice we
crisis broke in 1982 (Jones, 1991) and a know remarkably little about shared ac-
similar trend seems to have been appar- commodation although recent work in
ent in Queretaro, Toluca and Mexico Santiago among the allegado population,
City (CENVI, 1990 ; Ward et al., 1991). and in Mexico, has taught us that most
Similarly, in Santiago, land prices in sharers are young, newly-formed families
high-income areas of the city rose specta- (Necochea, 1987 ; CENVI, 1990; IDU,
cularly between 1979 and 1982, only to 1990 ; Gilbert and Varley, 1991) .
plummet in the next few years (CED, About the tenant population we now
1990). But we must remember that al- know much more . As a result of work in a
though land prices may have fallen, they number of African cities (Barnes, 1987 ;
may still have risen relative to incomes ; Tipple, 1988 ; Amis and Lloyd, 1990 ; Ozo,
on that issue we have even less reliable 1990 ; Potts and Mutambirwa, 1991), Asia
information (Ward, 1989a) . (Nelson, 1988 ; Angel and Amtapunth,
The main conclusion to be drawn from 1989 ; India (NIUA), 1989a, 1989b ; Hoff-
the recent urban literature on land markets man et al., 1990) and Latin America
is that generalising about Third World (Cuenya, 1988 ; Beijaard, 1990 ; CENVI,
cities is often dangerous practice . If land 1990 ; CEU, 1990 ; Gilbert, 1991 ; Gilbert
prices have fallen in many Chilean and and Varley, 1991), we know something
Mexican cities, they have rocketed in about the nature of tenants, about land-
Seoul, Karachi, Bangalore, Bangkok and lord-tenant relations, and even about
Jakarta (Dowall, 1991, pp. 5-8 ; Dowall landlords .
and Leaf, 1991). Land-allocation processes While there is a great deal of variation,
also vary-which has a pronounced im- perhaps the most significant findings are
pact on the affordability of land (Gilbert that most tenants would like to be home-
and Varley, 1991) . Since the poor in owners (Green, 1988 ; CENVI, 1990 ; CEU,
Venezuela generally obtain land through 1990 ; Gilbert and Varley, 1991), that they
invasion, land is virtually free . In Mexico, are generally younger than owner-occupi-
where they acquire land through the pur- ers, that landlord-tenant relations are not
chase of ejido land it is not expensive . In infrequently amicable (Green, 1988 ; Nel-
Bogota, by contrast, because they are son, 1988 ; CEU, 1990), and that rents are
forced to buy land in informal subdivi- sometimes very low relative to incomes
sions, the price of land relative to incomes (Malpezzi and Mayo, 1987 ; Tipple, 1988 ;
is high (Gilbert and Ward, 1985) . In Gilbert and Varley, 1991) . There also
Santiago, where informal methods of ac- seems to be an inverse relationship be-
cess to peripheral land are not permitted, tween migration and tenancy ; at least in
the cost of land is prohibitive . Mexican cities, a higher proportion of

urban natives are tenants than migrants sense) and informal economic activities. It
(CENVI, 1990; Gilbert and Varley, 1991) . is thus not surprising that human settle-
With respect to landlords, perhaps the ment policies do not aim at their integra-
most significant issue is that the vast tion" . In the light of the recent statement
majority of landlords operate on a very by the World Bank (1991) that a priority in
small scale (Nelson, 1988 ; Coulomb and future policy is to raise urban productivity,
Duhau, 1989; Gilbert and Varley, 1991) . this neglect may soon be rectified .
They do not appear to be an exploitative
class taking advantage of the poor . Indeed, How Should the State Intervene Formally
the socio-economic characteristics of most in the Land and Housing Markets?
tenants and landlords are often very simi-
lar. There are cases, for example Nairobi, Much of the recent literature expresses a
where landlords do constitute an exploita- concern about the form of state interven-
tive group, but this is a somewhat exception in the housing and land markets. Both
tional case even in Africa (Amis and Lloyd, Left and Right are worried that there is
1990 ; Peil, 1991 ; Potts and Mutambirwa, often far too much intervention. Certainly,
1991) . As a result, evictions are not a there is now some agreement that self-help
constant worry for the tenants and in housing should be allowed to develop
places long tenancies are common (Tipple, under its own momentum . De Soto (1987,
1988 ; CENVI, 1990 ; Gilbert and Varley, p. 246) recommends "removing unproduc-
1991) . Renting in many Third World cities tive restrictions from the legal system and
is not often like the urban jungle that it was incorporating everyone into a new formal-
in 19th-century Britain . ity . . . legal institutions should provide the
Despite this, it is clear that most govern- means for private individuals to decide for
ments have been remarkably negligent in themselves what objectives they want to
terms of formulating a policy towards the pursue and, provided that they do no harm
rental-housing sector. With the exception to others, ensure that the law enables them
of rent-control legislation few governments to achieve their ends" . Similarly, the Un-
have taken any overt action in this field. It ited Nations recommends that government
seems as if they have all been waiting for policy should seek to re-examine "any
the rental-housing sector to disappear. obstructive public policies that deter infor-
Now that there is reason to believe that the mal housing investment from occurring
numbers of tenants may be rising in cer- and . . . provide basic infrastructure, se-
tain cities, perhaps this attitude will curity of land tenure, and exemptions from
change . Maybe they will also notice that the application of rent restrictions to infor-
rental housing is not only a significant mal subdivisions and those settlements
form of shelter, it is also a means by which where housing is mostly owner-occupied"
poor households supplement their family (UN, 1988, pp . 1-2).
income. However sensible this advice may ap-
Indeed, it is surprising how little atten- pear, it is to be hoped that this kind of
tion, both in terms of policy and research, approach is not taken too far-for it is
has been directed into the whole issue of clear that some governments have adopted
how housing can be used to generate this approach only because they have no
income . Not only can space be used to earn resources to do anything else . As Cohen
rents but homes can also accommodate (1990, p . 54) puts it: "The almost total
commercial and manufacturing activity . elimination of public resources for housing
As Raj and Nientied (1990, p . 1) have by the late 1980s in Latin America and
argued : . . . it is remarkable that there is Africa forced the official recognition of the
such little work done in regard to linkages role of the non-public sector" . If their
between informal housing (in a broad underlying motivation is a concern, a still

444 ALAN GILBERT
more vital issue is at stake . Will govern- also note that upgrading helped to increase
ments not only leave the poor to construct the supply of rental housing : "owners
their own dwellings but also leave them constructed rental accommodation in or-
to provide their own services and infra- der to increase their income . The result
structure? Is it totally coincidental that was that low-income groups could enter
this enabling strategy has been adopted the upgraded settlement, a positive sec-
enthusiastically precisely at the time ond-round effect of the programme" (Ni-
when government is least able to help the entied et al., 1990, p . 39) .
poor? We need much more information on the
In addition, even if the state does pro- issue of settlement upgrading and its
vide services and help to upgrade informal diverse impacts . In the meantime, many
settlements, could this very form of inter- writers remain profoundly suspicious
vention cause problems for the poorest about the effects of state intervention
families? Is Stren (1990, p . 50) right when (Rakodi, 1987 ; Kellett, 1989 ; Ramirez,
he asks whether " . . . there is a real danger 1990 ; Shidlo, 1990a) . Such intervention
that the commercialisation and market can still be extremely repressive . In Santi-
pricing of services may seriously disadvan- ago, for example, the official programme of
tage the urban poor"? Certainly, upgrading eradicating `precarious' settlements led to
is likely to benefit most owners in the form 30 000 families being moved from the
of better services and better services are centre and north of the city to new housing
likely to generate greater commercial activ- projects in the south. Families were moved
ity (McCallum and Benjamin, 1985 ; from high-income neighbourhoods to
Strassman, 1987 ; Gilbert, 1988) . If they settlements distant from areas of work and
are granted title deeds, they will be able to into municipalities with little capacity to
sell their property more easily and at a provide services and infrastructure
better price ; some evidence is beginning to (Scarpaci et al ., 1988 ; Portes, 1989 ; Rodri-
accumulate which shows that few self-help guez, 1989 ; CED, 1990 ; Puente Lafoy et
home-owners are currently able to sell al., 1990).
their property (CENVI, 1990; CEU, 1990 ; It is also clear that the state should take
IDU, 1990 ; Gough, 1992). Whether own- more action in certain directions . First, it
ers gain from legalisation and upgrading seems essential that state intervention is
depends, of course, upon the terms of the required to keep down the cost of land and
intervention (Azuela, 1989 ; Pugh, 1989b ; to keep the supply open . This requires a
Varley, 1989) . If land titles are expensive, subtle combination of controls over land
many home-owners may be forced to sell speculation and appropriate land-use and
in order to pay for the deeds . Similarly subdivision regulations (Angel and Porn-
with service improvements ; if lump-sum chokchai, 1990, p . 190) . It also requires
payments are required and non-payment better-quality information on land prices
results in legal action, owners may be (Dowall, 1991) .
forced out of a settlement (Rakodi, 1987 ; Secondly, there is increasing awareness
Kellett, 1989; Kool et al., 1989). In addi- of the need for governments to make some
tion, upgrading may lead to higher rents appropriate intervention in the rental-
which may prejudice poorer tenants, a housing field . There is arguably a need for
problem encountered in African cities such some kind of help to increase the supply of
as Abidjan and Kisumu .3 informal-sector rental housing . After years
However, this is not inevitable as a study of neglect, governments-in Indonesia and
of Madras shows . Nientied et al. (1990) Mexico, for example-have tentatively be-
find that landlords in an upgraded settle- gun to introduce certain measures to en-
ment neither evicted their existing tenants courage investment in formal-sector rental
nor sought to raise the rent greatly . They housing . Whether they will extend their

efforts to assist the self-help landlord is a transportation services in Dar es Salaam,

more problematic question . water supply in Khartoum or matatus in
Finally, more effort should be made to Nairobi, the picture is one of unrelenting
understand the links between employment gloom" . As a result, "African cities have
and housing . While formal housing-con- rapidly been outgrowing their ablity to
struction programmes have been used fre- provide adequate services and infrastruc-
quently to boost employment and invest- ture to their populations" (Stren, 1988, p .
ment, there has been little effort made to 242) . Never before have administrations
stimulate informal-sector housing invest- been under greater pressure to improve
ment. Arguably, this is a still more useful their performance ; rarely have they had
contribution to economic development be- fewer resources to do the job (Yeung,
cause the `self-help' sector is more labour- 1990) .
intensive and less import-intensive . Sup- In recent years there has been a ferocious
port for self-help housing investment attack on Third World governments
would satisfy the World Bank's (1991, p. mounted from the political Right . This has
54) recent demand for "increasing the been motivated in part by the dominance
demand for labor of the poor through of right-wing governments in most of the
government support for labor-intensive developed countries and their financial
productive activities" . In addition, there control over major international institu-
are useful multiplier effects in terms of the tions such as the World Bank and the IMF.
stimulus given to greater commercial and The attack has been mounted for ideologi-
industrial activity . cal reasons, based on the belief that the
Whether governments are willing to in- only solution to economic malaise is to roll
tervene in these ways is, of course, another back the state . The clearest policy recom-
issue . Whether they are competent to mendation has been privatisation, some-
intervene helpfully is the subject of the thing which is discussed below .
next section. However, it would be ingenuous to
pretend that the general performance of
the state has been satisfactory even to the
The State of Urban Government
Left. Indeed, the rash of bureaucratic-
Few governments in the Third World have authoritarian through to plainly corrupt
ever managed their cities very well . In and incompetent governments in many
general, water systems leak; there are fre- parts of the Third World has prompted
quent electricity black-outs; there is a lack vigorous criticism . As Wallis (1989, p . 17)
of competent policing ; there are holes in notes in an African context, "from what
the roads (UN, 1986-90 ; Dogan and Ka- may be broadly termed the political `left', a
sarda, 1988 ; Yeung, 1990) . As Baross and series of writers have launched attacks on
van der Linden (1990, p . 12) assert : "'Ur- bureaucrats for failing to reverse patterns
ban chaos' is perhaps the most apt descrip- of colonial exploitation of Third World
tion of metropolitan or large-scale city resources by the West and for using their
growth in developing countries" . This has own privileged positions to gain access to
been especially true in Africa where urban business opportunities denied to the 'com-
administration appears to be particularly mon man"' . Even in Asia and Latin
bad (Peil, 1991) . Summarising the findings America, where government performance
of Stren and White's recent book on urban has generally been better, the Left has
government in Africa, Watts (1990, p . 541) recognised that the urban authorities have
comments that "Whether it is solid waste failed to provide their urban populations
management in Lagos, urban management with adequate shelter, health care or in-
reform in Abidjan, food supply in Kin- frastructure .
shasa, infrastructure in Dakar-Pikine, Sometimes, as in Africa and the Indian

446 ALAN GILBERT
sub-continent, some part of the explana- which was successful insofar as it managed
tion lies in the lack of resources available to finance the building of 2 .5m dwellings in
to urban governments ; sometimes, as in 20 years, has been strongly criticised (Val-
Lagos, corruption is a contributory cause ladares, 1988 ; Klak, 1990 ; Sachs, 1990 ;
(Peil, 1991) . But, even where neither of Shidlo, 1990a) . Again, the main focus of
these factors is critical, governments rarely criticism relates to the issue of equity ;
seem to have produced satisfactory solu- because the Bank was required to act like a
tions to urban problems. This failure is at private enterprise it was bound to satisfy
its starkest where governments have begun higher-income groups rather than the poor .
afresh and tried to build brand new cities . As Klak (1990, p . 575) puts it : "its funds
Whether we consider Brasilia, Ciudad have been loaned to it from Brazil's private
Guayana or Dodoma, the final product has sector . . . . it has financed housing built by
not been an unblemished success (Peattie, private developers on land purchased
1987 ; Jensen, 1988 ; Wright and Turkien- through the private market, and it has
icz, 1988) . A recent book by Holston provided loans that are repaid through a
(1989) tries to explain how the flawed monthly mortgage with interest . To the
masterpiece of Brasilia emerged . Here we degree that BNH invests in ways that
have a project given strong political back- parallel the logic of the market, it neglects
ing first by civilian government and then its social purpose" .
by military regimes . We have planners While both these examples are from
with socialist principles in charge of archi- Brazil, such cases could have been taken
tecture and urban design . And yet, despite from most Third World countries. In
having been honoured recently by being India, where the nationalisation of periph-
declared part of the `Cultural and Artistic eral land in Delhi seems to have been an
Heritage of Humanity' by UNESCO, most unmitigated failure: " . . . access to land for
would argue that Brasilia is a difficult city low-income housing has been limited not
in which to live and is almost certainly because of the policy, but because of its
Brazil's most segregated metropolitan inefficient administration and unrealistic
area. According to Holston the essential price control mechanisms" (Chatterji-Mi-
problem was that the new city was in- tra, 1990, p . 220) . In Karachi, public
tended to help transform Brazil . Not only intervention in the land market seems to
would it help to open up the country's have increased the amount of illegal land
interior but it would constitute a vision of dealing as publicly-owned land was offici-
the nation's future : a society without pov- ally kept out of the market but nonetheless
erty and a testimony to modernity . Unfor- found its way into the hands of the illegal
tunately, the new utopia had to be pro- subdividers (Nientied and van der Linden,
tected from the real Brazil, and as migrants 1990) . As has so often been the case, the
poured in from other parts of the country, bureaucracy interpreted public need in
the planners were forced to protect their terms of its own objectives and to its own
vision by banishing the unwanted poor to benefit.
distant satellite towns . In the process of These examples suggest that, not infre-
protecting the plan from the unplanned, quently, institutions established to im-
" . . . the interaction of intention and inter- prove the quality of urban management
pretation produced an exaggeration of have had quite the opposite effect . Even
some of the very conditions planners the sophisticated efforts of the World Bank
wanted to avoid" (Holston, 1989, p. 289) . have sometimes been counterproductive,
The powerful Brazilian state seems to something which certain quarters within
have done little better in housing the the Bank now recognise (World Bank,
nation's poor in other parts of the country . 1991) . In Tanzania, for example, Campbell
The National Housing Bank, an institution (1990, p . 213) argues that : "Bank projects

appear to have called forth, if not a ment more accessible to the people, and
proliferation, then an expansion of bureau- deregulation to cut state controls and
cracy as new and more complicated regula- increase individual rights . Clearly, most of
tions are required to administer the scale us would agree with such a recommenda-
and type of projects it sponsors . The result tion and in this sense Annis and Franks
has been to reinforce the power and pat- (1989, p . 19) are correct in believing that
ronage of the state over the poor" . there is considerable convergence in the
While not blaming the World Bank, beliefs of the `new' Right and the `new'
Cohen (1990) recognises that public-sector Left. Certainly de Soto believes that his
bureaucracy has played a major role in the argument is directed as much against
build-up of the current crisis . Indeed, he supporters of the interest-ridden, right-
has recently suggested that " . . . it might be wing state as against defenders of the
argued that the inflated expectations of the socialist state.
public sector carried within them the seeds Nevertheless, there is a real danger in his
of ultimate financial crisis" (Cohen, 1990, message-that it may be interpreted too
p. 56). The excessive spending of the simply by the Right as merely a plea for the
public sector creates economic problems, rolling back of the state . As Thorp (1990,
which in turn cut the resources available to p. 403) argues in a review of his book, de
resolve them . Campbell (1990) would per- Soto's "seductive quality stems from its
haps go further and question the very optimism and the simplicity of its message:
nature of bureaucratic reform : "The cen- a sensible legal system and reduced inter-
tral question that needs to be asked of ference from state bureaucracy are all that
these large-scale, capital-intensive and is necessary and sufficient for èscape from
bureaucracy-dominated urban shelter pro- backwardness and advance towards a
jects is whether they represent appropriate modem society"' . Clearly the urban poor
forms of development assistance to the in Peru require rather more in the way
low-income urban populations . Based on of help than merely a reform of the
their performance in East Africa, it should legislation .
be clear that there are serious doubts on
several grounds" (Campbell, 1990, p . 217) .
Privatisation : Panacea or Non-event?
If the catholic Left broadly agrees that
bad public management is responsible for For a variety of reasons, therefore, the
many of the problems, then the Right is rolling back of the state is currently fash-
adamant that this is the principal issue ionable. With that aim in mind privatisa-
facing Third World cities . Perhaps this tion is currently very much in vogue . "Just
argument is best put by Hernando de Soto, as the developing countries have gone
a Peruvian currently highly influential in through stages when state direction and
his own country and very popular with the ownership were seen as the dominant
New Right in the US (Annis and Franks, requirement for economic development,
1989 ; Bromley, 1990) . privatisation seems to be emerging as a
De Soto (1989) believes that, in Peru, panacea" (Heald, 1988, p . 70). It has swept
the state's role in society should be rolled through the Third World for two very
back. The mercantilist state should cease simple reasons. First, there is simply no
its interference in the lives of ordinary money to fund government activity . As
Peruvians . It should give back power to Cohen (1990, p . 54) points out : "Another
civil society . De Soto recommends a three- consequence of public austerity has been
fold strategy of `simplification, decentrali- growing public interest in the privatiza-
sation and deregulation' . Simplification tions of service delivery" . Secondly, priva-
aims to reduce barriers to informal-sector tisation has figured prominently in IMF
activity, decentralisation to make govern- and World Bank structural-adjustment

448 ALAN GILBERT
packages . Unless governments have been straightforward functional role (Gilbert

prepared to acept some measure of privati- and Ward, 1985) . In cities where the state
sation, emergency loans and the IMF seal has shown that it can be efficient, there is
of good housekeeping approval would not clearly less need to transfer activity to the
be forthcoming. private sector.
Considerable criticism has been directed The debate about the virtues of privati-
towards the IMF and the World Bank on sation is certainly not helped, however, by
these grounds. Many have claimed that confusion over terminology . To some, pri-
both institutions have been politically mo- vatisation requires the divesture of public
tivated . As Wallis (1989, p . 17) argues, in companies, to others it merely means
the context of Africa : "By and large, the allowing private enterprise to operate in
Bank's views represent an attack on new areas with fewer state controls . In any
bureaucracy from a stance that is broadly case, Cook and Kirkpatrick (1988) argue
anti-public and pro-private enterprise" . As that the form of ownership is less signifi-
Cook and Kirkpatrick (1988, p . 30) point cant than the form of management, a view
out: "The irony of the international agen- that they claim is shared by the World
cies advocating the dismantling of the Bank : "The key factor determining the
publicly-owned institutions that they efficiency of an enterprise is not whether it
themselves created in the 1960s, has not is publicly or privately owned, but how it is
gone unnoticed" . However, others suggest managed" (World Bank, 1983, p . 50) . The
that such a view is too simple . Certainly, only sensible recommendation, therefore,
Mosley (1988, p . 138) argues that " . . . the is that " . . . if the principal objective of
popular stereotype which pictures the privatisation is to increase economic effici-
Bank as being engaged in a privatisation ency, the policy priority should be to
crusade in the Third World is highly increase competition, not to transfer pro-
inaccurate . . . in its Structural Adjustment ductive activities to the private sector"
Loan policy conditions, the major instru- (World Bank, 1983, p . 22) .
ment by which it has sought to reform Of course, the whole debate about dives-
policy towards public enterprises, it has ture is irrelevant if it is not possible to
concentrated very much more on the cre- privatise state enterprises . And, in many
ation of competition and on efficiency countries, that is precisely the problem .
audits for state monpolies than on divest- Certainly, during the first half of the 1980s
ment of those organisations" . there was very limited divesture of public
To a degree, the debate is muddied by enterprise in most less-developed coun-
ideology, for according to Millward (1988, tries; Chile and Bangladesh constituting
p. 158), even if there is clearly a great deal the only real exceptions (Cook and Kirkpa-
of inefficiency in the public sector there is trick, 1988) . In Turkey, privatisation was
little evidence that overall it is more actively embraced in the mid 1980s (ODI,
inefficient than the private sector. Despite 1986); and in Mexico, one official state-
the denials, efficient public enterprises do ment claimed that the number of state
exist . Indeed, what is often fascinating is companies fell from 412 in December
the coexistence within the same city of 1982 to 115 five years later (Latin America
both efficient and functionally incompet- Regional Report, 1987).
ent enterprises . In Bogota, efficient public Privatisation has been slowed by the
enterprises-running the water, electricity, difficulty of selling off state enterprises .
drainage and telephone services-coexist The only companies sufficiently powerful
with incompetent organisations running to take over the more significant state
the buses, collecting the rubbish and pro- corporations are foreign-owned transna-
viding health care. Some state companies tionals and many governments are reluc-
exist to create jobs more than to perform a tant to sell strategic industries to such
companies. In the field of urban infrastruc- telephone company has led to private
ture and services there is an additional initiative decorating office blocks with
problem . Not only are these companies informal solutions.
usually unprofitable and weighed down by This appears to be a rather negative
large debts but their activities are closely development ; the emergence of small-scale
proscribed by detailed state controls and entrepreneurs to supply the public in the
regulations . Since the provision of public absence of competent government . Never-
services is a politically sensitive issue, theless, there can be certain advantages
governments are reluctant to let private from the process. As Stren (1988, p . 219)
companies operate free of public scrutiny ; puts it :
without full autonomy, private companies
are less keen to enter into this potential Perhaps surprisingly . . . . the urban poor
minefield. Consequently, there has been have on balance benefited from this
little divesture of public agencies in the process of incremental privatisation .
urban infrastructure and services fields . Not only are they more involved in the
Perhaps, Argentina will soon be an excep- production and distribution of the ser-
tion, with its current programme to priva- vices and facilities, but they gain access
to urban benefits which (even for a price)
tise the national gas, telephone, and water
they would not otherwise have enjoyed .
and sewerage companies and also one of
Many urban residents (except for the
the electricity agencies supplying Buenos
very poorest) are not only willing, but
Aires, but even there it is doubtful .
even anxious to pay a market rate for
If the privatisation movement has not
what they perceive to be necessary ser-
led to a great deal of public divestiture, it
vices, delivered efficiently and regularly .
has had two important effects . First, it has
focused more attention on the inefficiency I have no doubt that Stren is right about
of the public sector . Secondly, "it has also the willingness of people to pay for services
nearly stopped the creation of new public but the argument can be taken too far .
enterprises dead in its tracks" (Comman- Certainly de Soto's enthusiasm for infor-
der and Killick, 1988, p . 120). In practice, mal-sector servicing seems excessive . If we
privatisation of a third kind has been even now accept that there is little real alterna-
more significant . "In crucial areas such as tive to the poor building their own shelter,
water supply, waste disposal, housing and are we now almost in danger of saying that
mass transport, a genuine `privatisation' of they should provide their own services and
the supply of urban services and infrastruc- infrastructure too? Of course, any kind of
ture has been occurring since the late service delivery is undoubtedly better than
1960s" (Stren, 1988, p. 243) . In the ab- none . But this seems to be a minimalist
sence of an adequate response by the argument and one that relieves the state of
public sector, small-scale enterprise has even more of its social responsibilities.
been active filling the gap. "With the There is also the danger that this privatisa-
economic stagnation of the late seventies tion of last resort might be reified into
and early 1980s, this trend became more something positively desirable . This, at
pronounced" (Stren, 1988, p. 218). A least, is how I interpret de Soto (1989) and
similar process has been occurring in the even Cohen (1990, p . 54) when he argues
major cities of Peru (de Soto, 1989) . In the as follows : "If many urban households
absence of public transport, private taxis were already receiving water through pri-
and minibuses-the mutatas of Nairobi, vate water sellers and not through indivi-
for example-emerge to carry passengers . dual water connections to the public distri-
In the absence of water pipes, private bution system, why not further legitimize
water-tankers move into the barriadas . In private water companies on a larger scale?
Buenos Aires, the failure of the public Experiments in Abidjan and Santiago de

450 ALAN GILBERT
Chile have successfully demonstrated the The first is infrastructure deficiencies,

feasibility of this option" . I would be more which restrict productivity of private
convinced if the vacuum were being filled investment in most cities in developing
by charities or non-governmental organisa- countries. . . . Second is inappropriate
tions of a cooperative kind. This would regulations. Third is the dominant role
seem to be a less problematic development of government in planning and financing
and one in keeping with the praise being urban infrastructure, starving local gov-
heaped on such organisations in so much ernments of financial resources . Finally,
of the literature (Annis, 1987 ; UNCHS, poorly-developed financial sectors hin-
1988 ; Coulomb and Duhau, 1989 ; Hardoy der investment in infrastructure, hous-
and Satterthwaite, 1989 ; Perlman, 1990 ; ing and other urban activities .4
Yeung, 1990) . Otherwise, it is likely to be
the better-off who are provided with ser- But at the end of the day, administrative
vices and the poor who lose out (Stren and reform is difficult in an environment of
White, 1989) . Certainly, the argument in decline and scarce resources . This is de-
favour of ìnformal' privatisation seems to monstrated by circumstances in Cote d'Iv-
me to be something of a tautology . Privati- oire where : "During the seventies the
sation is recommended because the state state was prepared to subsidise water con-
lacks the resources to provide services! nections to houseowners in poorer areas of
Under such circumstances should we be the city . But the programme fell off in the
praising the shift of responsibility or urg- early 1980s because of a shortage of public
ing the state to become more efficient and funds . . . " (Stren, 1988, p . 223) . In Mexico
to generate more resources to do its right- City, investment in water capacity has
ful job? virtually stopped as a result of the debt
crisis.
Not surprisingly, great attention has
been devoted to increasing the financial
Administrative Reform
capacity of governmental organisations .
Whatever the justification for the idea of This has been a high priority of structural-
rolling back the state, it is quite clear that adjustment lending with the World Bank
the state is bound to maintain a fundamen- pushing strongly for cost-recovery and the
tal role in urban management and servic- removal of general subsidies wherever pos-
ing . The private sector is not anxious to sible . The argument supporting this ap-
supply the poor and insofar as it does it proach is impressive (Linn, 1983) . Subsi-
sometimes does so rather badly. But if the dies are to be discouraged because they
state is to play what most consider to be undermine the financial health of public
this critical role, then it must be more agencies. Consequently, they are unable to
democratic, more efficient and more equi- supply all of the population . Those who are
table in its actions . The problem, is of not served (predominantly the poor) suffer
course, how to do this. Certainly, there has in two ways : they receive no services and
been no shortage of advice and indeed not only do they not receive the subsidies
pressure on Third World governments to but they contribute through general taxa-
reform themselves . Indeed, such reform tion to those subsidies . Households should
has been part and parcel of structural be charged for their use of services because
adjustment programmes. it reduces demand, especially if large
According to the most recent World consumers are charged more than small
Bank statement on this issue, the current consumers . Increased revenues allow the
challenge to government is to raise urban institution to invest in the expansion of
productivity . There are currently four capacity. Increased capacity allows more
main constraints : customers to be served .

Recently, there seems to be some success facing the city's water company (Gilbert,
in implementing this kind of strategy. As 1990, p . 355) . 5
Cohen (1990, p . 53) notes : "Municipal The Bogota case is testimony, in fact, to
finance and administration, considered an increasing problem . Major loans were
low priorities during the halcyon days of contracted during the 1970s to expand
master plans and investments for the poor, service capacity . With the rise in real
have become revived as legitimate and interest rates in the late 1970s, and with
potentially productive activities ." . There devaluation against the dollar often accel-
is also increasing interest in transferring erating, servicing those debts became a
administrative innovations from one city major burden on the agencies . Local cus-
to another as reflected in collaborative tomers are now being charged high tariffs
research networks such as the Megacities in order to repay the foreign loans . Of
project (Perlman, 1990) . Similarly Wallis course it is reasonable that local clients
(1989, p . 194) believes that: "It is quite should pay for the costs of expansion but
clear. . . . that most countries in the parts of insofar as those costs have risen dramati-
the world with which we are concerned are cally because of external influences, should
now much more aware of the need for the lenders also not bear some part of the
administrative improvement than they cost? Certainly, it is ironic if, as in the case
were a few years ago" . of Bogota, "huge debt repayments are
However, there are clear dangers inher- threatening to undermine the only really
ent in this approach, especially when taken effective public institutions" in that city
to extremes . Anderson (1989), for (Gilbert, 1990, p. 359) .
example, argues that service and infra- The whole public-service issue in less-
structure provision in African cities should developed countries seems to me to focus
be taxed in order to create funds for on a significant question . Are the problems
development . Since the majority of urban faced by the public sector due fundamen-
dwellers cannot afford many of these ser- tally to administrative ineptitude or are
vices now, there is a clear limit to the they an inevitable result of the magnitude
feasibility of such a suggestion . In the field of the challenge faced? To the extent that
of transport, fares remain unaffordable to they are the former, then administrative
many in certain African cities (Mabogunje, reform must be pursued . But at certain
1990) and in Santiago, where deregulation levels of poverty, there is little that can be
has allowed fares to rise dramatically, the done about reform without a large injec-
proportion of journeys made on foot has tion of new funds . Cutting fat is one thing,
increased markedly (Figueroa, 1990) . but in many less-developed countries the
There is also the danger that existing bone has been reached .
consumers will react against rising service When the bone is reached there are three
charges ; protests have occurred in many dangers. The first is that rather than in-
cities about rising charges (Walton, 1989) . creasing efficiency and competence, the
But, there is a more insidious danger, an recommended formula will make the situa-
increase in the incidence of corruption and tion worse . The second is that as Stren
illegality. In parts of Africa, Mabogunje (1990, p . 50) argues for Africa, the combi-
(1990, p . 146) notes that : "there has nation of privatisation and state-with-
emerged a counterculture in which urban drawal means " . . . there is a real danger
households try to secure as many services that the commercialisation and market
as they can by illegal means" . In Bogota, pricing of services may seriously disadvan-
where industrial electricity costs rose four tage the urban poor" . The third is that
times in real terms between 1977 and reform will seriously damage the fabric of
1987, the rate of non-payment has been society by undermining the stability of the
rising rapidly. A similar problem has been political system .

452 ALAN GILBERT
Social Protest, Politics and the State the area of collective consumption . The
Economic decline is dangerous not only to current township violence is merely an
escalation of a tendency that has been
the quality of urban life but to the popular-
apparent over many years. A number of
ity of the state . Clearly there is a danger large squatter settlements have been
that falling real incomes, especially when
formed in most of the major cities and
combined with rising taxes and service
their populations have fought doggedly
charges, are likely to produce some kind of
against official efforts to remove them.
political reaction . Of course, the form of
Whether the incidence of political pro-
this political reaction is not entirely predic-
test has increased generally in Third World
table. In places it may cause riots and
cities as a result of recession is less than
street protests, elsewhere it may lead to
certain and is not particularly easy to
political apathy as people concentrate quantify . An objective analysis is also
on surviving in the new, more difficult, not helped by the somewhat committed
circumstances . nature of some of the literature . If too
This is not to suggest that urban political much of the urban literature used to ignore
protest is in any sense a new phenomenon ; popular protest, now perhaps it pays it too
industrial workers long ago discovered the much attention . As Davis (1989, p. 226)
power of strikes and for many years buses puts it : " . . . new social movement theory,
have been burnt when fares have been as now applied to Latin America, could
raised. Certainly, recent writing about easily be criticized as being guided more by
Latin America provides plenty of examples Euro-centred paradigms and plain old
of protests which occurred prior to the wishful thinking than by good sound
outbreak of recession . The land invasions evidence" .
which were characteristic of urban Chile in And yet, it would be surprising if there
the late 1960s (Kusnetzoff, 1990) and of were no link between political protest and
several Mexican cities in the 1970s (Hoen- economic recession and several writers
derdos and Verbeek, 1989 ; Pozas-Garza, have attempted to explore the nature of the
1989) were important forms of popular link. Thus, Walton (1989, p . 309) argues
mobilisation . Similarly, the decision of the that
Mexican government to provide water to
the inhabitants of Monterrey in the early austerity protests were a worldwide phe-
1980s (Bennett, 1989), and the infrastruc- nomenon, erupting in a dozen or more
tural improvements made in many small nations from Poland to the Sudan and
Colombian cities (Cabrera et al ., 1986) Turkey to the Philippines . Latin
were won from governments as a result of America led other world regions in what,
sustained civic protests . In Brazil, although nevertheless, was an unprecedented
"social movements had existed for some wave of international protest ; unpre-
time : from the late 1970s, from the north cedented in the scope and essentially
to the south of the country, civil society singular cause of a global protest analo-
breathed the air of `political opening', gous to earlier national strike waves . In
which heralded a return of a democratic frequency and vigor, the Latin American
regime after twenty years of authoritarian- protests are distinct and provide the
ism" (Valladares, 1988, pp . 295-296) . richest material for focused analysis of a
In most parts of Africa, by contrast, global phenomenon.
social movements have been thin on the
ground and protest has been mainly chan- Clearly such outbreaks of violence are not
nelled through demands in the workplace automatically triggered by impoverish-
(Mabogunje, 1990) . Only in South Africa ment . Brazilian research shows that
does class struggle clearly spill over into "another element is necessary-conscious-

ness of this poverty" (Valladares, 1988, p . countable on the austere morning after.
296) . Such consciousness is likely to be The economic debt crisis became a
aroused by a sudden shock of the system . social crisis as the same mechanism that
"In short, rapid reductions in the standard had once engendered state legitimacy
of living by visible government action is was turned on its popular head to legiti-
the most common precipitant of protest" mate protest against the state and its
(Walton, 1989, p . 316) . Such shocks to the international patrons .
poor's pocket can be stimulated by price
rises induced by a large-scale devaluation The form of this protest was rather differ-
or by political decisions to raise transport ent from previous patterns of political
prices or close factories . They can also be opposition for Portes (1989, p . 36) claims
stimulated by natural disasters such as the that the recession " . . . has resulted in the
earthquakes which hit Mexico City in gradual weakening of traditional organized
September 1985 . movements, like trade unions, and the
What is beyond doubt is that the debt emergence of what Latin American scho-
crisis and the recession have profoundly lars have dubbed the `new social move-
affected the nature of the state and in- ments'-those made up of young people,
deed the form of popular movements . women, residential associations, church-
Some would argue that the recession is sponsored 'grass-roots' communities, and
undermining traditional methods of similar groups" . Indeed, Latin American
handling political protest . In Africa, and Latin Americanist scholars have be-
Sandbrook (1988) is concerned that it come very excited by these `new social
will lead to more authoritarian forms of movements' . Such excitement is reflected
government because recession, and in in discussions of the community-based
turn privatisation, will cut the resources movements supported by the Church in
available to oil the political machines Brazil and by the collectives established in
which currently sustain democracy. Chilean campamentos (Kowarick, 1988 ;
"Patronage is the glue that holds together Boran, 1989 ; Kusnetzoff, 1990) . It is also
unintegrated peasant societies and allows reflected in the Mexican literature which
a ruler to govern . Should privatisation has claimed widespread evidence of urban
severely reduce patrimonial flows, gover- protests (Coulomb and Duhau, 1989 ; Ha-
nance will necessarily rest more heavily ber, 1990) . Certainly, there was consider-
on repression . . ." (Sandbrook, 1988, pp . able reaction in Mexico City as a result of
174-175) . the 1985 earthquakes . Tenants from the
Ironically, recent African experience rental housing damaged or destroyed by
seems to run counter to this prediction the tremors marched to the central square
with authoritarian regimes losing control and organised themselves into a powerful
in Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania and even protest movement . In March 1986, 50 000
Kenya. Latin American experience also earthquake victims threatened to camp out
shows a contrary tendency ; recession has in the main football stadium two months
helped to hasten the fall of authoritarian before the World Cup was scheduled to
rulers throughout the region . Walton begin . The state responded by expropriat-
(1989, p. 308), somewhat rhetorically, of- ing well over 5000 vecindades, rebuilding
fers a possible explanation : houses in the central area and selling them
at subsidised prices to the former tenants
The states that prospered until the mid (Connolly, 1990 ; Eckstein, 1990b; Ward,
1970s on a binge of apparent develop- 1990) . Nearly 50 000 new units were con-
ment, and consolidated their political structed.
support by distributing the effect of But the final outcome of the earthquake
borrowed development, were held ac- protests in Mexico City shows that the

454 ALAN GILBERT
state can cope with protest even during formalised through neighbourhood coun-
conditions of recession . For, at the end of cils and has been successful in involving
the day, the movement was depoliticised : communities in local projects and in blunt-
"The state as well as the slum-dwellers ing political protest (El Sammani et al .,
benefited from the housing reform . To get 1989) . Under conditions of recession, it is
housing, defiant groups had to agree to certain that African politicians are likely to
acquiescence and to accept the terms of continue to find ways round technical
housing imposed by the government" criteria and to channel such resources as
(Eckstein, 1990a, p. 294) . Recently, are available to their supporters . The
the president who won power in 1988 consequence will be that new social
through rigging the ballot and whose movements are likely to be thin on the
party was humiliated in Mexico City, has ground.
won back popular support in the national Of course, all of this is circumstantial
capital. evidence and in no sense allows us to
Evidence from other cities also suggests predict what will happen in the future .
that clientelism has certainly not been Indeed, our ability to predict is limited by
reduced by the economic crisis . Rather, the the fact that what is likely to happen in one
return of democratic government has rein- city will be contradicted by events else-
vigorated populist politics . This is very where . Politics is full of surprises as recent
clear in the post-military politics of Brazil South African experience suggests and
where although the form of clientelism in social protest can explode in the least
the favelas has become less effective and expected places . In Mali, for example,
more materialistic, it still appears to be where Van Westen's perfectly reasonable
alive and well. Why has such clientelism prediction that " . . .independent urban
survived? social movements of the type described by
Castells (1977), which combine local de-
Perhaps the most important reason for
mand making with the more general politi-
the survival of clientelism in contempor-
cal issues in society, are not likely to
ary Brazil . . . . has been the persistence of
develop in contemporary Bamako" (Van
the degree of social and economic and
Westen, 1990, p . 105), seems to have been
political inequality that fostered the
refuted by recent events in that city (Co-
emergence of patronage politics in the
query-Vidrovitch, 1991) . What is certain is
first place . Devoid of economic re-
sources and of the political power neces- that urban politics will continue to be
deeply affected by the debt crisis and the
sary to obtain them, clientelist politics
recession. And, despite the wish of the
has offered and continues to offer the
World Bank to improve the quality of
urban poor . . . a rare opportunity for
bureaucratic administration and cut down
material gain. (Gay, 1990, p . 664)
on `political' interference, the politicians
He believes that " . . . it is unlikely that are not going to lie down without a
clientelism will cease to be an attractive continuing struggle. As such the incorpora-
proposition for the poor in the foreseeable tion of a political element in the urban
future" (Gay, 1990, p . 663) . literature is a very welcome trend . For far
If poverty reinforces the need for clien- too long, urban economists, geographers
telism then it is likely to survive in much and sociologists employed too positivistic
poorer societies such as those of sub- an approach to housing and urban issues .
Saharan Africa. In such societies, clientel- While the shift towards more politically
ism is already strong and far outweighs aware approaches has been underway for
class struggle as an explanation of political some time, the recession and the debt crisis
action (Mabogunje, 1990, p . 169) . In Khar- are making sure that this awareness be-
toum, for example, clientelism has been comes stronger still .

Notes tor : the case of Peru, Grassroots Development,

13, pp. 9-23 .
1 . I continue to use that much-abused term as ARICANLi, T. and RODRIK, D . (1990) An over-
a convenient shorthand although I also use view of Turkey's experience with economic
terms such as less-developed countries and liberalization and structural adjustment,
poor societies . I am aware that Africa, Asia World Development, 18, pp . 1343-1350 .
and Latin America sometimes demonstrate AZUELA, A . (1989) La ciudad, la propiedad
more differences than similarities and I privada y el derecho, El Colegio de Mexico.
will endeavour to demonstrate these differ- BARNES, S. (1987) Patrons and Power: Creating
ences whenever they are significant . a Political Community in Metropolitan
2 . Based on a sample of 446 plots in the three Lagos . Manchester : Manchester University
years drawn primarily from the western, Press .
higher-income areas of the city . Not sur- The
BARoss, P . and LINDEN, J . VAN DER (1990)
prisingly, land prices within a given settle- Transformation of Land Supply Systems in
ment increased more rapidly ; lower prices Third World Cities. London : Avebury .
were found in more peripheral locations . BEUAARD, F . (1990) Different types of non-
3 . Personal communication from Richard owned housing supply in La Paz . Paper
Stren . presented to the UNCHS Expert Group
4 . The World Bank as reported in The Guar- Meeting on 'Review of Rental Systems and
dian, 30 April 1991 . Rental Stability', Rotterdam, 9-13 October
5 . In Bogota, the proportion of electricity 1990 .
which was not billed rose from 14 per cent BENNETT, V. (1989) Urban public services and
in 1977 to 25 per cent in 1989, of water social conflict : water in Monterrey, in : A. G.
from 26 per cent in 1975 to 42 per cent in GILBERT (Ed.) Housing and Land in Urban
1988 . In Mexico City, a similar phenom- Mexico, pp . 79-100 . San Diego, CA : Center
enon seems to be occurring ; it is estimated for US-Mexican Studies, University of
that 45 per cent of industrial and commer- California .
cial users currently pay the lower domestic BHATTACHARYA, K.P . (1990) Housing in India
supply tariff (Musacchio, 1985) . -observations on the government's inter-
vention policies, in : G . SHIDLO (Ed .) Housing
Policy in Developing Countries, pp . 67-103 .
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Gilbert, A. (1992) - Third World Cities. Housing, Infrastructure and Servicing.

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Urban Studies, Vol. 29, Nos .

3/4, 1992 435-460

Third World Cities : Housing, Infrastructure and

436 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 437

Source: UN (1989, p. 39) .

438 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 43 9

440 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 44 1

brought important changes in land alloca- Nor does commercialisation necessarily

442 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 44 3

444 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 44 5

efforts to assist the self-help landlord is a transportation services in Dar es Salaam,

446 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 447

448 ALAN GILBERT

packages . Unless governments have been straightforward functional role (Gilbert

450 ALAN GILBERT

Chile have successfully demonstrated the The first is infrastructure deficiencies,

THIRD WORLD CITIES 451

452 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 4 53

454 ALAN GILBERT

THIRD WORLD CITIES 455

Notes tor : the case of Peru, Grassroots Development,

case of Santiago, Chile, Urban Geography, 9, Homeless : The Role of Non-governmental

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