Abstract
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2019, VOL. 11, NO. 2, 234–235 BOOK REVIEW Wakely’s book is divided into two parts. The first Housing in developing cities: experience and takes you on a journey through the relatively short lessons, by Patrick Wakely, Routledge, New history of government engagement in the provision of York, ISBN:9781138572089 2018, £45 (hardback), housing, in the context of international development, £14.99 (paperback), eBook from £7.50 beginning in the 1950s. The second part draws on the lessons from the first part to consider where we Patrick Wakely draws on 40 years of experience to should go to next, proposing a new ‘partnership para- examine the range of policy alternatives used by digm’. At the heart of this book is a reminder of the States to intervene in urban housing markets in sup- value (and necessity) of incremental self-help pro- port of low-income households. This is much needed. cesses. It is therefore fitting that the preface is pro- As Wakely notes, since the turn of the 21st century vided by John Turner and that Chapter 1 documents urban housing policies have been in a state of dis- mechanisms by which low-income urban households array. In many countries, government policy is to house themselves informally, setting out a useful incentivise the private sector to deliver low income typology and highlighting its incremental nature. The housing. This results in conventional housing that is remainder of the first section (Chapters 2–5) traces not affordable for the poorest and excludes the poor a sequence of four broad stages of housing policy from having any influence over the determination of development, characterised by a gradual withdrawal their own home environments. In response, the of government involvement in construction, but on Quito Declaration and the New Urban Agenda from the more positive side by increasing involvement of Habitat III (2016) call for a return to more people- individuals and communities in the production of centred participatory approaches. For those per- their own housing. It begins with the plexed by the lack of tangible indications from 1960s unsuccessful public work tradition of conven- Habitat III on how to achieve this, this book offers tional government-built housing and slum clearance practical and achievable solutions. programmes, followed in the 1970s with the move The main message of this book is that addres- away from slum clearances and the growth of the self- sing the low-income housing crisis requires more help movement influenced by work of John Turner active engagement by States using a range of and many others. This is followed by the World Bank’s different programme and project responses, in par- interpretation of the self-help movement in the 1980s ticular support for the self-help incremental pro- in the form of sites and service schemes and slum cesses through which the majority of low-income upgrading programmes, and the subsequent withdra- urban dwellers gain access to housing. wal of the State in the 1990s from direct intervention Underpinning this message throughout the book in housing in favour of support-based policies which is the principle of subsidiarity, that holds that social have tended to favour the production of conventional and political issues should be dealt with at the housing for middle-income groups. Wakely’s historical most immediate or local level that is consistent re-examination is richly evidenced with case study with their resolution. This recognises the need to material from a plethora of different sites and services devolve decisions down to the neighbourhood and and upgrading projects, including in Chapter 4 community level, where the most essential deci- a detailed analysis of three cases studies of sustained sions regarding poor people’s homes and liveli- enabling support strategies from the Urban Housing hoods should be made. Looking at both the role sub-programme of the Sri Lanka Million Houses of the State in housing delivery and the effective- Programme, The Rio de Janeiro Favela Bairro ness of self-help incremental processes, Wakely Programme, and The Oshakati Human Settlements argues that the way forward lies with more effec- Improvement Programme. This section pulls together tive partnerships between the State and low- key lessons learnt, including the critical importance of income communities. mutual understanding between different stakeholders INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 235 and the need to support communities in participatory public housing for socially controlled rental actions, rather than assuming that they have workable accommodation. systems of local governance in place. Some may be sceptical of approaches which see The second part of the book considers where we a greater role for the State in the delivery of housing, should go to next, putting forward a new ‘partner- given the current neo-liberal economic climate and ship paradigm’. This presents the case for renewed past failures. They need look no further than Chapter involvement of governments in low-income housing 6 which highlights why, in the context of current principally through support to ‘non-conventional’ global poly-crisis of ecosystem degradation, climate incremental social housing for home ownership (i.e. change, energy shortages, poverty and unequal sites and services and upgrading projects) and the access to resources, there is a greater need than construction of good quality public housing for ever for State involvement in all aspects of city plan- socially controlled rental accommodation. The new ning and development if we are to respond holisti- partnership paradigm described does not offer some- cally to these multiple challenges. Others may be thing radically new but rather draws together the doubtful about the revival of sites and service best aspects of previous approaches, recommending schemes which were so roundly criticised in post- a focus on the principle of subsidiarity (discussed project evaluations leading to their abandonment above), the engagement of all stakeholders and by the World Bank and other aid agencies in the recognition that the procurement of socially accep- 1990s. Wakely responds to this in Chapter 3, arguing table housing is a long-term incremental process. that in many cases this reflected weaknesses in the The case for this new paradigm is comprehensively evaluation process which took place too soon and made in Chapter 7 focusing on six points which go using the wrong criteria. Revisiting sites and services beyond the ‘numbers’ case, although this is compel- 20–30 years after their completion provides a very ling enough on it own with up to 70% of the urban different picture, frequently one of thriving neigh- population of developing cities relying on self-help bourhoods.In summary, the real strength of this processes for their housing. Chapter 8 goes on to book lies in its comprehensive detailing of the les- identify the key components of support that need sons learned from State interventions in urban hous- to be provided for the implementation of urban ing markets in support of low-income households incremental housing programmes and projects over the preceding half-century. Too often in the within this new partnership paradigm. This draws search for new and innovative solutions to the grow- extensively on lessons learned from previous pro- ing housing crisis, the experience and data that have grammes covering land acquisition, tenure, finance, been accumulated by both practitioners and urban infrastructure delivery, selection of beneficiaries, poor are overlooked. The book serves as a timely community organisation, private sector participation, reminder of the potential of informal incremental and strategic planning. self-help housing processes to address a growing Does Wakely succeed? In a nutshell, ‘yes’. housing crisis with just a little more help from the Packed into the 160 pages of this book is State. a systematic and comprehensive examination of what we can learn from experiences of different Emma Wragg housing policies over the preceding half-century. School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes These are turned into a set of practical recommen- University, Oxford, UK dations on how incremental housing processes can e.wragg@brookes.ac.uk be supported. What is proposed goes beyond the continued pre-occupation with homeownership to © 2019 The Author(s). Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & recognise the growing demand for affordable ren- Francis Group tal housing by the lowest income groups, a need https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2019.1603487 which could be partly met through investment in
Journal
International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development
– Taylor & Francis
Published: May 4, 2019
