Urban informality in the Global South. Justice, equity, inclusion. Housing, climate, communities. Views expressed are my own.
So true: Incrementally, self-built housing is the go-to for the majority of households across Africa. This is unlikely to change anytime soon, nor should it. Incrementally improvement can transform inadequate housing into safe, resilient home, providing an essential adaptation and mitigation solution that can save millions of lives and gigatons of CO2 emissions at the same time. Demand for resilient housing increases when governments create conditions that support investment in housing. Security of tenure is at the heart of this. Next, communities need technical support and financial resources to enable them to build homes that are structurally sound and resilient to extreme weather ranging from heavy rains and winds to extreme heat to disasters such a earthquakes. Over 1.1 million people in Colombia, the Philippines, Nepal, Indonesia, and many more countries across the Global South have been made safer through this approach: increasing access to resilient housing by changing policies, increasing access to affordable finance, and developing and rolling-out user-friendly technologies that make resilient housing possible for even some of the poorest communities. #ResilientHousing #SystemsChange #AffordableHousing
Who is the largest affordable housing developer in Africa? It’s the people. No one on the continent builds more affordable housing than the people themselves. Often in informal settlements, building step by step and over time, and mostly without formal financing. This demonstrates the sheer ingenuity, resilience, and economic power of the so-called urban poor. One wonders what we could do to assist. What conditions can we create to foster a more conducive environment? How can we direct such economic prowess towards building more liveable settlements with access to basic services such as water, sanitation, and electricity? Providing a person or a family with a plot with tenure security in a well-planned neighborhood is often all it takes. It allows the owner to invest, build up wealth, and secure it for the next generation. Ms. Kristofina, pictured below, lived all her life in sub-standard rental housing. In 2021, she managed to purchase a plot for USD 600 from a local sites and services programme in Oshakati, northern Namibia, implemented by Development Workshop Namibia. By owning land, she suddenly became eligible for a small grant from a government housing scheme. She added her own savings, and her family contributed. Within 15 months, she built her house for the equivalent of USD 8,000. That’s how land unleashes investment. #sitesandservices #affordablehousing #developmentworkshopnamibia
