Double Standards, Single Purpose: Making Housing Standards Relevant to People's Needs Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Double Standards, Single Purpose: Making Housing Standards Relevant to People's Needs Book

European standards for housing and infrastructure are inappropriate and unaffordable for the majority of the urban poor in developing countries. But what is the alternative? This was the issue addressed by an international research project within ITDG's Shelter Programme, of which this book is the major output. Since the majority of urban residents in developing countries currently live in unplanned and illegal settlements, there is obviously a need for a new paradigm, abandoning the colonial inheritance and using a much more flexible approach. Standards need to be revised continuously to accommodate changes in circumstances and technology developments. The best source of inspiration for these changes is what is happening on the ground in low-income settlements. A greater participation by the poor in regulating the quality of their built environment, using methods such as community action planning, is clearly required. Regulation is not superfluous, because it does provide the poor with the security needed to build a livelihood, and it guarantees a minimum of health and safety to the community as a whole. But it should not become an insurmountable threshold; simplicity and flexibility are key factors in making legal housing more accessible to the poor. This book provides development workers, planners and decisionmakers with information and advice on the revision of housing standards at the national, local or project level. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the shelter context, the particular place of standards, regulations and procedures, as well as current thinking and approaches to their revision. These chapters are based on an international literature survey as well as case studies in a dozen developing countries. Chapters 3 and 4 explore in more detail recent revisions of housing standards in Kenya and Zimbabwe, their origin, the participants involved, their relevance to low-income residents, their impact as well as lessons learned for future reviews. Chapter 5 dwells on the overriding issues such as informal enforcement which emerge from work with low-income residents, the case studies and the literature review. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses how to get future standards right. That current housing standards in most developing countries are inappropriate to the needs of the poor is well documented. And international as well as national housing policies and strategies, including the Habitat Agenda, increasingly argue for their revision. However, there is little accessible information on how this can be done successfully and what various projects and countries have learned from doing so. This book aims to fill that gap.Read More

from£19.95 | RRP: £14.95
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £17.48
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.