Housing Matters

Hammam, Sonia

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO LAND;    ACCOUNTING;    AFFORDABLE HOUSING;    BANKS;    BUDGET CONSTRAINTS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-6876
RP-ID  :  WPS6876

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Housing matters to the livability ofcities and to the productivity of their economies. Thefailure of cities to accommodate the housing needs ofgrowing urban populations can be seen in the proliferationof poorly serviced, high-density informal settlements. Suchsettlements are not new in the history of rapidly growingcities, their persistence results as much from policies asfrom economics and demographic transition. Slums haveattracted most of the attention on urban housing indeveloping countries, and the Millennium Development Goalshave given prominence to their reduction. However, urbanhousing issues transcend conditions in slums and are linkedclosely to economic activity. City economies influencehousing demand, and in turn the flexibility of housingsupply affects economic activity and city growth. This paperprovides an overview of the policy and institutionalbuilding blocks that determine housing sector performance,drawing on studies from both developed and developingcountries. It focuses on property rights, including tenurechoice, housing finance, and subsidies. It also reviews thefactors that affect supply: the availability of servicedland, as well as land and housing regulations. While theseelements have been standard tools of housing policy, theyare still the subject of considerable debate over theirsequencing, policy content, and priority. There has been agreat deal of emphasis over the last two decades ondemand-side measures to improve property rights systems,develop housing finance, and even to introduce new subsidysystems. All these developments are important, but as thispaper argues, less progress has been made in understandingand addressing the factors that constrain supply, whichoften thwart improvements on the demand side.