The urbanisation of the Global South between 1950 and 2020 has taken place at an unprecedented speed, more than double the speed of urbanisation in the Global North. Furthermore, while urbanisation has been accompanied by strong economic and employment growth in East Asia, migration to cities in Sub-Saharan Africa has also occurred for reasons other than the lure of plentiful urban job opportunities. This rapid, low-income, urbanisation has led to shortfalls in many ingredients that are key to urban success- infrastructure, education, financial access, and often most visibly, housing (Buckley 2015, Pieterse 2013).

The problem of housing has been twofold: on the one hand, the majority of people moving to urban areas have lacked the necessary assets and income to acquire a ‘decent’ house. On the other hand, government programmes to provide, or improve access to, adequate housing units have often missed the mark of affordability for the poor majority. Now, a growing understanding of the dynamics of the development and expansion of informal settlements has led to more responsive, innovative, housing schemes in various developing countries, to solve the ‘dilemma’ of housing. A common response to mass housing shortages- from the USA in the mid 19th century, to developing countries like Mexico and Angola in the last decade- has been government-financed, industrial production of houses on previously undeveloped sites. However, these projects often suffer three important mistakes.