Housing for the Poor

Successive regimes in Pakistan have used housing for the poor as a political slogan. But it is ironic that in spite of investment of billions of rupees, a lot of experimentation, and umpteen housing policies, the majority of the urban poor are still without proper shelter. Albeit the number is growing. Their last refuge is the ever-sprawling katchi abadis where the threat of eviction is always imminent, physical infrastructure is inadequate, and basic amenities minimal.

Apart from political rhetoric, or wasting precious public resources on projects that don’t work, our planners, economists, bureaucrats, and politicians have never tried to understand the dynamics of the problem. For a number of years, housing was a low-priority area. Some of them still argue that investment in this sector is unproductive.

Now let us see the core issues in housing for the poor. Firstly, there is consensus among all development practitioners that providing built-up units to the needy is neither feasible nor desirable. Especially in a country like Pakistan where the backlog is over six million housing units, no government would ever have the resources to provide a small plot or house to each shelterless family at the state’s expense or at subsidized rates.

Also Read: Housing The Urban Poor