Reconsidering Sites and Services: A Global Review

The provision of adequate low-income housing remains a challenge for many governments in developing countries with demand surpassing supply. With no real options for housing, the urban poor settle in informal, fragile sites that lack basic services. Globally, over 1 billion people live in slums and informal settlements. This figure is expected to double by the year 2030, with at least a total of 100,000 housing units per day required to meet the demand. However, meeting this demand remains a challenge with a variety of constraints hampering housing delivery on both the supply and demand side.

On the demand side, poverty remains a key impediment with 74 percent of people in low-income countries living on less than $2 per day, making it impossible to afford market-rate housing. On the supply side, high land values, limited infrastructure investments, stringent planning and building regulations, corruption, and bureaucracy make real estate investment complex and costly, driving up the price of new and available housing units. Governments across the developing world have tried several affordable housing approaches, with limited success.

Also Read: Opportunities and Challenges in Affordable Housing in Nepal