David Thorpe – Upgrade Slums In 230 Cities For Just $14.5 million? Impossible!

sustainablecitiescollective. July 2014. Millions of people live in slums in Asian cities. The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) has been running a program to try to upgrade living conditions for these people that has proved itself to be massively effective and at little cost. How has it done this?
Its Asian Coalition for Community Action Program (ACCA) has been running for five years in 230 cities in 19 countries and it is now possible to see its achievements. It works at the grassroots; the people living in the slums are the ones who plan and implement the projects, tackling problems of land, infrastructure and housing at scale, working in partnership with the local governments and other stakeholders.

It is amazing what they have achieved with the small budget that they have been given. The total budget over the five years was just $14.5 million but with this they have:
completed 150 big housing projects (for just up to $40,000 each)
set up 98 city-based community development funds
got 400,000 community savers to invest $30 million in them
completed 1635 small upgrading projects (for about $3000 each)
conducted citywide surveys in about 200 cities
creative collaborative partnerships with local governments in 190 cities
conducted 35 community-led disaster rehabilitation projects in 11 countries.

David Thorpe – Upgrade Slums In 230 Cities For Just $14.5 million? Impossible! – But They Did It.