A. Venter & L. Marais – Housing Policy And Housing-Policy Research

Int. Journal for Housing Science, Vol.34, No.4 pp. 249-264, 2010.
ABSTRACT
In contemporary post-apartheid South Africa a number of housing policy amendments and recommendations have been made since the drafting of the White Paper on
Housing in 1994. The most recent policy amendment is the Comprehensive Housing Plan for the Development of Integrated Sustainable Human Settlements commonly
known as the Breaking New Ground (BNG) housing plan of 2004. The aims of this paper are to present an overview and critical discourse analysis on research and influences that led to the Breaking New Ground housing plan and to determine how these influences are reflected in academic peer reviewed housing-policy research. Our results reveal that internal government agendas, international discourses on housing and consultancy research have had a greater influence on national policy making than academic research. We therefore argue that there is a divergence between contemporary housing policy discourses in South Africa and academic knowledge production on housing policy.