South Africa – The National Association of Social Housing Organisations

Ills.: nasho.org.za

Who is NASHO?
The National Association of Social Housing Oganisations – NASHO – is an independent member-based association of 18 well-established social housing institutions (SHIs) across South Africa. NASHO was formed at an inaugural congress held in May 2002 and formally launched by the then National Housing Minister, Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele.
Collectively, our membership owns and/or manages approximately 24 000 units, providing subsidised rental accommodation for over 115 000 low-to middle income families throughout the country.
NASHO serves its members with advocacy, information, and training. Maintaining strong links between NASHO and its members is a priority for the federation, in order to reduce the isolation of individual members and to ensure that services and information are widely available.

What Is Social Housing?
Social Housing aims to contribute towards restructuring South African society through economic, social, spatial location and functional housing opportunities. It aims to achieve economic empowerment, integration, sustainable human settlements and improving the overall functioning of the housing sector by widening the range of affordable housing options available (rental housing). Social Housing targets facility rich areas, all within walking distance or well connected to the transport network.

Read more: http://www.nasho.org.za/

Saudi Gazette – Slums Highlight Wider Housing Gap

Saudi Gazette. Jan.11, 2014. JEDDAH — The authorities are quietly planning to raze slums in Jeddah to make way for newer, restored neighborhoods as part of a wider plan to keep up with soaring demand for affordable housing.
A gap between what is available on the market and what many Saudis can afford has left people frustrated and accusing officials of corruption. A shortage of low- and middle-income housing means millions of Saudis cannot afford to buy a home.
Young Saudis are especially affected since it takes years of saving before many can afford to buy a home, often a precursor to marriage.

To address the housing shortage and public grumbling, the city of Jeddah is a testing ground for a plan that includes getting rid of most of its roughly 50 unplanned settlements, which comprise a third of its built-up area, according to municipality figures.
In their place, the city plans to build subsidized housing complexes for Saudis.

Read more: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/20140112192242

Marx, Benjamin (MIT), Stoker, Thomas (MIT) & Suri, Tavneet (MIT) ~ The Economics of Slums in the Developing World

Journal of Economic Perspectives – American Economic Association
The global expansion of urban slums poses questions for economic research as well as problems for policymakers. We provide evidence that the type of poverty observed in contemporary slums of the developing world is characteristic of that described in the literature on poverty traps. We document how human capital threshold effects, investment inertia, and a “policy trap” may prevent slum dwellers from seizing economic opportunities offered by geographic proximity to the city. We test the assumptions of another theory — that slums are a just transitory phenomenon characteristic of fastgrowing economies — by examining the relationship between economic growth, urban growth, and slum growth in the developing world, and whether standards of living of slum dwellers are improving over time, both within slums and across generations. Finally, we discuss why standard policy approaches have often failed to mitigate the expansion of slums in the developing world. Our aim is to inform public debate on the essential issues posed by slums in the developing world.

Full text: http://www.aeaweb.org/

University Of Minnesota – Human Rights Resource Center – The Right To Adequate Housing

Housing forms an indispensable part of ensuring human dignity.  “Adequate housing” en­compasses more than just the four walls of a room and a roof over one’s head.  Housing is essential for normal healthy living.  It fulfills deep-seated psychological needs for privacy and personal space; physical needs for security and protection from inclement weather; and social needs for basic gathering points where important relationships are forged and nurtured.  In many societies, a house also serves an important function as an economic center where essential commercial activities are performed.

Despite global recognition of the importance of housing to human welfare and survival, it is estimated that over one billion people live in inadequate housing while over 100 million peo­ple are homeless.  Governments claim lack of capacity and resources to implement programs and undertake reforms aimed at creating the conditions for expanding access to housing.  The right to adequate housing therefore provides a unique paradigm for monitoring the steps taken by states towards the provision of housing through citizens’ demands and insistence upon the fulfillment of this basic human right.

Read more: http://www1.umn.edu/edumat/module13.htm

Secret Slums: Ramshackle Rooftop Villages Of Hong Kong

weburbanist.com. December 28, 2013

These hidden shanty towns, often invisible from the streets below, sprawl like surrealist suburbs across the roofs of one of the most densely-populated and expensive cities in the world.

See more: http://weburbanist.com/rooftop-villages-of-hong-kong/

Designing A City From The Bottom Up: Jared Sacks & Nobanzi Dlodlo at TEDxCapeTown City2.0

Jared Sacks: Social Activist
Nobanzi Dlodlo: Mother of three, community leader
Full title: Poor people are the experts of their own oppressive conditions

The philosophy behind TED talks posits that we need professionals; consultants and other experts have the answers to the worlds’ problems. This talk, however, proposes that the key predicaments of modern society such as poverty, inequality and oppression, can only be solved by those who live every single day on the receiving end of this structural violence. Nobanzi and Jared believe strongly in the ability of people to collectively initiate and direct their own solutions rather than them relying on others for leadership and expertise. People are the experts of their own oppression and visitors can only begin to glimpse the possibilities of a new world if they are willing to listen to the words of the poor.

Jared Sacks was born in Johannesburg and went to university at UC-Berkeley. Since 2007, he has been living in Cape Town working directly with communities supporting their efforts to build authentic grassroots social change. He has worked closely with a range of poor people’s social movements including Abahlali baseMjondolo, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, and the Landless People’s Movement. He is the compiler and supporting editor of the anthology No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way which provides unique insight into the views and actions of one of South Africa’s moves significant intentional communities.

Nobanzi Dlodlo is a single mother of three from the Eastern Cape who moved to Cape Town so that she could find a job to support her children. Even though she could not find a job, she remains the only breadwinner for her children by making ends meet through odd jobs and informal business. She volunteered to be an elected member of Sweet Home sack settlement’s committee because this is one of the ways she is able to improve the lives of her children and her neighbours.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)