A Review of Housing Policies and Their Relevance to Vulnerable Households in Sub Saharan Africa
Keywords:
Urban Housing; Low-Income Housing; Female-Headed Households
Abstract
This study reviews critical social science and policy documents on human settlement research to assess the practicality and relevance of the existing housing policy frameworks to urban households headed by vulnerable persons. Specifically, this study intends to justify the significance of vulnerable households’ classification and segmentation when in policymaking. Furthermore, the paper investigates the different omissions and stereotypes in the policymaking that have hindered adequate housing provision for the vulnerable households in sub-Saharan Africa. Several catchy strategies adopted by the various housing policies have been reviewed in this paper. These include; empowerment of the rental housing tenure, particular emphasis on low-income groups/households like the case in Tanzania, proposals for tenant-to purchase housing schemes, densification of the urban areas (Zimbabwe), delegation of house development to the private sector and the governments taking a back seat and assuming enabling roles among others. The various policies appear promising on paper but with limited or no tangible results regarding housing provision for low-income urban households. This paper avers that policy strategies like a special strategy for the low income and vulnerable households remain on paper with no streamlined strategies to achieve it.
References
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Collier, P., & Venables, A. J. (2013). Housing and Urbanization in Africa: unleashing a formal market process Policy Research Working Paper 6871: WorldBank.
Collins, D., & Stout, M. (2021). Does Housing First policy seek to fulfil the right to housing? The case of Alberta, Canada. Housing Studies, 36(3), 336-358.
Dettori, M., Altea, L., Fracasso, D., Trogu, F., Azara, A., Piana, A., . . . Castiglia, P. (2020). Housing demand in urban areas and sanitary requirements of dwellings in Italy. Journal of environmental and public health, 2020.
Fisher, J. L. (2010). Pioneers, Settlers, Aliens, Exiles: the decolonisation of white identity in Zimbabwe: Anu Press.
Garba, N., & Nuhu, U. (2021). COMPARATIVE COST STUDY OF HYDRAFORM INTERLOCKING AND CONVENTIONAL SANDCRETE BLOCKS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA. BAKOLORI JOURNAL OF GENERAL STUDIES, 11(2), 1-2.
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GOU. (2016). National Housing Policy. Kampala.
GOZ. (2020). Zimbabwe National Human Settlements Policy. Harare: Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities.
Grant, M. (1996). Vulnerability and privilege: transitions in the supply pattern of rental shelter in a mid-sized Zimbabwean city. Geoforum, 27(2), 247-260.
Hanka, M. J., Ambrosius, J. D., Gilderbloom, J. I., & Wresinski, K. E. (2015). Contemporary neighborhood housing dynamics in a mid-sized US city: the policy consequences of mismeasuring the dependent variable. Housing and Society, 42(1), 40-68.
Hu, L., He, S., & Su, S. (2022). A novel approach to examining urban housing market segmentation: Comparing the dynamics between sales submarkets and rental submarkets. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 94, 101775.
Huba, N. (2016). Access to Housing through Cooperatives: Potentials and Challenges from Tanzania. International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, 3, 100-114.
Iglesias, T. (2010). Housing paradigms THE INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HOUSING AND HOME, Elsevier Ltd.
Ihuah, P., & Eaton, D. (2014). An evaluation of the public housing estates beneficial sustainability factors in the Niger delta of Nigeria. The Built and Human Environment Review, 7(1), 1-17.
Jonash, R., Anderson, K., & Patel, H. (2012). HFHI: Revolutionizing the way to make housing affordable for everyone. Hult International Business School Publishing.
Kabisch, N., Haase, D., & Haase, A. (2012). Urban population development in Europe, 1991–2008: The examples of Poland and the UK. International Journal of Urban and regional research, 36(6), 1326-1348.
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Kironde, J. L. (1992). Rent control legislation and the national housing corporation in Tanzania, 1985–1990. Canadian Journal of African Studies/La Revue canadienne des études africaines, 26(2), 306-327.
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Kyazze, L. M. (2010). Cooperatives: The sleeping economic and social giants in Uganda. Dar es Salaam: International Labor Organization (ILO).
Limbumba, T. M. (2010). Exploring social-cultural explanations for residential location choices: The case of an African city-Dar es Salaam. KTH.
Maghimbi, S. (2010). Cooperatives in Tanzania mainland: Revival and growth: ILO.
Manyeruke, C., & Hamausw, S. (2013). Feminisation of gender budgeting: An uphill task for Zimbabwe. Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review, 29(1), 77-105.
Markoc, I., & Cizmeci, F. (2021). Ethics in real estate: agency practices in Istanbul. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-10-2020-0119
Mayer, R. C. (2011). Low-income housing in Kampala, Uganda: a strategy package to overcome barriers for delivering housing opportunities affordable to the urban poor. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mberu, B., Béguy, D., & Ezeh, A. C. (2017). Internal migration, urbanization and slums in sub-Saharan Africa Africa's population: In search of a demographic dividend (pp. 315-332): Springer.
Moons, N. (2016). The right to housing in Flanders-Belgium: International human rights law and concepts as stepping stones to more effectiveness. University of Antwerp.
Moses, M. F., & Mosha, L. H. (2020). Reflection on Rhetorics, Appropriate Building Materials, and Domestic Utilities Towards Reduction of Housing Costs in Africa: A Case of Tanzania Perception, Design and Ecology of the Built Environment (pp. 311-331): Springer.
Mukiibi, S. (2012). The effect of urbanisation on the housing conditions of the urban poor in Kampala, Uganda. Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Advances in Engineering and Technology.
Ndeche, C. B., Ezeudu, C., & Okafor, J. I. (2020). ASSESSMENT OF PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE OF NIGERIA. Tropical Built Environment Journal, 7(1).
Nuwagaba, A. (2006). Dualism in Kampala: squalid slums in a royal realm African Urban Economies (pp. 151-165): Springer.
Obia, A. E. (2016). Emerging Nigerian megacities and sustainable development: Case study of Lagos and Abuja. J Sustain Dev, 9(2), 27-42.
Okem, A. E., & Lawrence, R. (2013). Exploring the opportunities and challenges of network formation for cooperatives in South Africa. KCA Journal of Business Management, 5(1), 16-33.
Owusu, G. (2008). Indigenes' and migrants' access to land in peri-urban areas of Accra, Ghana. International Development Planning Review, 30(2), 177.
Paradza, P., & Chirisa, I. (2017). Housing cooperative associations in Zimbabwe: A case study of current housing consortium in Budiriro, Harare. Journal of Public Policy in Africa, 4(2), 159-175.
Pradolin, R. (2020). Housing all Australians: A new paradigm. Planning News, 46(8), 19.
Renner-Thomas, A. (2010). Land tenure in Sierra Leone: The law, dualism and the making of a land policy: AuthorHouse.
Rondinelli, D. A. (1990). Housing the urban poor in developing countries: Other policy options for national shelter strategies are examined since conventional ones are inadequate. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 49(3), 257-270.
Sabiiti, E. N., & Katongole, C. B. (2016). Role of Peri-urban areas in the food system of Kampala, Uganda Balanced urban Development: Options and strategies for Liveable cities (pp. 387-392): Springer, Cham.
Salecker, L., Ahmadov, A. K., & Karimli, L. (2020). Contrasting monetary and multidimensional poverty measures in a low-income Sub-Saharan African Country. Social indicators research, 151(2), 547-574.
Tacoli, C., McGranahan, G., & Satterthwaite, D. (2015). Urbanisation, rural-urban migration and urban poverty: JSTOR.
Tipple, G. (2015). Housing policymaking in Africa: Ten common assumptions. Habitat International, 49, 413-418.
URT. (2000). National Human Settlements Development Policy. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Lands and Human Settlements development.
Waegemakers Schiff, J., & Schiff, R. A. (2014). Housing first: paradigm or program? Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 23(2), 80-104.
Whitehead, A., & Tsikata, D. (2003). Policy discourses on women's land rights in Sub–Saharan Africa: The implications of the re–turn to the Customary. Journal of Agrarian Change, 3(1‐2), 67-112.
WorldBank. (2016). While Poverty in Africa Has Declined, Number of Poor Has Increased Poverty in a Rising Africa. Africa Poverty Report.
Yap, C., & McFarlane, C. (2020). Understanding and researching urban extreme poverty: a conceptual–methodological approach. Environment and Urbanization, 32(1), 254-274.
Adu-Gyamfi, A. (2020). Connecting religion to homeownership: exploring local perspectives in Ghana. Cities, 96, 102441.
Anand, S., & Sen, A. (2000). Human development and economic sustainability. World Development, 28(12), 2029-2049.
Andam, K., Edeh, H., Oboh, V., Pauw, K., & Thurlow, J. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 on food systems and poverty in Nigeria Advances in food security and sustainability (Vol. 5, pp. 145-173): Elsevier.
Banton, M. (2018). West African city: a study of tribal life in Freetown: Routledge.
Bertaud, A., & Malpezzi, S. (2003). The spatial distribution of population in 48 world cities: Implications for economies in transition Center for urban land economics research, University of Wisconsin (Vol. 32, pp. 54-55).
Boyle, M., Gibson, R. B., & Curran, D. (2004). If not here, then perhaps not anywhere: urban growth management as a tool for sustainability planning in British Columbia's capital regional district. Local Environment, 9(1), 21-43.
Burian, B. S. (1997). Gender dimension of housing policy for the urban poor in Tanzania: University of London, University College London (United Kingdom).
Chirisa, I., Gaza, M., & Bandauko, E. (2014). Housing cooperatives and the politics of local organization and representation in peri-urban Harare, Zimbabwe.
Collier, P., & Venables, A. J. (2013). Housing and Urbanization in Africa: unleashing a formal market process Policy Research Working Paper 6871: WorldBank.
Collins, D., & Stout, M. (2021). Does Housing First policy seek to fulfil the right to housing? The case of Alberta, Canada. Housing Studies, 36(3), 336-358.
Dettori, M., Altea, L., Fracasso, D., Trogu, F., Azara, A., Piana, A., . . . Castiglia, P. (2020). Housing demand in urban areas and sanitary requirements of dwellings in Italy. Journal of environmental and public health, 2020.
Fisher, J. L. (2010). Pioneers, Settlers, Aliens, Exiles: the decolonisation of white identity in Zimbabwe: Anu Press.
Garba, N., & Nuhu, U. (2021). COMPARATIVE COST STUDY OF HYDRAFORM INTERLOCKING AND CONVENTIONAL SANDCRETE BLOCKS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA. BAKOLORI JOURNAL OF GENERAL STUDIES, 11(2), 1-2.
Girardet, H. (2004). Cities people planet Liviable cities for a sustainable world: LIVERPOOL (UK) SCHUMACHER LECTURES April 2000, Urban Sustainability.
GOU. (2016). National Housing Policy. Kampala.
GOZ. (2020). Zimbabwe National Human Settlements Policy. Harare: Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities.
Grant, M. (1996). Vulnerability and privilege: transitions in the supply pattern of rental shelter in a mid-sized Zimbabwean city. Geoforum, 27(2), 247-260.
Hanka, M. J., Ambrosius, J. D., Gilderbloom, J. I., & Wresinski, K. E. (2015). Contemporary neighborhood housing dynamics in a mid-sized US city: the policy consequences of mismeasuring the dependent variable. Housing and Society, 42(1), 40-68.
Hu, L., He, S., & Su, S. (2022). A novel approach to examining urban housing market segmentation: Comparing the dynamics between sales submarkets and rental submarkets. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 94, 101775.
Huba, N. (2016). Access to Housing through Cooperatives: Potentials and Challenges from Tanzania. International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, 3, 100-114.
Iglesias, T. (2010). Housing paradigms THE INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HOUSING AND HOME, Elsevier Ltd.
Ihuah, P., & Eaton, D. (2014). An evaluation of the public housing estates beneficial sustainability factors in the Niger delta of Nigeria. The Built and Human Environment Review, 7(1), 1-17.
Jonash, R., Anderson, K., & Patel, H. (2012). HFHI: Revolutionizing the way to make housing affordable for everyone. Hult International Business School Publishing.
Kabisch, N., Haase, D., & Haase, A. (2012). Urban population development in Europe, 1991–2008: The examples of Poland and the UK. International Journal of Urban and regional research, 36(6), 1326-1348.
Kalabamu, F. T. (1984). A review of Tanzania's new national housing policy. Habitat International, 8(2), 95-102.
Kalema, W. S., & Kayiira, D. (2008). Access to Housing Finance in Africa: Exploring the Issues No. 4 Uganda. Overview of the housing finance sector in Uganda, commissioned by the FinMark Trust with support from Habitat for Humanity.
Khanam, T., & Begum, A. M. A. (2013). Implementation of the Right to Adequate Housing: A Glaring Paradigm of Sri Lankav. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(13), 447.
Kironde, J. L. (1992). Rent control legislation and the national housing corporation in Tanzania, 1985–1990. Canadian Journal of African Studies/La Revue canadienne des études africaines, 26(2), 306-327.
Krzyzanowski, M., Apte, J. S., Bonjour, S. P., Brauer, M., Cohen, A. J., & Prüss-Ustun, A. M. (2014). Air pollution in the mega-cities. Current Environmental Health Reports, 1(3), 185-191.
Kyazze, L. M. (2010). Cooperatives: The sleeping economic and social giants in Uganda. Dar es Salaam: International Labor Organization (ILO).
Limbumba, T. M. (2010). Exploring social-cultural explanations for residential location choices: The case of an African city-Dar es Salaam. KTH.
Maghimbi, S. (2010). Cooperatives in Tanzania mainland: Revival and growth: ILO.
Manyeruke, C., & Hamausw, S. (2013). Feminisation of gender budgeting: An uphill task for Zimbabwe. Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review, 29(1), 77-105.
Markoc, I., & Cizmeci, F. (2021). Ethics in real estate: agency practices in Istanbul. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-10-2020-0119
Mayer, R. C. (2011). Low-income housing in Kampala, Uganda: a strategy package to overcome barriers for delivering housing opportunities affordable to the urban poor. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mberu, B., Béguy, D., & Ezeh, A. C. (2017). Internal migration, urbanization and slums in sub-Saharan Africa Africa's population: In search of a demographic dividend (pp. 315-332): Springer.
Moons, N. (2016). The right to housing in Flanders-Belgium: International human rights law and concepts as stepping stones to more effectiveness. University of Antwerp.
Moses, M. F., & Mosha, L. H. (2020). Reflection on Rhetorics, Appropriate Building Materials, and Domestic Utilities Towards Reduction of Housing Costs in Africa: A Case of Tanzania Perception, Design and Ecology of the Built Environment (pp. 311-331): Springer.
Mukiibi, S. (2012). The effect of urbanisation on the housing conditions of the urban poor in Kampala, Uganda. Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Advances in Engineering and Technology.
Ndeche, C. B., Ezeudu, C., & Okafor, J. I. (2020). ASSESSMENT OF PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE OF NIGERIA. Tropical Built Environment Journal, 7(1).
Nuwagaba, A. (2006). Dualism in Kampala: squalid slums in a royal realm African Urban Economies (pp. 151-165): Springer.
Obia, A. E. (2016). Emerging Nigerian megacities and sustainable development: Case study of Lagos and Abuja. J Sustain Dev, 9(2), 27-42.
Okem, A. E., & Lawrence, R. (2013). Exploring the opportunities and challenges of network formation for cooperatives in South Africa. KCA Journal of Business Management, 5(1), 16-33.
Owusu, G. (2008). Indigenes' and migrants' access to land in peri-urban areas of Accra, Ghana. International Development Planning Review, 30(2), 177.
Paradza, P., & Chirisa, I. (2017). Housing cooperative associations in Zimbabwe: A case study of current housing consortium in Budiriro, Harare. Journal of Public Policy in Africa, 4(2), 159-175.
Pradolin, R. (2020). Housing all Australians: A new paradigm. Planning News, 46(8), 19.
Renner-Thomas, A. (2010). Land tenure in Sierra Leone: The law, dualism and the making of a land policy: AuthorHouse.
Rondinelli, D. A. (1990). Housing the urban poor in developing countries: Other policy options for national shelter strategies are examined since conventional ones are inadequate. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 49(3), 257-270.
Sabiiti, E. N., & Katongole, C. B. (2016). Role of Peri-urban areas in the food system of Kampala, Uganda Balanced urban Development: Options and strategies for Liveable cities (pp. 387-392): Springer, Cham.
Salecker, L., Ahmadov, A. K., & Karimli, L. (2020). Contrasting monetary and multidimensional poverty measures in a low-income Sub-Saharan African Country. Social indicators research, 151(2), 547-574.
Tacoli, C., McGranahan, G., & Satterthwaite, D. (2015). Urbanisation, rural-urban migration and urban poverty: JSTOR.
Tipple, G. (2015). Housing policymaking in Africa: Ten common assumptions. Habitat International, 49, 413-418.
URT. (2000). National Human Settlements Development Policy. Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Lands and Human Settlements development.
Waegemakers Schiff, J., & Schiff, R. A. (2014). Housing first: paradigm or program? Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 23(2), 80-104.
Whitehead, A., & Tsikata, D. (2003). Policy discourses on women's land rights in Sub–Saharan Africa: The implications of the re–turn to the Customary. Journal of Agrarian Change, 3(1‐2), 67-112.
WorldBank. (2016). While Poverty in Africa Has Declined, Number of Poor Has Increased Poverty in a Rising Africa. Africa Poverty Report.
Yap, C., & McFarlane, C. (2020). Understanding and researching urban extreme poverty: a conceptual–methodological approach. Environment and Urbanization, 32(1), 254-274.
Published
2022-07-18
How to Cite
Batanda Mubiru, M., Nuhu, S., Kombe, W., & Limbumba, T. M. (2022). A Review of Housing Policies and Their Relevance to Vulnerable Households in Sub Saharan Africa. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 5(7), 276-289. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v5i7.480
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