Market Trends and

Developments

Initiatives by Research Bodies and Forums

Private Sector Initiatives

National and Multilateral Organization Initiatives

Government and Inter-Governmental Initiatives

This study by the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), Cities Alliance, the Ministry of Cities, and the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF) seeks to draw attention to the critical aspects of design that must be focussed on if similar projects are to be targeted in the future. Read the report here.

How land value can bring viability to BoP housing

BoP (Bottom of the Pyramid) housing has suffered low growth in terms of quality output globally because of lack of process innovation. Now, a new concept of and value capture is being hailed by development analysts as the way to fill this gap. Read more here.

Brazil: How legalizing of slums has helped Brazil, and what more must be done

Legalizing of Brazil’s favelas has led it down the path of sustainable growth. However, according to a new study by IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), Cities Alliance, the Ministry of Cities, and the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), the technical capabilities of Brazilian government administrations must be matched to make changes of these magnitudes sustainable in cities as wholes. Read more here.

Better housing for the poor tested in South America

A UK-Latin American engineering collaboration is soon going to result in the building of housing prototypes for the impoverished in Brazil and Ecuador. The tests will lead to design innovations which will make houses safer and more durable for the poor underserved population of South America. Read more here.

Mexvi houses for Mexico’s base of the pyramid

In Mexico, most people work in factories, or in farms, or both. They build their houses brick by brick over a period of several years, as and when they have some cash to spare. Mexvi is a new company whose innovation lies in the fact that it can build a house for US$ 7000 (half of what is takes over the traditional period of several long years), in about two weeks, using steel panels, which can be extended sidewards or upwards into a second floor when there is more money to spare. Read more here.

India: Hiranandani submits plan to build 3000 low cost houses

The Hiranandani group, after problems with the law regarding building of urban luxury houses instead of low cost ones will now be building 3000 low cost houses for the government, to house the poor in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Read more here.

UNDP targets route of inclusive governance to protect rights of informal slum dwellers

UNDP has launched a new programme at the World Urban Forum in Naples, which will campaign for better and more inclusive urban governance to fight for the rights of urban slum dwellers, who are forever vulnerable to evictions and exploitation. Read more here and here.

Nicaragua: Government advances housing infrastructure

The government will now be helping those below the poverty line in Nicaragua have their own houses through an initiative which, in the words of Judith Silva, director of the Urban and Rural Housing Institute (Invur) ‘unites the will of different institutions’, both private and public, while also generate jobs. More than 2700 families will benefit from this project worth US$32 million. Read more here.

Tunisia invites private sector to help rehouse poor

Social tensions that toppled the former regime last year have made the Tunisian authorities seek effective housing measures by ways of inviting private builders, to improve the situation of the poorer city dwellers living in huts. Read more here.

India: Availability of credit major impediment in rural housing

According to Union Minister of State for Finance, Namo Narain Meena, one of the most important reasons why rural people have getting access to decent and affordable housing. A recent survey shows that about 66 per cent of the rural residents in the country use their own resources to build their houses. Read more here.

India: NHB targets INR 40 billion under Rural Housing Fund in FY 2013

NHB (National Housing Bank), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, India’s Central Bank, is targeting the disbursal of an amount of INR 40 billion under the Rural Housing Fund in the coming financial year. This is going to help the housing needs of rural India, most of which is poor and underserved. Read more here.

India: The innovative concept of rental housing

The Indian state of Odisha has decided to implement an innovative housing concept to help its urban poor in the state’s capital, Bhubaneshwar. The government will be making rental housing blocks and rent these out to the poor at INR 2000, thereby trying to prevent mushrooming of unreliable and informal settlements. Read more here.