Environment & Urbanization

The 'tugurios' of San Salvador: a place to live, work and struggle outlines the different housing submarkets for the urban poor. The origins. scale and social and econromic characteristics of one submarket, the 'barrios de tugurios' (squatter settlements) are then considered in more detail, including two case studies of particular 'barrios de tugurios' and their inhabitants' struggle for secure land tenure. A final section discusses the political relations between Communities in the 'tugurios' and the government and political parties.

The poor don't squat: the case of Thika, Kenya emphasizes the importance of rental housing within a small East African urban centre. It describes the different housing submarkets and how these have changed over the last 20 years. It also shows the inapplicability of most common 'international' housing solutions within a social and economic context such as Thika, where many inhabitants retain strong links with their rural home and have no interest in owning a home in Thika.

Some low-income housing delivery subsystems in Bangkok, Thailand considers the diverse ways in which the poor find accommodation. Some 11 subsystems are identified and living conditions and relative importance are considered for a selected group. The paper also describes how and why land use changes occur in Bangkok and their impact on housing submarkets used by poorer groups.

"Many routes enter the market place"-housing sub-markets for the urban poor in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria highlights the diverse ways in which poorer groups find accommodation in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's largest city. The first sections describe the different kinds of 'popular settlement' and how people build, purchase or rent accommodation there. They also outline other unconventional options-for instance the shops, stalls, warehouses and garages where employees and apprentices sleep. Later sections describe the housing submarkets and conditions in a low-income settlement and discuss issues such as ownership of land and structures and the often complex relationships between landowners, landlords (who rent land but own the housing), landlords' agents and tenants.

Housing submarkets for the urban poor: the case of Greater Khartoum, the Sudan identifies ten housing submarkets as those most widely used by the city's poorer groups. The city's land classification system is described, as this is a key issue in understanding how these submarkets are shaped. In the three decades after independence, official attitudes have ranged from extensive demolition of squatter settlements under military rule to selective demolition and resettlement in planned peripheral settlements and some upgrading under elected governments. A section of the article describes community efforts to improve living conditions in the small peripheral settlement of Jabra, while a final section examines the extensive rental housing market of Umbadda, a settlement with a population of some 180,000 in 1983.

Marginal settlements in Surabaya, Indonesia: problem or potential? looks at those settlements designated as 'marginal' which house among the poorest people and whose problems have not been addressed by recent government initiatives. The problems and lives of their residents are described and both individuals and community life examined. Solutions to improving conditio ns are discussed in a final section.

Housing as a human right describes how the concept of people having a 'right to adequate housing' has developed in national and international law and its current status. It also discusses why housing activists rarely use the concept of 'housing rights' and outlines some of the benefits of emphasizing people's 'housing rights' rather than concentrating only on people's 'housing needs'.