Title:
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The low-income housing production process in Lahore, Pakistan.
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This thesis examines low-income housing policies adopted by
Developing Countries in the last forty years and compares them
with the economic development models implemented in these
countries. The study argues that the changes in the housing policies
adopted are a part of the general debate about the dualistic nature
of underdeveloped economies. An attempt is made to place the
issue of housing within the formal/informal and petty commodity
sector polemic. The potential and limitations of Self-Help Principal
of Housing as a concept and its practicalities are discussed. The
centrepiece of the concept, that the users (in this case, the urban
poor) are the best judges of dwelling requirements and that they
strike a balance between their resources and their housing
priorities, is seen as portraying only a partial view of the argument.
Low-income earners are not only consumers but also producers of
housing and most of the problems they face while housing
themselves in the city are related with the production process of
housing.
Within this general context, attention is focused on the production
process of low-income housing, and its relationship with the
construction sector, the real estate market and the construction
labour market. This study investigates the low-income housing
production process in Lahore, Pakistan. A historical-structural
approach is used to review the state of the local economy, the role
of the urban poor and the low-income housing policies of the state.
It is seen that the homelessness of the poor has become a major
political issue and that Pakistani politicians try to gain popular
support by offering token concessions to squatter households. The
investigation into the house and land exchange process, type of
building materials, and kind of construction labour used by the
low-income households shows that the low-income housing
production process, found to be existing in Lahore, is highly
dependent on the formal sector of economy. The prospects of
resolving the issue of housing the poor in Developing Nations, like
Pakistan, by pursuing the housing policies based on the Self-HelpConcept, are limited. The ability of the urban poor to build their
own dwellings rests on the access which they have to
income-earning opportunities. Policies, therefore, should be framed
to increase their employment opportunities in various sectors of the
economy
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