Brazil - Progressive Low-Income Housing : Alternatives for the Poor

[摘要] This report aims to analyze key aspectsof the low-income housing sector in Brazil, and to providean analytical framework for reviewing alternatives toaddressing the lack of adequate formal housing and urbanservices for the poor. It addresses four fundamentalquestions for policymakers in the housing sector in Brazil:First, should the government be involved in policyinterventions in the low-income segment of the housingmarket? Second, if policy action is appropriate, what rolesshould policymakers at the federal, state, and municipallevels play? Third, should the government's keyinterventions in the market be focused on the supply, ordemand side of the market? Finally, how can the governmentstructure a comprehensive policy to deal with the failure ofthe housing market to provide adequate shelter for the poor?The report begins with a brief outline of the nature, andextent of the low-income housing problem, describes thepolicies in place to address the lack of housing, suggests amethodological framework for assessing the paucity oflow-income housing in light of international experiences,and identifies the main building blocks of a strategy forlow-income housing in Brazil. There are four main reasonswhy a considerable backlog in housing persists: (a)low-income levels; (b) high supply costs; (c) marketfailures; and (d) distortions in public policy. Consideringlow-income housing directions, we need to refer to: Accessto Land; Access to Finance; Appropriate Standards; BasicInfrastructure Provision; Targeted Subsidies; and, Inclusionand Partnership. Ensuring that the above elements areincorporated in future low-income housing initiativesrequires important new directions necessary to furtherfacilitate an enabling approach. Reforms are advocated inthe areas of policy, institutions, and regulations; movingaway from limited, project-based approaches, adopting theenabling principle. This new approach may not have amonopoly on wisdom, nor does it have all the answers neededfor the complex, difficult problem of housing the urbanpoor, but it does provide the most promising way forward ifthe problem is to be addressed at a scale commensurate withits magnitude, and adequate to improve substantially thehousing conditions of the poor.

[发布日期] 2002-12-21 [发布机构] Washington, DC

[学科分类] 社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

[关键词] ACCESS TO LAND;ACCOUNTING;BUILDING MATERIALS;CAPITAL GRANTS;CITIES