Refocusing the housing debate in developing countries from a pluralist perspective

The debate on housing policy in developing countries since the late 1980s h as been dominated by the World Bank led strategy of developing the housing sector as a whole by enabling primarily formal private markets to work more efficiently. Yet, the emphasis on private markets has led to the exclusion of complementary and alternative public, co-operative/community based and informal modes of housing provision from serious policy consideration. This paper argues for the adoption of a more integrated housing policy that is based on the recognition and better co-ordination of plurality of provision . Thereby, not only allowing further development of specific modes in appro priate socio-economic settings but also enabling the creation of synergies through combining complementary modes in order to overcome their relative w eaknesses, we can boost supply to specific target groups. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.