Housing .in Development : Policies Institutions And Forms Of Cooperation

Abstract

Introductory concepts \ In this introduction some concepts are clarified, and expressed, focusing on what people do together and why and this in order to conceptualize, plan, build, regulate, use, destroy their built environment in general and their particular. . v i evpo in t s how they do maintain or housing in More specifically we will look at cpmplex housing realities from the point of view of institutional or cooperative ar~angements, actors and their ideas and actions in housing. We will focus on e.g. - decision-making and control - policies, rules and regulations; customs, preferences and habits - cooperation and exchange; conflicts and competition. As a matter of convention we have labeled more established or structured ways of shaping housing environments as instit~~ion~, and ad 110C or occasional ways as 'fQrms ot~cooperation' in housing (see fig. I). Although issues related to institutional aspects of housing are, and have been for a few years somewhat more fashionable, together with e.g. resources aspects (land, material, etc.) and certainly more fashionable at present than architectural aspects, we will argue that a rather narrow view of housing institutions is prevailing and, moreover that many proposals related to institutional aspects have underlying ideological and developmental viewpoints which are a matter of debate, to say at least, if not a matter of serious doubt as to their relevance in various contexts. What people do together and how they do this in shaping their housing environments involves a great variety of actors and actions operating on a variety of scale levels and shaping a wide range of differing hou!:jiTlQ.environments (fig.2). These housing environments (as any physical environment) are not only results but also starting points for human actions. Indeed; we shape buildings and buildings shape us! In principle any combination of actors, actions and housing environments is possible, and in specific contexts one can identify a great number of combinations; an individual can plan a whole city or a family can build its own house. We will call a particular conbination of actors their actions and housing environments, a housing arrangement or (if sufficiently common) a housing 1sub~~Y~1~m. (fig 3) Such housing arrangements or systems can be further labeled depending on major sets of actors, sets of actions or sets of housing environments