This Quick Guide examines how formal and informal land markets in Asian cities work, how they have succeeded or failed to make decent, secure, affordable land accessible to the urban poor and how community organizations, support institutions and g...

In this edition we talk about the importance of savings schemes in slums, and the why slum dwellers should be involved in decisions around design and affordability of upgrading projects. This is a part of the “Finance Plus” approach of SUF – it is...

The Slum Upgrading Facility has had a busy first quarter, building and detailing SUF finance facilities in Ghana, Indonesia and Sri Lanka in readiness to undertake lending and project monitoring. This is not an easy task. The lead article in this ...

The 6th edition of the SUDP Newsletter details activities of the programme over the past few months, partcularly in urban services, urban management, and governance. Two special sections focus on UN-HABITAT’s role in complex emergencies and plan...

For many people, buying a home is the most expensive purchase of their lives, and it requires a mortgage from the bank. But slum dwellers do not have access to formal credit for homes or home improvement. The Slum Upgrading Facility (SUF) Pilot Pr...

This Quick Guide introduces some of the key concepts of formal housing finance and an overview of how both the formal and informal systems of delivering housing finance work especially with regard to the urban poor. The guide provides insights to ...

This Quick Guide examines how community organizations can be valuable and resoureful partners when it comes to finding viable solutions to their own housing roblems. It looks at how community organizations have developed in Asia, how they function...

This Quick Guide describes ways of addressing low-income housing. It reviews well - tried methods of improving the housing environments of people living in slums and informal settlements, and providing adequate housing for future generations livin...

This Quick Guide reviews the characteristics of rental housing markets and how they functio. The issue of demand and supply of rental housing are discussed, folowed by policy options to regulate, promote and expand rental housing - especially for ...

The 5th edition of the Somalia Urban Development Programme (SUDP) Newsletter covers the main activities carried out by UN-HABITAT and its partners in the last months in Somalia. This issue focus on: (1) Lotteries of the allocation of the houses in...