Learning from the informal sector to meet Housing Needs

courtesy of REculture

The informal construction sector has been the only industry capable of providing affordable housing solutions for the urban poor in developing countries. While South African housing policies rely on the formal construction sector for attaining the ambitious targets of subsidized housing delivery, township keep growing with the support of informal process.The strategies and outputs of both sectors are dramatically different; while the formal industry relies on standardization , repetition, and the use of new materials and a single technology, the informal sector takes full advantage of variety, multiplicity, recycling and combination of technologies.Surprisingly, this does not prevent the informal sector from looking for specialization and innovation...[continue reading]