Assisted Community Housing Initiative in Dhaka: Rethinking Role of NGOs in Affordable Housing Development. (September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Begum, Halima; Heywood, Philip Richard; Susilawati, Connie
• Is Part Of: Environment and urbanization Asia. Volume 9:Number 2(2018)
• Page Start: 214
• Page End: 229
• Publication Date: 2018-09
• Subjects: Affordable housing -- community housing -- slum -- NGOs -- Dhaka; Social ecology -- Asia -- Periodicals; Urban ecology (Sociology) -- Asia -- Periodicals; Urbanization -- Asia -- Periodicals; Human ecology -- Asia -- Periodicals; 304.20954
• DOI: 10.1177/0975425318783573
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0975-4253

Abstract

This research highlights how the strength of a group of mobilized slum dwellers was harnessed to bring in change in their housing condition. The community, with active support from a non-government organization, was able to develop housing for themselves. The article demonstrates that assisted community housing as an approach is capable of offering a sustainable housing development solution in a resource-constrained country like Bangladesh. The article aims at examining the context and the process, and identifying the operational barriers, and it explores future prospect of this approach in a specific context. Through elaborating on the community efforts, the article sheds lights on the difficulties that were encountered by the NGO and the community, making this a shared struggling experience. It identifies that with a few policy-level interventions and changes in operational practices of different government agencies, a supportive environment can be created which will foster NGO's stewardship to making this approach produce more equitable, efficient, affordable and, above all, sustainable housing development for the urban poor.