A study on self-help incremental housing : Lattakia case

Abstract

Informal settlement has been one of the major topics to discuss in the current time, and it is one of the most serious issue governments and societies face nowadays. Rapid population growth in developing countries forced households to use informal mechanisms to access housing, such as acquiring land in illegal sub-divisions or squatting on public land and incrementally building their dwellings. The study argues the potentials of government intervention for housing the poor, thru analysis of the Corniche Region phases of development similar to self-help incremental housing. The study deduces the best recommendations for finding possible solutions for incremental housing process. In brief, this thesis attempts to identify the main determinants and triggers of incremental housing process and the outcome of the Corniche Region case study where it is incrementally built but there is not much governmental intervention. These triggers might aid in explaining the challenges and potentials of the development of the process. Then, some recommendations, based on questioning the potentials of self-help incremental housing in various geographies, will be the starting points for an improved planning and management.