Population Action International


Housing

The price of housing in developing country urban areas tends to rise while housing quality tends to fall in response to rapid population growth.

According to the UN Centre for Human Settlement, at least 600 million people in the urban areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America occupy "housing of such poor quality and with such inadequate provision for water, sanitation and drainage that their lives and health (are) under continuous threat." Yet just during the 1990s, the number of people living in such cities is projected to grow by another 600 million. "Without major improvements in housing markets and in the expansion and improved provision of infrastructure and services," the UN agency concludes, "the number of people living in such conditions will expand very rapidly."1 Global population growth and urbanization (itself closely related to population growth) are among the forces behind unhygienic housing conditions that foster respiratory and other infectious diseases in urban areas.2 This relationship is evident to city dwellers themselves: In India, 70-year old Mangi Deva told a reporter that she hoped soon to learn how to use an indoor toilet, "because population growth is making open space harder to find."3

The relationship between fertility, population growth and economics is extremely complex. Nonetheless, the number of households and individuals seeking shelter is obviously a factor driving housing demand. The ratio of growth of residential construction compared to growth in total population is a much used indicator of housing conditions. A review of the limited research in the field led population analyst Andrew Mason to conclude:

"Rapid growth in the demand for housing is an inevitable outcome of rapid population growth. To the extent that this demand is accommodated, growth-oriented investment is likely to be impeded and economic growth slowed; To the extent that increased demand for housing is not accommodated, crowding, squatter settlements, homelessness and/or lower housing quality will result. National population growth has contributed to more rapid urban population growth, higher residential land prices, crowding, a deteriorating urban environment, and inadequate housing for many urban residents."4

Notes

  1. United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), An Urbanizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements, 1996 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
  2. World Health Organization, The World Health Report 1996: Fighting Disease, Fostering Development (Geneva: World Health Organization, 1996).
  3. Peter Waldman, "For the Lowest Caste, Clearing India¹s Toilets Remains Life¹s Work," The Wall Street Journal, 20 June 1996. 4. Andrew Mason, "Population, Housing, and the Economy," in Dennis A. Ahlburg et al., eds., The Impact of Population Growth on Well-being in Developing Countries. (Berlin: Springer, 1996).