The Right to the City and Adequate Housing Policies

The world is in the midst of a global housing crisis. More than one billion people live in slums and this number is increasing every year. This book analyses in detail the international discussion on the housing question, related policy phases, applied strategies, programmes and good practices from a global perspective and in the national context of Indonesia. The focus is on the question under which conditions (modes of governance) successful housing policies do evolve that realize adequate housing for all, as stipulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 11.1). To answer this question, an analytical framework for urban governance and a normative compass for adequate housing is developed, based on the policy arrangements approach and Henri Lefebvre`s the right to the city. This analytical framework is empirically applied in two case studies: the Indonesian cities Surabaya and Surakarta, both internationally recognized for their innovative policies. Using a mixed-methods approach (surveys, expert interviews, observation and social network analysis), housing programmes, intervention strategies and modes of governance (actors, rules, power and discourses) are comprehensively examined in both cities and comparatively analysed. The results show that successful housing policies require the implementation of different measures and housing programmes tailored to the needs of specific target groups as well as certain governance structures with a normative orientation. Such structures are characterised by flexibility, power sharing, polycentric organisation, inclusive discourses, openness and a pro-poor attitude of the actors involved. Adequate housing is to be understood as more than meeting certain minimum standards, but as equal access to all resources of the city including the possibility of shaping the production of space. Such ideal modes of governance are key for sound housing policies that realize adequate housing for all.