Impact of Adequate Housing facilities on overall Development

Housing (shelter) is one of the main necessities of humans, along with food and clothing. Housing protects people from rain and calamities, and also helps in preventing robbery. But there is a stark difference in the housing facilities in various countries across the world, which differs depending on the development of the region, the income and poverty levels, and access to clean water and drainage facilities.

Housing has become more of an asset nowadays. Housing and properties have become more of an asset, something that can be traded or sold. Rich people nowadays acquire properties and as a security against their assets. Globalization has also ushered a new era in house manufacturing and maintenance. Due to the outsourcing of materials across the world, houses can now be built faster and cheaper than ever. But even with all such advancements in technologies, many people in the world do not have access to proper housing facilities.

In many places of the newly industrialized and the developing countries such as India, Brazil and Nigeria, many people do not have access to proper housing facilities. People in the lower income category usually reside in stilts or straw houses (known as kuccha houses in India) in large slums or favelas, which are prone to yearly seasonal flooding, storms and winds, which uproot these houses. Hence people who live in such houses have to rebuild them every year. Since these people are not very rich, a large portion of their yearly savings is spent on rebuilding and repairing their houses. Also, the people that live in these houses, do not have proper access to clean water and drainage facilities. Hence, they are prone to a lot of water-borne diseases.

The main reason for such disparities in housing facilities across the world is due to the differences in the laws and legislations of the various local and national governments across countries. In a Universal Housing Programme, the respective government guarantees a shelter for all the families who currently do not own a home, and who do not have the required capital to own a home. The Universal Housing Programme is successful in many developed countries, and act as role models for the developing nations to follow.

In developing nations, the story is quite the opposite. Even though right to shelter is guaranteed by the Constitution in many countries, in practice, the programme is not implemented properly due to corruption problems. This has led to the tunneling of the funds set aside for the housing programme, to the pockets of rich oligarchs. Another issue is that the rich people of other countries use these funds to build vacation homes, which they visit during the holidays, and rent it during all the other days.

There is a direct correlation between mental stability and access to proper housing. Access to adequate housing facilities helps also provides resistance to many of the water-borne diseases, thereby improving the overall health of the community. Access to such fundamental needs and a stable job for everyone, ensures the overall holistic development of the society.

A proper framework laid down by the government that provides housing facilities to all, goes a long way in alleviating poverty and other issues associated with it. It must be framed in such a way that there are no loopholes in it, and hence it can not be misused by influential people. I also agree with her view on ending homelessness in nations with high income inequality, such as India and Portugal, by 2030.

An effort should also be made to stop forced evictions of slum-dwellers, and if by any means, slums have to be cleared for development projects, then it must be done so with the consent of the people living in these areas. The slum dwellers must be given proper compensation in cash or other equivalent property, for their homes. Also, the skyrocketing prices for properties in Urban areas must be capped to avoid a real estate bubble. This can be done by decentralizing urban metropolitan cities, and building new cities.