Effective affordable housing provision in developing economies: An evaluation of expert opinion

Housing the urban poor is a prevalent challenge in developing economies, regardless of the research attention and policy interventions over the years. It becomes essential to employ innovative approaches in investigating the challenge of affordable housing (AH) provision to achieve effective AH provision in developing economies. It is pragmatic to thoroughly explore expert solutions to the difficult task of housing the urban poor. To achieve this, focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews with housing experts in Nigeria were conducted in this study. The recordings were transcribed and analysed using NVivo; following descriptive, content and thematic analyses of data we found that deliberate government policies to include the urban poor are the most significant housing solutions consistent across the entire housing supply value chain (HSVC). Major findings are that mainstreaming the use of alternative housing construction materials and strategies, deliberate finance models to target the urban poor and deliberate reservation of some urban land for housing the urban poor are strategies that will enhance AH provision. These are insights into critical solutions to AH constraints and are informative for effective AH provision for the urban poor in Nigeria; an essential ingredient for sustainable development goals. This study is first to explore experts' opinions in relation to HSVC to showcase significant solutions to AH provision challenges. Data from this study are essential for future pro-poor housing studies. Recommendations are that AH interventions should be informed by research for more effective and sustainable results.

Automated summary

Housing the urban poor is a prevalent challenge in developing economies. This study explores expert solutions to affordable housing provision and identifies deliberate government policies, alternative construction materials and strategies, targeted finance models, and reservation of urban land as effective strategies for AH provision.