Cities Without Slums

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

Urban studies, development studies, public policy.

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject was formerly called Comparative Housing Policy and Services.

The subject will focus on the (a) the role of city governments (or state government where cities lack the authority), civil society and the private sector in the delivery of serviced land and housing, with an emphasis on slum upgrading, (b) the importance of housing at national and household levels, assessing circumstances that give rise to slums and the evolution of policy for delivering land and housing and upgrading slums, (c) review the difficulty of ‘scaling up’ in the light of ‘best practice’ and pro-poor approaches to slum upgrading, and (d) explore the role of the Cities Alliance and other international organizations in mainstreaming the housing and services policy agenda. The subject will be based on case studies of particular urban management and slum upgrading programs.

The class is to be conducted in the form of seminars, comprising lectures, extended periods of discussion, exploration of topics on the web and student presentations. The subject will require the commitment to reading prior to the class, a class consisting of six hours per day over six days for formal class participation and informal time in addition for the preparation of student presentations.

The subject may be associated with a Travelling Studio that addresses slum upgrading, but is not a prerequisite for joining such a studio.

• Understanding of the governance issues at the level of the city (or state) that are relevant to land an housing delivery for low-income households, with a focus on slum upgrading
• A substantive knowledge of slum upgrading processes
• Insight into the relevance of housing and slum markets in different cities and governance contexts
• Insight into the role of international development agencies in shaping the urban policy agenda and their use of the web for this purpose
• Critical reading and debating, policy research and presentation and writing skills.

• Group presentation and related slides (30%) due final day of teaching
• Essay (3,500 words) (70%) due two weeks after the final date of teaching.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Written and verbal communication.
• Identification of key issues and debates in comparative housing and service delivery.
• Applied knowledge of slum upgrading in Mumbai and Jakarta.
• Insight into Mumbai and Jakarta governance and housing policies.