Events

The Scaling City Institutions for India (SCI-FI) initiative at CPR is co-hosting a session at the 8th Asia-Pacific Housing Forum: Building Forward Better for Inclusive Housing under the track ‘Innovative Housing Solutions and Technologies’.

9:30 – 9:35 AM: Opening Remarks and setting the context – Anaclaudia Marinheiro Centeno Rossbach, Regional Manager, Latin America and Caribbean, Cities Alliance

9:35 – 9:55 AM: Keynote address by Shubhagato Dasgupta, Senior Fellow, CPR and Anindita Mukherjee, Associate Fellow, CPR

9:55 – 10:05 AM: Launch of Report on ‘PolicyLab Series on Affordable Rental Housing’: Summary of Discussions

10:05 – 11:05 AM: Moderated panel discussion led by Anaclaudia Marinheiro Centeno Rossbach, Regional Manager, Latin America and Caribbean, Cities Alliance.

Tereza Herling, Consultant, Cities Alliance – Brazil
Danilo Berlos Tenebro, Consultant on Housing, Philippines
Delphine Le Duff, Project Manager, Urban Division, AFD (Pre-recorded)
Claire Du Trevou, Director, Bitprop, South Africa
Torphong Jumchod, Director of Policy and Planning Department, National Housing Authority, Thailand
Dr. Piyush Tiwari, Professor of Property at University of Melbourne, Australia
11:05 – 11:20 AM: Moderated Q&A.

11:20 – 11:30 AM: Summing up and concluding remarks by the Moderator

Session Title: Addressing Housing Vulnerabilities through Rental Housing

Session Summary:

Rental housing forms an integral part of the housing tenure systems in cities (Kumar, 2016). Every year a significant number of people migrate to fast-growing cities that offer prospects of well-being through diverse economic opportunities and a respite from the fragile and restricted rural livelihoods. However, these new entrants to the city often start by residing in poorly serviced informal settlements with no security of tenure. While cities offer immense opportunities for economic and socio-cultural exchange, it leads to fast-paced growth. Limited availability of affordable land and housing and the concentration of people in cities has led to informal settlements with minimal basic services and amenities, making inhabitants vulnerable to disasters and limiting their opportunities for a better quality of life. Affordable rental housing for the poor is generally understood as one of the lowest steps in the housing ladder, despite providing the urban poor with much-needed flexibility and the room to manoeuvre when they arrive in a new city searching for employment. These challenges are not new, but COVID 19 has highlighted the need for a more robust and immediate solution to tackle the situation.

Rental housing is a critical component of the housing response in urbanizing countries. Across the income spectrum, rental housing allows greater labour mobility. For low-income households that often work in the informal sector, rental housing better suits their income volatility and risk profile. The potential of rental housing to meet the housing conundrum of a rapidly urbanizing India should not be ignored and needs to be kept at the centre of housing policy and programmes.  Against this backdrop, a session has been curated at the Asia Pacific Housing forum to discuss the opportunities and challenges of different rental housing models across the globe with a special focus on Asia. This session aims to bring together consolidated learnings from South Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe, as presented in the above-mentioned policy lab and provide a platform for countries to learn from each other.