Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: The Emergency Housing Programme (EHP) is an important subsidy tool in South Africa. The EHP was designed to realise the right to housing and ensure that municipalities rapidly respond to emergency housing situations. However, the programme's implementation has been harshly critiqued by activists, academics, and even other state departments, for a range of valid reasons. This paper explores the findings of a year-long research project consisting mainly of case studies, interviews, workshops and policy review aimed at understanding these criticisms. The research found that the EHP implementers are constrained by conflicted urban development imperatives that include: systemic housing demand, building investment-friendly and efficient cities, and other developmental programmes. This paper argues for a reading of the implementation of EHP as problematic prioritisation, rather than simply one of poor provision. In this way, EHP serves as a prism for urban contest and advocate for more strategic, holistic, and progressive urban decision-making.
Source: Development Southern Africa
Author: Liza Rose Cirolia
Institution: University of Cape Town
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2050080149