Abstract
In 1989 and 1991, Mona Serageldin authored two related papers on financing urban development for the Unit for Housing and Urbanization at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design: “Financing Upgrading Programs” and “Financing Infrastructure Upgrading Programs.”
The papers assessed the exchange components of local and foreign currency as cost factors in urban development upgrading projects, using municipalities in Jordan and Tunisia as examples. Serageldin focused on three main needs to establish effectively-financed upgrading programs:
- Construction of new infrastructure networks,
- Building and improvement of community facilities like schools and health centers, and
- Creation of homeowner credit mechanisms to improve residential properties.
Excerpt
[Excerpt: “Financing Upgrading Programs, November 1989”]
“…Upgrading is widely held to be the most effective mechanism to expand the supply of housing for limited income groups and improve living conditions for the urban poor. By providing the support infrastructure, it opens up opportunities for new economic activity.”
“Despite highly publicized haranguing by U.N. Habitat, housing is no longer viewed as a priority for public expenditure by international funding organizations and bilateral aid agencies. The debt situation in developing countries implies a widening gap between urgent needs and potential resources. Demographic pressure and the economic crisis have concentrated efforts on economic development and employment generation rather than social infrastructure.”
| Project Year: | 1989-1991 |
| Project Type: | Research Paper |
| Geographic Regions: | Global / None Specified |
| Reports: | |
| Authors: | Mona Serageldin |
| Sponsors: | Unit for Housing and Urbanization, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; USAID |
| Categories: | Reconciliation and Development |
| ID: | 1989_11_001 |