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 |
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- “The Development and Morphology of Informal Housing,” Research Paper, Aga Khan Award for Architecture Seminar Proceedings, Mona Serageldin (Project ID: 1988_09_001)
- “Environmental Health Factors in Housing,” Design Study for the Rapid Urbanization of Low-Income Settlements in Urban-Fringe Districts (Project ID: 1989_07_001)
- “Financing Infrastructure Upgrading Programs,” Two Urban Development Research Papers, Mona Serageldin, 1989-1991 (Project ID: 1989_11_001)
- “Sustainable Improvement Strategies for Lower Income Urban Communities,” Upgrading Policy Plans for Amman, Aqaba, Cairo, and Karachi (Project ID: 1990_01_001)
- “The Abidjan Experience,” Four Research Reports on Community-Based Urban Development in Adjamé, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 1990-1995 (Project ID: 1990_09_001)
- “Regularizing the Informal Land Development Process,” International Case Studies for the USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs, Mona Serageldin (Project ID: 1990_10_001)
- Design Studio 1993: “Rabat’s Urban Fringe,” Rabat, Morocco, Seminar Curriculum (Project ID: 199300001)
- “The Use of Land and Infrastructure in the Self-Improvement Strategies of Urban Lower Income Families,” Paper by Mona Serageldin, UN Habitat Fourteenth Commission Report (Project ID: 1993_05_001)
- “Community-Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes,” Case Study, Fortaleza, Brazil (Project ID: 1995_00_006)
- “Community Based Credit for Housing, Infrastructure, and Microenterprises,” Micro-Finance Housing Shortage Study for Quito, Ecuador (Project ID: 1995_03_003)
- “Housing Microfinance Initiatives,” Case Study for USAID Microenterprise Best Practices Initiative, 1999-2000 (Project ID: 1999_00_001)
- Workshops on “Strategic Planning and Management of Municipal Infrastructure Programs,” from Review of Grant-Funded MIPs in South Africa (Project ID: 1999_05_002)
- “Development of Infrastructure and Initiating of Sustainable Projects in Elim, South Africa,” Report for UN-Habitat Best Practices Leadership Programme, Western Cape, South Africa (Project ID: 2001_08_001)
- “Local Authority-Driven Interventions to Improve the Lives of Slum Dwellers,” Mona Serageldin for UN Millennium Task Force 8 (Project ID: 2003_10_001)
- “Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies” and “Slum Improvement Strategies and Social Inclusion,” Presentations by Mona Serageldin, 11th United Nations Conference, São Paulo, Brazil (Project ID: 2004_06_001)
- “Qassioun Urban Development Strategy and Improvement Plan,” Technical Framework for Damascus, Syria, 2006-2008 (Project ID: 2006_00_007)
- “Land-Related Issues, Dhaka, Bangladesh,” Urban Sector Strategy Report for Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh (Project ID: 2006_01_001)
- “Delivery of Security of Tenure, Infrastructure Services and Access to Finance Through Community-Based Approaches,” Planning Strategy Report on Albania and El Salvador, 4th World Bank Urban Research Symposium (Project ID: 2007_00_001)
- “Township Development Strategy for Emfuleni Municipality,” Technical Assistance to Sedibeng, Gauteng, South Africa (Project ID: 2009_03_001)
- “Technical Assistance to Ezakheni, Ladysmith/Emnambithi Local Municipality,” Urban Development Strategy, South African Government Neighborhood Development Partnership Grant (Project ID: 2010_02_001)
- “The Unplanned Areas Upgrading and Employment Enhancing Programme in Egypt,” Needs Assessment and Activity Design Study for Informal Settlements, 2011-2016 (Project ID: 2012_10_004)
- “Inclusive Cities and Access to Land, Housing, and Services in Developing Countries,” Urban Development Series, World Bank (Project ID: 2014_04_001)