Title of Event:

Name of Organization:

Date and time of the session:

Delivery of Housing and Related Infrastructure – Institutional and Financial System

All India Housing Development Association (AIHDA)

21 June, 2006; 1630-1830 hrs.

Key Highlights

1. Estimated No. of Participants: 68 (Actual and Excluding floating participants)
2. Stakeholder group representation at the event: Housing Ministers, Senior functionaries from Housing and Urban Development Institutions and Specialized Financial Institutions, Professionals from Research and Training Institutions and Freelance Researchers and Consultants.
3. What were the expected objectives: (a) To examine the status of housing delivery and adequacy of related infrastructure, (b) To identify areas of common concern on (a) above, (c) To share innovations applied by different stakeholders to resolve the issues on (b) above.
4. What did the networking event achieve: The networking event achieved a select model of cross-country experience through specialized inputs from the distinguished panel and 65 participants drawn from countries across the board. The model covers specific actions to promote the role of public sector as facilitator to reorganize institutional and financial system for effective delivery of housing and related infrastructure.

2. What were the core issues identified in your event as they relate to the theme and sub-themes of WUF-III?

1. 1980-2000 witnessed Decentralization and Empowerment of local institutions: Agenda for 2000+ is to build capacities of stakeholders to promote delivery of housing and related infrastructure. This relates to promotion of sustainable cities.
2. Supply of housing and relate infrastructure is largely confined to middle and high income groups. This relates to Social Inclusion and Cohesion.
3. Infrastructure status of small and medium towns is relatively low. This relates to Urban growth and environment.
4. Housing Finance is not reaching to low income households due to the barriers pertaining to possession of collateral, verifiable income and secure tenure. This relates to partnership and funds.

3. What were the main points raised by panelists and participants in relation to these different issues? What new ideas have been generated as a result of the discussion?

The distinguished panel having vast experience in urban and housing sector covering Mr. Earl Kesselar, Urban Sector Expert of US; Prof. Edgardo Marnize of National University Urugway (South America); Prof. Forbes Davidson, Institute for Housing & Urban Development Studies, Netherlands and other international experts indicated that public sector should ensure equitable supply of housing and related infrastructure. This requires (i) optimum participation of all the stakeholders (ii) expansion of liquidity and outreach of housing finance (iii) development of a systematic and bottom-up planning and (iv) promotion of new-shelter options for the poor rather than banking on slum improvement alone.

It was observed that public private partnership should be intensively used for delivery of housing and infrastructure alongwith inclusion of household savings through Municipal Bonds, External Commercial Borrowings, Equity Participation and use of local elasticity. Regional and District level planning should be promoted to take up the supply of housing in a regional and equitable context. This supply should necessarily include suitable options for poor.

4. What process steps have been identified in your event that could help turn ideas into operational reality?

Policies, Planning and Programmes should be systematically linked with implementation. The Public sector should intervene to maintain this sequence through legal, institutional financial and fiscal initiatives. Acts, Bylaws and Regulations should be pro-poor and pro-partnerships. Planning should make adequate provision of land, Home should be seen as a place to live and also as a place to work (for poor in particular), Infrastructure should come first followed by shelter.