The Transformation of Urban Housing: The Experience of Upgrading in Cartagena

Abstract

Because of population growth and migration, old cities will need many new dwellings, but these, like others, will have to be transformed, expanded, and modified over the years to play their part in the development process. The author studied the determinants of the supply and demand for housing among different socioeconomic groups, the current and potential resource allocating mechanisms, and the role of institutional, policy, and material constraints, with a case study of one city, Cartagena, Colombia. This book gives a general background to the study and provides some history, a review of demographic and economic trends, a description of employment and the labor force. It deals with housing in terms of physical needs and effective demand, hence income levels, income distribution, credit systems, and access to land as they affect households of different sizes and at different stages of their life cycles. The book surveys housing supply in two conventional matters, the old housing stock and new construction. Hedonic price indexes show how specific physical characteristics account for the overall value of a dwelling. The book also deals with construction costs, employment effects, and innovations. Improvement and conversion of the existing housing stock are discussed. Downgrading through subdivision and poor maintenance are also possibilities but not of comparable significance in developing countries.

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