Unequal impacts of privatisation of housing : The cases of Lusaka and Hanoi

• Since the eighties, public housing has been privatised in many countries all over the world, as part of so called structural adjustment policies, for example in Zambia, or as part of market reforms in planned economies like Vietnam. Arguments for a liberalisation of housing markets through privatisation have been to increase productivity and efficiency in building and maintenance, to extend consumer choice and influence, and also to get away with subsidies. Privatisations have been presented as a key ingredient in decentralisation and democratisation processes, as it decreases governments’ control over communities, groups and individuals (Linneman et al. 1994, Whitehead 1993, La Grange 1998, Zhang 1999). This paper compares the findings of two studies of privatisation in two different contexts, Hanoi in Vietnam and Lusaka in Zambia. Clapham (1995) distinguishes between three main housing systems: the market, the regulating market and the statecontrolled. Schlyter (2002) defined a forth system, a post-colonial housing system, characterised by a small sector of state-controlled housing tied to employment, while the huge majority lived in informal, often sub-standard housing. Vietnam and Zambia clearly had different housing systems, the state controlled and the post-colonial. However, restricting the comparison to publicly owned housing areas there are also many similarities.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

gender

urbanization

Zambia

Vietnam

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)