7.5 The role of projects in the development and implementation of national shelter policies and the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000

Many countries now accept the need to adopt an enabling strategy towards shelter provision. This is reflected in the recent national shelter policies of India, Pakistan and several other countries. Yet, few countries have succeeded in translating such objectives into operational programmes, or relating existing project approaches to them. Since projects represent a major component of public-sector intervention in most countries, and are likely to remain so for some years to come, they provide an important starting point for the implementation of enabling strategies. If the recommendations outlined above were to be implemented at national, provincial and local levels, the range of shelter options available in practice to the urban poor would increase significantly within a short time.

It is highly unlikely, of course, that progress will be achieved on all elements simultaneously, or that delivery systems could respond efficiently to rapid change on all fronts. The primary concern should therefore be to identify and address local priorities, or bottlenecks that restrict the efficiency of existing urban land and shelter delivery systems and their ability to meet the needs of low-income groups. Projects can then be designed specifically to address these constraints and widen options for future development. Creating such an iterative approach in the shelter sector, while integrating projects as parts of programmes focusing on the promotion of enabling shelter strategies, will more than justify the retention of the project approach. In this context shelter projects will function as instruments of the shelter provision process whereby the capabilities of all actors in the shelter sector can be utilized.