ABSTRACT
Housing is recognized widely as one of the most serious problems confronting urban areas of the third world. Housing is a principal development objective in almost all third world cities and all countries have plans and programs to improve urban housing conditions. Censuses are the most comprehensive and readily available source of housing information. A wide range of housing information can be obtained from the reports of government agencies and interviews with their personnel. Household and enterprise surveys can be an important source of information on housing conditions and the shelter delivery system. The shelter delivery system overlaps with housing policy because government is involved in many aspects of shelter delivery such as finance, service delivery, and land ownership and control. Housing requirements normally are estimated as the number of households because it is assumed that each household requires an acceptable dwelling unit.
