ABSTRACT
Housing in Pacific towns – a good indicator of other features of the urban condition – varies enormously and underlines the uneven and diverse experience of urbanisation. The proliferation of squatter areas in Melanesian towns, for example, is less evident in Polynesia and Micronesia though there are pockets of informal and overcrowded urban housing there (evident in the above example from the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa). Dwelling densities in Ebeye and Funafuti atolls, which are among the highest in the world, contrast with much larger plot sizes found in Koror or Apia. Many houses in South Tarawa are comparable to village dwellings, with few services of any kind; in PNG’s mining towns most houses are formal, modern and with excellent services. There are also similarities. Urbanisation pressures throughout the region have made it increasingly difficult for governments to address housing needs and demands, regardless of national circumstances, and dealing with the lack of affordable housing for low-income residents (who make up the majority of the urban population of the Pacific) and ensuring basic service provision are some of the most intractable and visible elements of the urban scene.
