ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the main policies developed to address substandard housing in Brazil, India, Peru and South Africa. It presents the five approaches to housing policy for the urban poor in substandard settlements to these countries such as policies of self-help; policies of demolition and eviction; policies of in-situ upgrading; policies of relocation and resettlement; and policies of integrated human settlements. In Brazil, some local authorities, and more recently state/federal government, have championed pro-poor policy-making for housing. In Peru and India, the national state government plays a direct role in urban development. The land-titling policy had the greatest impact after the issuing of the Legislative Decree 8032 that created the commission for the formalisation of informal property (COFOPRI) and the urban property registry (RPU) in 1996. The millennium development goals (MDGs), under Goal 7, set as their target 'a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020'.
