ABSTRACT
Spatial strategies may impact on the shelter and services sector by changing the investment requirements for shelter, the affordability of shelter for the population, and the implementability of shelter programs. Investment requirements vary with the settlement pattern because both construction costs and standards vary over space. This reinforces the argument that nationwide reductions in shelter and services standards are a much more effective shelter solution than changing the spatial focus of shelter and services policies. Over the past 20 years a great many developing countries have adopted different types of spatial policies to alter the national settlement pattern. The effectiveness of spatial strategies has been weakened by the failure of Third World policy makers to recognize the interdependencies between urban and rural development strategies rapidly enough. The finding that changes in the urban settlement pattern result in little more than marginal variations in aggregate shelter and services costs is not repeated when changes in the urban-rural population split are examined.
