ABSTRACT
By the end of the century urban populations will be huge and inescapably most urban dwellers will be poor. The built environment has always been response to social and economic issues. Structures in illegal settlements tend to remain built of temporary or cheap materials pending official "recognition", but once governments legitimatise such settlements by providing services or by granting leasehold or other title, squatters invariably respond by upgrading quality of their housing. Housing is a desirable component of social and economic progress but the role of physical standards in improving socio-economic well-being has not been precisely established. But regulations which push people into building forms of shelter they cannot afford can be detrimental to health by reducing other necessary expenditure. Building by-laws spawned under public health legislation have often proved most difficult to change. Public health officials while acknowledging need to move with the times and adapt to emerging technologies have difficulty in approving revisions to legal statutes.
