ABSTRACT
The cooperatives have re-emerged as important organizational elements of housing in the face of the neoliberal policies that swept across developing countries during the early 1990s. The institutional analysis examines the broader legal, social, and political economic context in which housing cooperatives evolve. Recognizing the significance of housing cooperatives, the UN-Habitat carried out a broad assessment of cooperative housing strategies in eastern and southern African countries, such as Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The National Cooperative Housing Federation (NCHF) formed in 1969 has been instrumental in establishing a nationwide two-tiered institutional structure of state level secondary Apex cooperatives to mobilize finance for primary cooperatives. Among Latin American countries, Uruguay's housing cooperatives are hailed as a model for mutual assistance. The housing cooperatives in Uruguay are particularly good examples of how solidarity formed a basic tenet. Two related aspects of the institutional context can be highlighted for the growth of housing cooperatives.
