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The challenge of accessibility to adequate housing in several countries by a large percentage of citizens has given rise to different housing programs designed to facilitate access to affordable housing. In South Africa, the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) was created to provides housing loans to low- and middle-income earners. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the implication of the macroeconomic risk elements on the performance of the NHFC incremental housing finance.

This study used a mixed-method approach to examine the time-series data of the NHFC over 17 years (2003–2020), relative to selected macroeconomic indicators. Additionally, this study analysed primary data from a 2022 survey of NHFC Executives.

This study found that incremental housing finance addresses a housing affordability gap, caters to disadvantaged groups, adapts to changing macroeconomic conditions and can mitigate default risk. It also finds that the performance of the NHFC’s incremental housing finance is premised on the behaviour of the macroeconomic elements that drive its strategy in South Africa.

Unlike previous works on housing finance, this case study of the NHFC considers the implication of macroeconomic trends when disbursing incremental housing finance to low- and middle-level income earners as a risk mitigation measure for the South African market. Its mixed method use of quantitative and qualitative data also allows a robust insight into trends that drive investment in incremental housing finance in South Africa.

The purpose of the research is to propose reforms that would help to bridge the gap between theory and practice and produce more effective urban planners. The research on urban planning curricula in the global South is a valuable contribution to the field of urban planning education. It provides a new perspective on the challenges facing urban planning education in these countries and offers a roadmap for improvement.

The research explores and evaluates the urban planning curricula in the global South, with a particular interest in Egypt. The research employs the use of questionnaires with 56 university instructors, analysed thematically, to evaluate the current content of curricula. The results are compared and correlated with a pilot study exploring research interest, government policies and practices of urban planning in Egypt.

Through comparing the results of the evaluation with the current research interest in urban planning in Egypt, the paper investigates the possibility of improving current educational curricula using comparative network analysis which would establish stronger interdisciplinary connections.

The seeming disconnects between urbanism concepts taught in educational curricula and their relevance in practice and reality is a vital issue in urban studies and planning. Interdisciplinary connections with topics like politics, economies, gender, and others can assist curricula in becoming more relevant to real-world situations. This disconnect is even more apparent in the global South where most educational content is highly derivative from Northern contexts. Though such interdisciplinary aspects are under discussed in educational curricula, they are frequently discussed in academic research.

Urban planning in the Global South is insufficiently discussed in research. In addition to the global lack of utilization of research in practice, this lack of discussion resulted in an apparent gap between research, practice, governmental policies and education particularly in the Global South. The paper explores the inconsistency of interest between policymakers, practitioners and researchers by reviewing their themes of interest comparatively. The paper investigates the case study of Egypt, which recently faces a new regime with optimistic urban agendas and examines the research publication that coincided with it.

A scientometric analysis is conducted on all urban planning publications in Egypt between 2016 and 2022 using the software ‘CiteSpace’. The analysis illustrates the dominating research interests using the publications keyword.

The analysis revealed a distinct interest between researchers, who were more invested in themes like ‘planning policies’, ‘informal settings’, ‘urban expansion and growth’ and ‘urban governance and management’, while policymakers were more devoted to themes related ‘satellite cities or new cities’, ‘public transit and transit networks’, ‘informal settings’ and ‘urban expansion and growth’. The themes of interest are displayed in network analysis for a comparative analysis with other aspects like practices, governmental policies and education.

The research utilizes all research publications in the field (in a selected period) to develop a study of the research interest in the field of urban planning in Egypt during the recent years. In addition, it uses novel scientometric software to assist in analysing existing publications to produce new findings and trends.

This paper aims to highlight the localised shelter solutions to fulfil adequate and disaster resilient housing needs of urban informal settlers of Honiara, the capital city of Solomon Islands, in a way that is sensitive to their unique challenges, values and aspirations, is gender- and disability-inclusive, and considers housing from the complete lifecycle of a disaster (pre-, during- and post-).

Qualitative data was gathered through empirical research through five community workshops at five hotspot settlements, two stakeholder workshops and a stakeholder interview. Semi-structured questions as well as photographs of housing and settlement were used for data collection. With an emphasis on self-recovery, the identified shelter needs were then matched with the roles and responsibilities of the Government to support a process of “assisted” self-preparedness and recovery.

The output of the research was the Solomon Islands Shelter Guide. This paper draws from the Guide to present some of the findings. One of the key findings was an emphasis on shelter self-preparedness and self-recovery. However, in order for them to do that, they needed a combination of assistance – technical knowledge, materials and financial support – which is tailored to their settlement’s specific needs and based on hazard damage assessment. While the Guide provides one form of the assistance (i.e. technical), this paper is a call for action from the Solomon Islands Government and shelter responders to fulfil the rest of the community needs for shelter adequacy.

The paper contributes to existing scholarship on shelter after disasters by adding “assisted” in front of self-recovery, in line with the limited access to resources by the most vulnerable to recover, despite housing being” a human right and definition of adequate housing (UN-Habitat, 2015, 2021), which includes freedom of choice, entitlements and meeting minimum adequacy criteria.

There are many implications of this research. Since the publication of the Shelter Guide, there is excitement among most humanitarian and development agencies, government authorities and the local communities in Honiara. The Guide forms the first step in contributing to identified needs and strengthening community capacities to self-build, self-recover or self-retrofit one’s house based on their own choice of materials, design, social and economic circumstance. However, it provides one of the three elements identified as needs by the communities, as i) technical guidance, and a kit-of parts for multi-hazard safe housing, ii) financial and economic assistance and iii) a political voice or being supported and heard by the government. The research team are working with the same five urban informal communities in 2022–2023 to develop and operationalise local disaster plans (in partnership with local non-government organisations), capacity-building activities and translation of the Shelter Guide into technical posters (for local builders) and graphic novel in local pidgin language, as part of the Climate Resilient Honiara project (funded by the United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) Adaptation fund and administered by UN-Habitat). In the longer term it would be worth evaluating the practical implications of the Guide or to examine whether the proposed socio-technical and governance guidance will find roots in the local culture.

While the Guide adhered to internationally agreed concepts of self-recovery, incremental shelter and core space, it contributes to existing scholarship on shelter after disasters by adding “assisted” in front of self-recovery, in line with housing as a human right and adequate housing (UN-Habitat, 2015, 2021), including freedom of choice, entitlements and meet minimum adequacy criteria, all of which require materials and financial assistance by the relevant in-country authorities.

Housing transformation is not part of the Ethiopian urban housing policy, but it is a reality for city dwellers. The objective of this study was to find out what, why, and how aided self-help residents transformed their core house in Bahir Dar city. The focus was specifically on the transformations that resulted in changes to the floor area.

The case study research design is ideal for empirically examining socio-physical dynamics. The study employed three aided self-help housing cooperatives as case studies in Bahir Dar city. Information was gathered from cooperative members, committees, relevant government bodies, and the physical environment through field observations, interviews, photographic surveys, and questionnaires.

The findings showed three types of housing transformations that resulted in a change in floor area and are influenced by the building features of the original core house, motivation, and participation of residents. As a result of the housing transformation, residents became housing producers and suppliers, and their neighbourhood changed into a more socially and functionally diversified settlement.

The findings of this study have practical implications for policy makers to institute mechanisms that help planners and architects in preparing plots of land for residential use and in designing housing typologies. The findings will have an impact on the housing policy of Ethiopia.

The findings of this study will impact planners and architects when it comes to preparing plots for residential land use and designing housing typologies. In addition, the finding will have an impact on housing policy of Ethiopia.

The study of the resident’s housing transformation that brought floor area change provides further insights on the consideration of housing transformation as a housing production and supply strategy.

The purpose of the study is to observe the feasibility of missing middle housing’s (MMH) realization under density-based zoning, form-based zoning and a combination of both while simultaneously providing affordable housing, improving quality of life and making efficient use of land.

This study takes a theorist approach and designs three hypothetical cottage court projects that comply with all relevant official local zoning ordinances to showcase design feasibility, followed by an analytical component in the form of a financial model constructed using official local economic and demographic conditions.

MMH, and in particular cottage clusters, can be implemented under rigorous density-based, form-based and hybrid (density-based + form-based) zoning ordinances and provide affordable housing (Atlanta, GA), improve quality of life (Blackpool, UK) and make efficient use of land (Jinan, China). All hypothetical projects are financially feasible under reasonable conditions.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first in the body of knowledge to discuss how the MMH can be integrated into urban density-based zoning rather than converting density-based zoning into form-based so that the MMH can fit. The paper also takes a cross-national perspective and discusses the feasibility of MMH in the resolution of housing issues in the USA, China and the UK. The study also concludes that the issue of housing unaffordability in the UK was caused by high construction cost relative to median income.