This thesis discusses an action-research (AR) project which investigated the problem of information management for housing maintenance. The research commenced with the intention of developing an expert system for housing maintenance management. The first step in this process is to understand the environment and user requirements, and it was this quest for understanding which subsequently became the focus for the research. A systemic approach was adopted to re-examine the problem situation holistically, as opposed to the more traditional reductionist view. Checkland's softsystems methodology (SSM) provided the framework for systematic enquiry. SSM offers an approach which can be used for accurate problem recognition and definition in messy, ill-structured and often complex human activity systems. The necessity for accurate and appropriate problem identification techniques when attempting to manage information was crucial in the shaping of this project. Upon reflection, the project consisted of five clearly defined phases which emerged in response to events and opportunities faced by the researcher. These phases can be categorised as either 'diagnostic' or 'therapeutic' and each consisted of a cyclical process of enquiry. This thesis comprises four parts which mirror this cyclical learning process in each phase of the AR. Part 1, Problem Recognition, deals with the subject matter and introduces the conceptual framework used for Information System (IS) analysis. Part 2, Action Planning, details the research approach and methodology; and the development of the research strategy, design and choice of data collection techniques. Part 3, Action Taking, presents the fieldwork and describes the AR data collection and analysis process. Part 4, Evaluation, provides a critical review of the research approach, details the research contribution and a methodological reevaluation. The research contribution is considered in three areas, (a) specific substantive contribution to an understanding of housing management information systems, (b) theoretical contribution to an understanding of a soft-systems approach to participative IS analysis and evaluation, and, remembering the origins of the study (c) the utility and immediate benefits to housing maintenance practice. These combine in the creation of a participative methodology and integrated framework to identify information requirements for housing maintenance management. The re-evaluation and research review identifies how AR and SSM could be developed by utilizing aspects of action learning.

M.Com. ( Business Management) / The dire shortage of low cost housing in South Africa has a detrimental effect on both the social and economic welfare of the country. On comparison of the percentage that housing construction comprises of the Gross Domestic Product in South Africa to the international experience, it becomes clear that this country lags behind the international trend for countries on a comparable level of economic development. Given the multiplier effect that construction causes in the economy, the importance of increased expenditure on housing become paramount.The current shortage of low cost housing, especially amongst the black population is partly the legacy of the policy of separate development followed by the National Party since 1948. Because black people were regarded as temporary citizens insufficient funds were allocated by the fiscus in the national budget. The shortage of low cost housing has increased to the point where the backlog of houses is estimate at 188 000 houses.This is beyond the ability of the fiscus to address. The need to mobilise private sector finance in the quest to eradicate this backlog is clear. Efforts by the government to supply low cost housing has met with limited success due to intervention by the mass based organisations, such as the South African National Civics Organisation. The financial institutions has withdrawn from the low cost housing market because of the losses suffered as a result of the bond boycott. A further factor inhibiting low cost housing development is the plethora of rules and regulations governing township development. The high standard of servicing required for a stand has placed the price of a serviced stand outside the affordability of the financially disadvantaged part of the population. The need to apply third world standard to a third world problem is evident. There is a need for holistic approach to the housing problem, an approach based on the co-operation of all the players in the housing field. Such a strategy can be negotiated at a representative forum such as the National Housing Forum. This can ensure the participation of communities, the government, financial institutions, private sector developers and the representatives of the mass based organisations.

Housing Partnerships (HPs) are collaborative arrangements that assist communities in the delivery of affordable housing by combining the strengths of the public and private sectors. They emerged in several states, counties, and cities in the eighties as innovative solutions to the challenges in affordable housing resulting from changing dynamics of delivery and production. My study examines HPs with particular emphasis upon the identification of those factors associated with the successful performance of their mission of affordable housing. I will use the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework in this study. The identification of performance factors facilitates a better understanding of how HPs can be successful in achieving their mission. The identification of performance factors is significant in the context of the current economic environment because HPs can be viewed as innovative institutional mechanisms in the provision of affordable housing. The present study uses a mixed methods research approach, drawing on data from the IRS Form 990 tax returns, a survey of the chief executives of HPs, and other secondary sources. The data analysis is framed according to the four perspectives of BSC: the financial, customer, internal business, and learning and growth. Financially, revenue diversification affects the financial health of HPs and overall performance. Although HPs depend on private and government funding, they also depend on service fees to carry out their mission. From a customer perspective, the HPs mainly serve low and moderate income households, although some serve specific groups such as seniors, homeless, veterans, and victims of domestic violence. From an internal business perspective, HPs’ programs are oriented toward affordable housing needs, undertaking not only traditional activities such as construction, loan provision, etc., but also advocacy and educational programs. From an employee and learning growth perspective, the HPs are small in staff size, but undertake a range of activities with the help of volunteers. Every part of the HP is developed to maximize resources, knowledge, and skills in order to assist communities in the delivery of affordable housing and related needs. Overall, housing partnerships have played a key role in affordable housing despite the housing market downturn since 2006. Their expenses on affordable housing activities increased despite the decrease in their revenues.

The purpose of this study was to establish a common understanding of the implementation of urban housing reform in China and to examine the trends in housing development in China and its relationship with the national economy. The crucial role of the Chinese government in the development of housing, the necessity of government intervention in China and whether it should be involved in housing development at all, were also explored in this study. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of this study, it was necessary to analyse the success and failure of the urban housing reform implemented in a particular period in China, and to investigate the challenges and problems existing in housing development. As regards the significant contribution of the housing development to the national economy, Rostow’s stages of economic growth were used to investigate the relationship between the housing industry and the national economy in China. This model shows that the housing industry could become a leading sector in the Chinese national economy. The housing industry in China has not yet reached maturity, and direct regulation by government is still necessary. In an attempt to address the research problem and to fulfil the research objectives, an in-depth and comprehensive literature study was undertaken to provide a basic framework and conceptualization of the housing industry in China. The international scope of the findings, as well as the insights that were gained through the study, contributed largely to solving the identified research problems. The normative and positive nature of the study made it possible to recommend solutions for the problems in the development of housing in China. iv Recommendations were made with regard to sustainable and healthy strategies, regulatory instruments, housing finance, and the utilization of lightweight materials in housing development in China. Although Rostow’s model is one of the more structuralist models of economic growth, it de-emphasizes any differences in how leading sectors develop in free and controlled markets. However, Rostow’s consideration of non-western cases such as China show that, to some extent, modernization can be achieved in different ways, through a free market or controlled economic means, and still fit into his model.

I develop an empirical model of housing demand which is based as closely as possible on a theoretical intertemporal model of consumer demand. In the empirical model, intertemporal behavior by households is incorporated in two ways. First, a household's expected length of occupancy in a dwelling is a parameter in the model; thus, households are able to choose when to move. Second, a household's decision to move and its choice of dwelling are based on the same intertemporal utility function. The parameters of the utility function are estimated using a switching regresion model in which the decision to move and the choice of housing quantity are jointly determined. The model has four other features: (1) a characteristics approach to housing demand is taken, (2) the transaction costs of changing dwellings are incorporated in the model, (3) sample data on household mortgages are employed in computing the user cost of owned dwellings, and (4) demographic variables are incorporated systematically into the household utility function. Rosen's two step proceedure is used to estimate the model. Cragg's technique for estimating regressions in the presence of heteroscedasticity of unknown form is used to estimate the hedonic regressions in step one of the proceedure. In the second step, the switching regression model, is estimated by maximum likelihood. A micro data set of 2,513 Canadian households is used in the estimations. The stage one hedonic regressions indicate that urban housing markets are not in long run equilibrium, that the errors of the hedonic regressions are heteroscedastic, and that simple functional forms for hedonic regressions may perform as well as more complex forms. The stage two estimates establish that a tight link between the theoretical and empirical models of housing demand produces a better model. My results show that conventional static models of housing demand are misspecified. They indicate that households have vastly different planned lengths of dwelling occupancy. They also indicate that housing demand is determined to a great extent by demographic factors. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis is concerned with the estimation of the cost involved in supporting minimum housing standards under alternative forms of government intervention. No attempt is made to rationalize what minimum housing standards should be. The intent is to highlight what the relative costs would be to support alternative housing standards, utilizing potentially alternative policy approaches. To rationalize the numerous policy/program alternatives available to governments, attention is focused on six policy alternatives that reflect varying degrees of "leakage" of the provided subsidy to the consumption of non-housing goods and services. These alternatives cover the continuum from pure cash (income) subsidies, wherein up to a 100% "leakage" to the consumption of non-housing goods and services may occur, to direct product intervention, wherein the recipients may be required to reduce the consumption of non-housing goods and services in order to improve their housing standards. The six options are classified by type either as a "cash" subsidy (where the use of the subsidy is not constrained) or a "direct product" subsidy (where the subsidy is used directly for the subsidization of capital and/or operating costs). Under the "cash" subsidy approaches two benchmark options are considered: 1. an "income" policy that involves the subsidization of incomes such that the recipients are free to choose consumption levels. This policy corresponds to pure income redistribution. 2. a "constrained cash" or "in kind" policy that involves the subsidization of incomes at a level dependent on either the level of housing consumption or expenditure on housing consumption. Such a policy covers programs comparable to rent certificates and general housing allowances. The options considered as "direct product" approaches are more arbitrary in nature, reflecting alternative benchmarks: 1. a "direct constrained" policy wherein recipients are forced to reduce their consumption of other goods and services to offset the required increase in expenditure on housing. This policy form is taken as the lower benchmark for the policy continuum, reflecting the potential impact of zoning and occupancy regulat ions. 2. a "direct quantity" policy wherein recipients are compensated for the cost of the additional quantity of housing consumed only. 3. a "direct expenditure" policy wherein recipients are subsidized in the amount of the total increase in expenditure on housing incurred. 4. a "direct price" policy wherein the subsidy is provided to buy down the unit price of housing. Such a policy covers mortgage market intervention and compensated rent control programs. The computation of these costs, for selected Canadian Metropolitan Areas, (CMAs), is undertaken using a simulation model based on a long run (ten year) regional housing market model developed by the Urban Institute, Washington DC, during the early 1970's. This model traces the interaction inherent in the supply and demand of housing in each of many separate, but highly inter-dependent housing submarkets. For this study the demand side of the model has been respecified to allow the incorporation of a tenure option, the use of after tax incomes and the direct estimation of the demand functions. The essence of the modified model is a microeconomic perspective on households and owners contracting for housing at prices and quantities determined in several submarkets. A selected CMA is represented in the form of several residential zones that reflect variations in the housing stock, income levels and distance from the Central Business District. On the demand side, model households are classified into one of ten groupings (reflecting age, family status and income earners) each having different preference schedules. These preference schedules are based on translog utility functions which compare housing consumption, after-tax income, leisure time and neighbourhood quality. On the supply side, a housing unit is characterized by the quantity of "housing services" (combination of size and quality) and the price per unit of service. Several different quality levels are distinguished to correspond to the many alternative quality submarkets in an actual housing market. Profit maximizing behaviour by the owners is assumed to imply linear supply curves (of varying slope for each type of housing unit) as an approximation of the price-quantity relations that govern the behaviour of owners over a ten year period. An unlimited volume of new construction is allowed at fixed unit prices, and in any size that provides a quantity of services greater than a defined minimum. The major inputs to the model are a CMA's set of supply and demand parameters, the 1971 decade-end demand profile and the 1961 decade-start market state. A model solution is an estimate of the market conditions at decade-end. The predicted market conditions are based on an assignment procedure which sets unit prices such that no household has incentives to relocate and owners have no incentive to provide an alternative quantity of "housing services". While the model is conceptually simple and assumes convenient forms for the household preferences and dwelling supply curves, it captures many aspects of housing markets important in distinguishing the impact of alternative subsidy policies. Policy alternatives may be introduced by simply adjusting the demand and/or supply functions to allow straightforward simulations of the necessary subsidy costs under alternative policy options. Eight CMAs were selected for the intervention cost study, reflecting a distribution with regard to geographical location, population and income growth during the 1961-71 decade. In implementing the model for a CMA the number of decade-end model households and dwellings is set at 100, reflecting a ratio of actual dwellings to model dwellings ranging from 287 to 3455 for the selected CMAs while the model parameters have been estimated alternatively from Census data or the 1974 Survey of Housing Units data. Certain parameters relating to neighbourhood externalities and the supply functions must be estimated by comparing model solutions with actual decadal performance. The computed costs of intervention derived from the simulations show a significant variation firstly in terms of the alternative forms of policy and secondly by CMA, reflecting the relative states of the existing housing stock. The most generous form of government support lies with an "income" policy wherein households are provided with sufficient income to consume the minimum quantity of housing by choice. The other end of the scale is represented by a "direct constrained" policy whereby households are forced to increase their housing standards, but the compensation level is only sufficient for them to achieve their prior level of overall satisfaction. The simulated difference in cost between these two alternatives is in the range of a factor of 10. That is, it could cost the government up to ten times more per annum to support housing standards via an "income" policy. The margin between the costs associated with the "income" policy and other alternative "direct product" oriented modes is in the range of a factor of 4 to 5. The results suggest that a general "direct product" oriented policy, tied directly to the change in the quantity of housing consumed (supplied) will cost less than one-third of the amount associated with a general "cash" policy. At present costs this margin corresponds to an additional amount in the region of six billion dollars per annum for Canada. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The changes in housing policy during the 1990s has been profound. With federal funds for non-market housing no longer available, the Province of British Columbia has attempted to involve municipalities to a greater extent in meeting the housing needs in their communities. However, this has proved to be an immense challenge for many municipalities. Nevertheless, many have reported that they use, or in the future will use, partnerships with other organizations to obtain more affordable housing in their communities. Specifically, partnering with non-profit housing organizations is seen as one means of achieving this. The non-profit organizations, too, find building more affordable housing a challenge, and are interested in working with municipalities where possible. The intent of this research, then, is to analyze the relationships between local governments in B.C. and non-profit societies, and identify some of the barriers that each party faces. The research also examines the roles of some of the other participants in affordable housing. For municipalities, the barriers faced by them to enter housing partnerships are great. A lack of resources, the absence of staff dedicated to housing issues, the lack of staff expertise required to analyze complex housing partnerships, and a lack of commitment on the part of politicians all contribute to the difficulties in having these agreements. The non-profit housing groups also face deterrents, such as small staff sizes, few resources, in some cases, little expertise in development, or ageing board members who do not wish to build new housing. These barriers, however, are not insurmountable, and recommendations are provided to overcome them. It is important to realize that although housing partnerships can be a very effective tool, they are just one of many that municipalities use to meet the housing needs in their communities. Ultimately, housing needs will best be met by having all levels of government, the private and non-profit sectors working together towards common goals. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The following research will respond to an active request for proposals to develop workforce housing in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana to create one (1) multi-family rental housing development that services residents earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income. The proposed research will explore the feasibility of development in Terrebonne as well as determining financial structure, including tax incentives that would best utilize a $5.7 million dollar community development block grant funds allocated from hurricanes Ike and Gustav. The project is intended to be energy efficient, aesthetically pleasing and use universal design standards that aim at making the resulting multi-family community comparable and competitive with recently developed market rate apartments. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Development Studies in the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2014. / The question of basic housing for the poor majority of the world’s population remains a festering global development challenge given the plethora of housing delivery models which abound. In South Africa, the capital subsidy scheme and the comprehensive plan for the development of sustainable human settlements are the dominant policy models that the post-apartheid government has used to deliver low-cost housing for poor South Africans. While it has recorded some successes, records show between 1994 and 2013, the housing backlog actually doubled and housing targets have never been met. The rapid proliferations of slums and informal settlements as well as widespread protests over housing are indicators of the failures of housing delivery in South Africa. This study therefore sought to critically assess the effectiveness of the existing housing delivery models/mechanisms in KwaZulu-Natal with a view to develop an alternative approach for low-cost housing delivery in the province. Using a triangulation of research approaches, data collection methods and analysis, the study did an extensive review of secondary and primary literature, surveyed 173 respondents and conducted 27 key-person interviews in two District Municipalities (Uthungulu and eThekwini) in the province. The study found that the capital subsidy scheme which is largely market-centered has not only failed to house the poor in the study areas, but has also perpetuated poverty as ownership of houses has not contributed to enhancing and sustaining livelihoods. The comprehensive model which was an improvement over the capital subsidy scheme has also failed in this regard. At the core of this challenge is the top-down nature of these models which exclude the vital contributions of the beneficiaries. The consequence of this exclusion is a misplaced conceptualization of what housing means to the poor in terms of sustainable livelihoods. Generally, the study revealed that non- integration of all capital assets such as individual economy, financial capital, social capital and natural capital in housing delivery projects, will not translate into the growth of the poor. The study therefore highlighted the need for and proposed an alternative housing delivery model that is inclusive, transparent, area-focused and evidence-based. This comprehensive participatory model integrates all capitals necessary to develop and capacitate the poor as it appropriates their economic/financial capital, social capital and natural capitals. It aims to build and enhance poor people’s livelihoods, and therefore address challenges such as poverty and unemployment. The model focuses on enhancing the current delivery systems. Apart from the proposed participatory model, the study makes a number of specific policy recommendations to facilitate the proposed model which include the following; first, participatory processes such as the IDPs at local municipal levels should be used to facilitate people’s participation in the whole process, from conception, planning, implementation and evaluation. Second, participation from site demarcation and in land use allocation and allocation of housing units by the poor themselves is recommended to help curb corrupt practices around allocation. Third, employment creation should be factored into the location of housing. This should be treated as part of the planning process not an after-thought or ‘add-on’ type of activity. Fourth, housing planning and implementation should be evidenced-based to be meaningful. The KwaZulu-Natal Research Forum in collaboration with the Department of Human Settlements and Statistics South Africa conduct regular research into housing needs, requirements and their relationship to sustainable livelihoods before embarking on building and delivering houses. Lastly, the Department of Human Settlements in collaboration with Provincial and Municipal governments should conduct regular post-occupancy evaluation as it

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