The global increase in the number of slums calls for policies which improve the conditions of the urban poor, sustainably. This volume provides an extensive overview of current housing policies in Asia, Africa and Latin America and presents the facts and trends of recent housing policies. The chapters provide ideas and tools for pro-poor interventions with respect to the provision of land for housing, building materials, labour, participation and finance. The book looks at the role of the various stakeholders involved in such interventions, including national and local governments, private sector organisations, NGOs and Community-based Organisations.

Jan Bredenoord is an urban planner and housing researcher and has worked mainly for local governments. His PhD was on management instruments for cities (1996), and his specialism is strategic urban and regional planning. Since 1990 he has been working in developing countries as international consultant on housing and planning. For the past decade, he has been a part-time research fellow in International Development Studies, Utrecht University. His work is focused on affordable housing for low-income households, incremental housing, sites-and-services schemes, housing cooperatives, resident's participation and sustainable urban development and housing. He is member of ISOCARP and his work has been published in edited volumes and scientific journals.

Paul van Lindert is as Associate Professor in human geography and international development studies at Utrecht University. His PhD was on migration, urbanization and housing strategies in Bolivia (1991). He has taught at various universities in Latin America and Africa as a Visiting Professor. His area of experience includes urban development and planning; city networks and city-to-city cooperation; rural-urban relations; regional and local development; local governance, and multi-local livelihoods.

Peer Smets is Assistant Professor at the department of sociology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His PhD was on housing finance and the urban poor in India (2002). His research mainly focuses on urban habitat conditions (housing and its living environment) in low-income neighbourhoods in southern and western countries, as well as perceptions which determine liveability. He has published on urban segregation, housing, housing finance, government bureaucracy, communities, and social life in neighbourhoods.