Armutsbekämpfung und die Bekämpfung der Ärmsten: Landtransfer-Programme in philippinischen Städten

Abstract

Conventional policies of urban poverty alleviation have proven to the largely ineffective; they have, in particular, failed to defuse the worsening housing crisis in the large cities of developing countries. Despite shortcomings in funding and implementation, the Philippine ’Community Mortgage Program' represents a promising paradigm shift. It allows squatter associations to acquire land by means of state-guaranteed credit which is to be paid back over a period of 25 years. The resulting installments are well below room rents for a single room in the same areas and thus, acceptable for most residents. The results of my studies in Manila and Cebu City, however, indicate that the program always excludes a substantial part of the residents, among them the dire poor. The outcome is a division of the communities which often turns into dramatic conflicts: The association has to pay for the whole area and tries to get rid of non-paying residents by all possible means.