Introduction to housing justice

IIED is working with partners to promote housing justice across three lines of work, through initiatives that enhance the capabilities and mobilisation of grassroots groups, influence housing policy and practice, and forge alliances and advocacy strategies to influence global and local processes.

Our work has generated and shared in-depth knowledge about the dynamics affecting the housing experiences of the urban poor living in informal settlements in cities across the global South, produced through collaborative partnerships with grassroots and civil society organisations and networks, as well as key national and international stakeholders.

What has IIED done?

IIED has a long history of engaging with housing issues affecting the urban poor in cities of the global South. Our work and research on housing has been key to the development and implementation of global urban agendas, such as those promoted at the UN conferences on human settlements (Habitat I, II and III in 1976, 1996 and 2016).

Some of IIED’s housing work during the last decade included a project on ‘Shelter provision in east African cities’ (2017-2020), which has shed light on the power structures shaping urban poor’s access to housing. This research has also captured, synthesised and shared lessons from particular housing policy and practices, such as the Special Planning Area (SPA) in Nairobi.

During this period, IIED also produced several publications directly addressing housing issues. This included a global ‘Rethinking Housing Policies’ (PDF) report in 2019 commissioned by United Cities and Local Governments, bringing to the forefront the key role that local and regional governments play in addressing housing needs.

Furthermore, in the two special issues of Environment and Urbanization on housing published in 2020, IIED explored the various agendas associated to housing and mechanisms to access adequate housing.

In 2021, IIED supported the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC) to develop and share a participatory methodology for informal settlement upgrading in Freetown. This was part of wider research under the ‘Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality’ programme led by the Bartlett Development Planning Unit of UCL, which also involved the participation in the steering group of UCLG’s GOLD VI report on pathways to urban equality.

What is IIED doing now?

Over the last two years, IIED has consolidated a portfolio of initiatives related to housing justice and the four different agendas it encompasses.

Fostering anti-discriminatory housing practices

A first agenda has focused on fostering spaces for voices systematically discriminated against in the housing debates, aiming to strengthen the capabilities of grassroots groups to influence decision-making and stop housing rights violations.

This agenda includes the IIED-led action research project 'Civic media for housing rights: lessons from struggles against evictions in São Paulo and Lagos', which works with housing movements in both cities to strengthen their communications capabilities. Likewise, we are working on the impact strand of the project 'Neighbourhoods fit for diverse young people: civic media practices and urban claims-making in Nepal and India', which is led by the University of Sheffield in partnership with the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR).

In the same line, IIED has worked with Slum Dwellers International (SDI) affiliates in Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone to collectively produce knowledge about the value chain of building materials for housing in informal settlements. This initiative has highlighted the injustices embedded in the access to more resilient and affordable construction materials, as well as in the way knowledge gaps in the task of building sustainable housing futures for all.

Promoting radically democratic forms of housing production

A second agenda relates to promoting more democratic forms of housing production. 

IIED is contributing to this debate by documenting and promoting experiences of community-led housing, through a project in partnership with World Habitat and local organisations from Nepal, Zambia, Malawi, and Brazil. 

Likewise, building on the long-term collaboration between IIED and United Cities and Local Governments and their role on promoting local democracy, IIED contributed to the 2023 report on the localisation of SDG target 11.1 presented to the UN High-Level Political Forum, through a study entitled ‘Housing and basic services from below: how local and regional governments are advancing the right to adequate housing'. 

As part of our focus on local democracy, we have also developed methodologies for housing policy dialogues, which were piloted in Freetown, Sierra Leone, through a workshop focused on tackling inequalities through housing policy development.

Recognising housing as an infrastructure for more just, sustainable and caring cities

Thirdly, IIED’s work has focused on highlighting the role of housing as an infrastructure for more just, sustainable and caring cities. This has included research on the implications of adequate housing in dimensions such as health, education and income, through the study ‘Improving housing in informal settlements: assessing the impacts in human development’, released alongside Habitat for Humanity’s Home Equals campaign.

Through this agenda we have also contributed to other areas of IIED’s work to connect climate action and social justice, by researching how social movements are advancing housing rights while decarbonising the city of São Paulo.

Broadening imaginations for housing futures

Finally, we are fostering alliances and networks to open up more just housing futures, joining forces with international networks of civil society groups advocating for a more socially and environmentally-just housing agenda. 

This has included events such as a webinar on housing rights (in October 2020) that brought together representatives from several international networks. And, more recently, exchanges with housing movements to co-produce grounded audiovisual definitions of housing justice.

Importantly, we are consolidating these efforts by setting up and convening the secretariat of the Hub for Housing Justice, a collaborative effort led by IIED, Slum Dwellers International, Habitat International Coalition, the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, the Global Platform for the Right to the City, World Habitat, Instituto Polis, the Housing Justice Network, and the Bartlett Development Planning Unit.

Additional resources

Towards housing justice. Four propositions to transform policy and practice, Camila Cociña, Alexandre Apsan Frediani, (2024), Issue Paper

Towards housing justice, Alexandre Apsan Frediani, Camila Cociña (2023), Project flyer

Acquiring housing – understanding outcomes, improving choices and 'leaving no one behind', Sheridan Bartlett, Diana Mitlin (2020), E&U Briefing

Getting housing back onto the development agenda in the time of COVID-19, David Satterthwaite (2020), E&U Briefing