Environment and Urbanization, April 2008 - Editorial

Lending to low-income households for shelter improvements, to allow them to buy or build their own homes, has had a bad press recently
as the full consequences of sub-prime lending have been felt in the US financial markets and, as a result of the scale of their impact there, in the global capital markets. However, experiences across Southern towns and cities demonstrate that loan capital can provide a critical contribution to improved shelter and livelihood strategies. The papers in this volume of Environment & Urbanization, as in the previous volume, provide multiple examples that demonstrate two lessons from experience.