We present results of an empirical investigation and comparison of housing supply in three rapidly growing countries: Malaysia, Thailand, and Korea. These countries offer three contrasting examples of different approaches to development control. Korea has relatively strict control of housing supply. Thailand has little effective regulation of development. Malaysia offers an intermediate case, having adopted in the mid-1970s development control legislation patterned on the British Town and Country Planning Act.

It seemed too good to be true. A recent order of the Karnataka government allowed the 650 tribal families living in a part of the Rajiv Gandhi National Park to collect minor forest produce to build

Greece will use satellites to tackle its illegal housing problem. Under the plan, satellites will scan the country's terrain weekly to take pictures of illegal dwellings. Officials propose to focus

Vilasrao B Salunke, father of the pani panchayat concept in the drought-prone Marathwada region in Maharashtra, has evolved quake-resistant houses in areas affected by the September 30 earthquake.

NATURAL disasters may be proposed by God, but they are disposed by man. Though it may not be possible to prevent such disasters, their devastation potential can be contained, depending on the state

Low-Cost Housing in Developing Countries is a simple, utilitarian and extremely readable book. There is little new in the discussions on appropriate technology, which includes discussions on the

Mud housing enthusiasts received a blow recently when the Delhi High Court dismissed a writ petition by the Mud Village Society (MVS), staking claim to a 2.1 ha plot in East Delhi on which it

Mud"s low cost and malleability makes it an ideal building material. But its use can be popularised only if such drawbacks as its susceptibility to moisture is overcome and misconceptions about mud housing are cleared.

The first group to work seriously on stabilised mud blocks was based in Bangalore. Over the years, the group has achieved many s significant breakthroughs in mud technology.

The Mud Village Society was conceived as a "habitat in consonance with the total ecosystem". But the highly touted project may never be implemented.

Pages