Housing. The general category of housing represents a more diverse set of conditions than is the case for most other problem categories. Administrators were asked about the problems they have with the homeless, with squatter settlements, and with low-cost, middle-level, and high-quality housing. If we simply look at the proportion overall who judge problems to be serious or urgent, against the proportion who see the conditions as satisfactory or advantageous for each of these different housing issues, we can see that there are significant differences. The percentages are shown in table 21.

Table 21
Percent of Administrators Scoring
Low and High for Different Housing Conditions

The relationship is clear, and it is clear that the different specific housing issues are not well refleeted in the scores of the overall category. The homeless and squatters are a serious problem, while middle and upper class housing is often considered satisfactory or advantageous. As might be expected these judgments vary considerably by country.

In Japan the homeless and squatters are no real problem. Only one administrator finds the homeless problem a serious one and for 22 (79%) the condition is considered satisfactory or advantageous for the city. This is also true for squatters and low cost housing except that two administrators find the problem a serious one. The most serious problems for Japanese urban administrators are middle and upper class housing, but even here it is only three (11%) who consider the problem serious.

The homeless are a major problem in China, where a majority (10 of 14) of the administrators find it an urgent or serious problem. It is similarly serious in India (5 of 8), and The Philippines (5 of 9). In Indonesia and Thailand about one third of the administrators find the problem serious or urgent, and surprisingly 7 of the 18 administrators in Korea find the problem serious, though none finds it urgent.

Squatters is the next most serious problem. Not for China, where only three of the 13 administrators responding find this a serious problem, but for all the other countries, squatter settlements pose a serious problem. It is also interesting to note that the seriousness of the squatter settlement problem is fairly strongly related overall to the growth rate of the city (r= + 38 for 80 countries, p<0.02). The more rapidly a city is growing the more likely administrators are to judge squatter settlements an urgent or serious problem.