MONDAY, APRIL 23, 1979
WORLD'S HOUSING PREDICAMENT WORSE
THAN EVER
SECRETARY FOR HOUSING ******
AFTER 50 YEARS OF INTENSIVE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT THE HOUSING PREDICAMENT OF MANKIND AS A WHOLE IS WORSE TODAY THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN, THE SECRETARY FOR HOUSING, MR. A.J. SCOTT, SAID TODAY (MONDAY).
+THERE IS NO COUNTRY WHICH BY ITS OWN STANDARDS DOES NOT HAVE A HOUSING PROBLEM- AND VERY MANY COUNTRIES, BY MINIMAL STANDARDS, HAVE SEVERE HOUSING PROBLEMS,+ HE SAID.
MR. SCOTT SAID THIS IN OPENING THE SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS.
+HOUSING FOR THE POOR OR THE LOWEST INCOME GROUPS, OR HOWEVER ONE DESCRIBES THEM, HAS IN THE LAST 50 YEARS GENERALLY WORSENED, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT IN OUR LIFETIME HAS OCCURRED THE MOST RAPID PERIOD OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE HUMANITY HAS KNOWN,+ HE SAID.
+AT AN EVER INCREASING PACE, MANPOWER AND ITS PRODUCTIVITY HAVE MOVED FROM AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENTS AND MARKET TOWNS INTO CITIES, TOWARDS THE FACTORIES AND MACHINES, AND THUS FORCING ON THE URBANISING PROCESS. SO THAT IN WESTERN SOCIETIES, FOR EXAMPLE, RATHER LESS THAN 10 PER CENT OF THE ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE POPULATION IS INVOLVED IN AGRICULTURE, AND 90 PER CENT LIVE IN URBANISED SETTLEMENTS.+
TURNING TO THE HOUSING PROBLEM OF SOUTHEAST ASIA, MR. SCOTT SAID: +ON THE ONE HAND, THERE IS SINGAPORE WHERE THE GOVERNMENT ADOPTED STRONG LEGAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND SOCIAL POLICIES TO ALLOCATE A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION OF THE WEALTH OF THE COMMUNITY TOWARDS THEIR LARGE PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAMME.
+
+THE RESULTS ARE GOOD IN TERMS OF HOUSING, BUT IT HAS LEFT THE PRIVATE SECTOR VIRTUALLY ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE ONLY AT THE UPPER END OF THE HOUSING STOCK.
+ON THE OTHER HAND, IN JAPAN, THE MAJOR ROLE IN PRODUCING HOUSING IS LEFT TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR, ALTHOUGH THERE IS ALSO A NUMBER OF LARGE PUBLIC HOUSING SCHEMES.
+ THE THRUST OF THE JAPANESE SYSTEM IS TO ENCOURAGE THE PROVISION OF MORTGAGE FACILITIES THROUGH THE PRIVATE BANKING SYSTEM AND THROUGH VARIOUS SPONSORED AGENCIES.
+HOWEVER, PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE RELATIVE EASE OF GETTING MORTGAGES, THE COST OF HOUSING HAS GONE UP BECAUSE DEMAND HAS BEEN SO THOROUGHLY STIMULATED. SO LAND AND HOUSE PRICES HAVE RISEN BEYOND THE REACH OF THE LOWEST AND LOWER MIDDLE INCOME GROUPS.+
MR. SCOTT SAID THAT IN OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES LITTLE HAD BEEN DONE DIRECTLY BY GOVERNMENTS, AND INDIVIDUALS HAD BEEN LEFT TO +GET ON WITH IT THEMSELVES.+
/+HONG KONG