Housing & Community Development

Description [what is the course about, aims, etc.]

The course consists of two modules covering 1) Fundamentals of Housing and 2) Linkages between Affordable Housing & Community Development.

The first module on ‘Fundamentals of Housing’ gives an understanding of housing as a complex good. It is an economic good as well as welfare good. As an economic good it is heterogeneous leading to formation of housing sub-markets. Housing is also a good that is tied to land and land being spatially fixed, both become a monopoly good. Lastly, housing forms the basis of formation and development of cities. Housing development in the developing country such as India is largely self-built and / or informal, which is called auto-constructed housing development.

The second module explores processes of “Affordable Housing’ & ‘Community Development’ to understand the close relationship, between these seemingly disparate processes. The module focuses on case studies of informal housing in the urban context in order to understand the synergies and challenges involved in these processes. The community development process, undertaken in the right spirit, encourages community groups to invest and improve their homes and access to basic services.

Learning Outcomes [statements about knowledge, skills and competencies of students]

["Learning outcomes are statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to demonstrate after completion of a process of learning."  Further explanations on learning outcomes can be found here, here, or here.]

The objectives of module 1 are:

• To understand housing in the larger realm of urban development, economy and well-being
• To understand housing economics, which includes housing demand and supply, pricing, income elasticities and housing affordability along with concept of housing sub-markets and housing mobility
• To critically and comparatively analyse housing policies to find answers to formalizing of housing

The objectives of module 2 are:

• To provide basic understanding of inter-relation between housing, community development and related aspects of ‘quality of life’.
• To orient the students to constraints and potentials in relation to the role of socio - economic, cultural factors and programmes /projects involved in promoting affordable housing and community development.
• Develop students skills for the use of case studies for analysis

Student Workload [time a student is expected to spend on the course, both in hours and in ECTS (25 hours ~ 1 ECTS)]

[how does you institution calculate the workload of students for this course, e.g. in % of academic year; how would this translate into ECTS]

On average, a student is expected to spend a total of about 1 hour of self study for one contact hour of this course. In all, the course has 3 contact hrs per week and would require student to spend another 3 hrs for self study, assignments and reading (~ 4 ECTS)

Course Structure [frequency, duration, format, etc.]

16 weekly sessions of 3 hours each,

lecture, discussion, case studies

Prerequisites [requirements for participation]

[Prerequisites for participation, e.g. this class has no prerequisites, limited number of places decided by ..., prior to enrolment course xy has to be completed]

The course is open for only the students of Masters of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP).

Assignments [tasks, homework, tests, expected activities of students, etc.]

Participation in class is obligatory

Assignment 1: Housing demand assessment, policy analysis
Assignment 2: Essay on housing policy of selected country
Assignment 3: Analysis of case studies using CD frameworks
Assignment 4: Written exam/test/class reflections

Grading [assessment criteria and their weight]

Course evaluation [how does your institution evaluate the quality of the course]

The course is evaluated by the students as per the CEPT's student feedback form.