The effects of home-based enterprises on the residential environment in developing countries.
Abstract
For many households in developing world cities, home-based enterprises (HBEs) are essential to their livelihood. The effect of Structural Adjustment Programmes and other economic events during the last twenty years of the twentieth century have greatly increased the importance of HBEs in developing countries. However, planning and other regulatory systems are rarely hospitable to HBEs, often on grounds of the environmental damage they are perceived to cause. There is only a limited amount of literature on the effects of HBEs on the home and neighbourhood environments but the negative perceptions can reduce the ability of people living in poverty to gain
sustainable livelihoods.
This paper will examine the effects of HBEs on the home and neighbourhood
environment to see whether they create crowding, poor environments, and the harmful effects assumed by planning regulations. Through a DFID-sponsored research study involving case studies in Bolivia, India, Indonesia and South Africa, we explore what types of services and products HBEs supply, how important they are to household economies, and their spatial and quality implications in the dwellings. Thus, we can inform the debate about whether they should be encouraged by policy instead of being regarded as illegal.
The paper proposes elements of a strategy to facilitate income generation in the home by poor households, as well as making recommendations to control the few dangerous and unhealthy uses and practices found.
Citation
G. Tipple, J. Coulson, P. Kellett. The effects of home-based enterprises on the residential environment in developing countries. In: Building Sustainable Urban Settlements: Approaches and case studies in the developing world. S. Romaya and C. Rakodi (eds.). ISBN 9781853395413
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