Fall 2005 Course Description
Advanced Topics in Public Policy
| Section Title: |
Housing Policies and Public Policy in Latin America |
| Instructor(s): |
Peter Ward |
| Course: |
P A 388K - Advanced Topics in Public Policy
(previously Seminar in Topics in Public Policy) |
| Unique Number: |
64055 |
| Day & Time: |
Wednesdays, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
| Room: |
SRH 3.102 |
| Waitlist Information: | For LBJ Students: UT Waitlist Information
For Non LBJ Students: LBJ School Waitlist Instructions |
| Notes: |
Same as CRP 388-01465, SOC 395D-45800 and LAS 381-39550 |
This course fulfills requirements for the following specialization(s):
- International Affairs
- Urban and State Affairs
- Natural Resources and the Environment
Description: This graduate course aims to introduce students to different interpretations and methodologies used in evaluating the nature of low-income housing problems in Latin America, and to assess the rationale and effectiveness of public policy. It does so in such a way as to include the self-help (colonias) housing areas of Texas, and in part asks the question: What can we learn from the Latin American experience about housing policy here in Texas, and in the US more broadly? This is tied to Professor Ward?s current research which will be interpolated within the classes. The course will adopt a "political economy" paradigm of the housing process that examines the way in which housing production assists capital accumulation and serves to integrate low-income groups socially and politically. The changing nature of housing processes and the adequacy of public policy initiatives to respond, will allow us to begin to interpret both the reasons underpinning state intervention and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of public policy.
The course begins with a broad overview of housing production as a development issue, and a student-led workshop will identify urbanization and housing data trends for several Latin American countries. Students will be expected to undertake some basic reading for each class in order that they participate fully in the student led-seminar presentations. In the final hour/45 minutes of each class I will then offer an overview perspective and where appropriate, I will relate our discussion to my current research in Texas and elsewhere. Each student will be expected to lead discussion and present at least two "Practice and Policy" generic papers on Latin America relating to one of a selection of substantive issues (access to land; self-help housing; gender and housing; renting and non-ownership; infrastructure; community participation and management; housing finance, and so on.). Finally, two "round-up" seminars will address the future policy imperatives for both Latin America at the national and sub-national levels, as well as for Texas, looking towards the 2005 Legislative Session. There will be one fieldtrip to colonia subdivisions either in the border or in central Texas.
A reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is desirable but not essential for participation in this course.
Key Texts: *=available in paperback edition & recommended for purchase.
- *Alan Gilbert. 1994. The Latin American City. (London, Latin American Books, & New York, Monthly Review Press)
- *Alan Gilbert, ed. 1996. The Latin American Megacity. Tokyo and New York.. The United Nations University Press.
- Alan Gilbert and others. 1993. In Search of a Home: Rental Housing in Latin America. (University of Arizona Press).
- Gareth Jones and Peter M. Ward (eds.) 1994. Methodology for Land and Housing Market Analysis. (University College London Press & Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.)
- *United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT), 1996.
- An Urbanizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements.
Oxford University Press, New York.
- *Peter Ward. 1999.
- Colonias and Public Policy in Texas and Mexico: Urbanization by Stealth.
(University of Texas Press)
Return to Fall 2005 Course Schedule
