Renewing the Mission of the $300 House for 2013

[Christian]

Hi all... although things have been quiet on the website, that is about to change. After dealing with some "issues" last year, I have more time to dedicate to the project in 2013. For those of you who thought that nothing was happening, I am glad to report that we are seeing some real progress on the ground - especially in India >> one MNC had built a 2000 house village as a "planned community." We are waiting for their approval to talk about it.  

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I spent some time in the field in India and I'm going back to learn more.  What matters for us (VG and myself) is that we see more and more companies and individuals involved in building an affordable housing ecosystem in countries all over the world.  And that is what the challenge was about - getting businesses to treat the poor as customers, not charity.  We are also blessed to have met so many courageous individuals.  

If you are doing something interesting in the field, share it with the rest. Tell us your stories, your frustrations (land scams, corruption, bureaucracy, the list goes on!), and of course, your successes!  

More recently we are exploring ways to integrate services and jobs into the village ecosystem as well, and we’re reaching out to talk to the leaders in the communities that are interested in this approach. In India THL has been helping us identify a village we can work with. 

For me the question is quite simple - we see an explosion of interest in  developing integrated  townships for the middle class in India, but why is there nothing comparable for the poor? To borrow a phrase from the US, why can’t we build “master-planned communities” for the poor?

Is it too much to ask that governments, NGOs and development institutions, and businesses work together with the communities involved to build integrated solutions?  

Unfortunately, there are far too few examples of collaborative development. This is something we all need to look at urgently.  There is also the everpresent problem of ownership, and not just land rights.  The development community, NGOs, and most governments think they “own” the problem.  Unfortunately, without a business mindset to make solutions scale, there is little real progress. That's why I'm excited about businesses getting involved. If companies see this as a profitable new market, we will succeed.  And we need to bring innovative individuals and organizations to work across boundaries to make things happen.  Join us... and here's to 2013!

I will start highlighting individuals and teams on the blog this week - beginning with Patrick Reynolds and Harvey Lacey... stay tuned.