Chipampata Musonda

Urbanization and Housing: Urbanization and Its Impact on Housing Needs a Case from the Third World (Zambia; Solwezi Town) Chipampata Musonda

The global agenda on development has been the drive to prosperity in a cohesive and sustainable fashion. This belief has shaped policy on development and investment in local and regional economic planning of the Third World. The focus has been to attract both local and foreign investments, which have been at the center of the major shifts in urbanization and rapid urban growth beyond the urban capacity, rendering urbanization problematic. This has sparked increased attention on the need to address the problem of housing. As such Urbanization has been the counteracting effect of investment in Zambia, where the urban area is continually facing significant leaps in the number of people seeking residence. The research looked at the supply and demand of housing, alongside the view of housing need as an economic and social commodity subject to price mechanisms. It assessed the extent to which housing can be said to be affordable or adequate with respect to household income level and alternatives available. The research adds knowledge to the subject of Urbanization and Housing in the Third World and useful to professionals in the field of Housing and Urban and Regional Planning.