Third World Housing in Social and Spatial Development

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8963182
AutoresSylvia Chant (autor de correspondencia), Lars Marcussen
Año1993
Volumen18
Número2
Páginas283-283
Fecha de publicación1993-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/622380
OpenAlexW2332650317
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6

It is not until the third appearance of the title of this book that one finds the sub-title 'The Case of Jakarta'. An immediate reaction is that the main title is almost deliberately misleading an attempt to present the book as a general text rather than the specialized monograph it is likely to be. However, to a large degree, the quantity and quality of Marcussen's discussion about housing in general redeems omission of the sub-title on the cover and inner page: there is enough treatment (and good treatment at that) of debates around shelter in developing countries to warrant recommendation of the book as a guide to general theoretical developments in the housing field as well as a useful source of detailed case study material. Indeed the author is to be congratulated for having included so much reference to the wider body of academic enquiry into shelter in the Third World, even if at times the organization of the text is such that the precise location of his particular case study within the framework of issues raised is somewhat opaque. For example, only at the end of the third chapter (on Indonesia) do we find a clear statement of the rationale for looking at Jakarta. My preference would have been to see this at the outset, along with a concise overview of the objectives and organization of the text. What is also badly wanting, in terms of helping readers use the book more selectively, is an index. As it stands, the structure is almost novelistic in its manner of unfolding strategic parts of the plot in such a way that the reader really has to read everything to get to the core. At another level, the excessive degree of detail makes it read a little like a doctoral thesis where the author has felt the need to put down everything he knows to cover his tracks

Development economics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Third world · Urban and Rural Development Challenges