| This dissertation investigates, within the framework of mode of production, how the urban poor struggle to obtain and maintain access to land and housing in a Third World city. It examines how the urban poor interact with the state over urban space, and how they apply survival strategies to endure in various urban settings. It seeks to identify the importance of different forms of land allocation--the market form, the state form, and the popular form--and the rules of access which distinctively determine the urban poor's life chances.;Five study areas were chosen which combine overlapping characteristics of two or more forms of land allocation. This research is based on eighteen months of field research and the basic data were obtained from structured questionnaire survey. Descriptive statistics and case study illustrations are used to elucidate the linkages between variables and their underlying explanations.;This study demonstrates that, at the macro level, the domination of the market form of land allocation is enhanced by state development strategies. A historical analysis of housing policy and the political development reveals a pattern of land transformation from the communal form to market form. The two major forms of political regimes--the dictatorial and democratic--responded differently toward the needs of urban low income housing.;At the community level, this research found that the life chances of the urban poor are partly determined by the circumstances surrounding the distinctive forms of land allocation. Each form of land allocation tends to support different types of household enterprise and certain type of tenancies. The level of individualism, financial need, and physical settings, which are correlated with the form of land allocation, also govern the social aspects of survival strategies of dwellers.;Politically, this research found three major powers--the state, NGOs, and local personalities--interacting within the squatter settlement in response to the political demands of the squatters. These three powers usually compete with each other to assist the community in order to achieve their goals and to gain popularity. The poorest strata of squatters who cannot legally obtain services resort to illegal privileges or indirect funding from politicians. |
