Engineering the Housing Policy for Political and Economic Sustainability: A Case Study of Low Cost Housing Policy in Malaysia

Please enter your abstract text here.The commitment of the state to housing policy has been argued as sometimes goes beyond the generality of the need for decent housing for all households. Pluralist theories of housing provision have popularised the view that housing policy is a relatively straightforward response to the needs of consumers. Current thinking suggests a stronger focus should be based upon understanding of the developmental dialectic between three factors i.e., economic, social and political. Drawing upon a case study of low cost housing policy in Malaysia, this study seeks to examine the evolution of the policy formulated by the state at the national level. It demonstrates that housing policy in Malaysia has undergone a cycle of changes from provider to enabler and back to provider in meeting the housing needs of low income people. However, the state now plays both the role as enabler and provider but with overwhelming political influence on this social policy. Yet, the key aim of this housing policy for low income people remains the same i.e., to achieve the political stability among the multi-ethnic society and to maintain the countryís economic growth. The study concludes that the implementation of housing policy in Malaysia presents a remarkable example of authoritative political influence. Housing in Malaysia serves as part of the governmentís political strategy to achieve both social and economic goals. Thus, this witnessed the state as using low cost housing as a mean of achieving social cohesion and revitalising the economic condition of the country.