Introduction

Self-building is a hybrid concept; it has several faces in different cityregions around the globe. In this book, we deliberately took a wide definition of self-build in order to involve a wide range of housing arrangements by low-and middle-income inhabitants in international city-regions. Self-building does not necessarily mean that inhabitants own the land and the home; in many cases, they do not. Therefore, the definition of self-building must also include non-ownership relations. Self-builders do not always construct their homes themselves; there may be mutual help and also often professional agencies are involved. Finally, they do not necessarily arrange their housing situation individually as a singular activity, but often cooperate with a plurality of persons and organisations, in particular, in dense city-regions where multiple housing complexes are common practice. Taking this wide scope in research on self-building enables us to pay attention to all these relevant differences. On the other hand, our analytical lens is very precise in one respect. This concerns the responsibility and active involvement of the inhabitants: their role in commissioning is pivotal in the analyses and case studies of this book. The inhabitants do not have a monopoly over building processes; there are always different agencies involved, among which are a number with considerable financial and political resources. However, the central research question of this book is whether and, in particular, how in this powerful arena the low-and middle-income inhabitants manage to take on a ‘commissioning’ role in the uses of the land and the buildings where they live. This central research question directs the research to the ways in which these inhabitants materialise the moral ownership of their homes and livelihoods in expansive city-regions.

The question of moral ownership is a very relevant issue at the micro-level of the home and neighbourhood but, as Harvey (1989) and Lefebvre (1996) clearly indicated, it is simultaneously an issue at the higher level of the cultural, political and economic regime conditions of the city and state. Being in charge of arranging the housing situation at the micro-level presupposes access to land, resources and social and political support.