Resource information
The present study describes, and
quantifies the provision of basic urban services to the
poor, in three Central American cities in El Salvador,
Honduras, and, Panama. It also identifies priority areas for
government intervention, using specialized household surveys
to quantify current deficits, and to rank households from
poor to rich, using aggregate consumption as the measure of
welfare. The urban poverty profile is examined in each city,
through migration, growth, and mobility patterns, including
education and labor characteristics. In terms of land and
housing, in all three cities, almost half of the poor who
reported being property owners have weak, or no
documentation over their properties, and, considerable
portions of the poor population, are not connected to the
public aqueduct, while few if any, receive help from the
government. High dependency on public transportation was
reported, e.g., one hundred percent in El Salvador, ninety
seven percent in Tegucigalpa. Institutional, and policy
issues explain the current situation: in terms of
decentralization, municipalities have limited functions
vis-a-vis the delivery of basic services; as for the housing
sector, there is a vast gap between housing provision, and
housing finance; and, particularly for water, and
sanitation, the institutional framework for the delivery of
basic services, is characterized by great uncertainty.
Strikingly, public transportation is entirely provided by
the private sector, but the lack of regulation, causes
problems reflected in an overall low quality of service.
