Financing Housing Transformation in Informal Settlements in Jordan

Abstract: This paper aims to examine how housing transformation is financed in informal settlements in Jordan. A quantitative method was seen as an appropriate approach to deal with the research objectives. The Baqa'a Palestinian refugee camp was targeted as the biggest informal settlement in terms of the number of population and housing units. Findings reveal that construction and housing transformation took place over three separate periods of time and was influenced both by increasing family size over time and improvement in a family's income. Irregular financing played a major role in increasing housing transformation and expansion of informal settlements. Regression analysis results demonstrate that irregular financing has a significant impact on housing transformation. As a result, this paper confirms that the process of construction and housing transformation is incremental.