Brian Aldrich BA ’61

08/11/2023

Brian Aldrich BA ’61 writes: “My work on housing the urban poor in developing countries, which generated several edited books and a summary article in Habitat International, has generated part of a chapter regarding an online debate about the role of government in providing housing for the poor. I took the ‘con’ position, which is to let the poor work on building their own housing and community (as they do in so many developing countries). There were eleven online debates, with responses from around the world. The debates are being published as Shelter in the Storm by Columbia University Press. The debate I participated in is one of those chapters. I am 84 years old, and I think this is the last professional contribution I am going to make in regard to my career of research and publication on the subject. Much of the research was published in India in the Guru Nanek Dev sociology journal.”