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doesn't work for me
Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
51–60 of 174 posts
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#52When I talked to someone running a "work & travel" agency in Europe that was mostly frequented by young people looking to do "something meaningful" in poorer countries he mentioned that an open secret was that frequently these kids would end up helping "construct" buildings only for those to be torn down again afterwards because they weren't up to spec and local craftspeople would then rebuild them properly on their…
Sounds like an urban legend. If the local people want the building, why not guide the helpers so they have a proper building from the start, rather than waste their own time building something shoddy, tearing it down, and building it again?
My Western viewpoint also thinks there isn't much "spec" that poorer countries follow, maybe just: if it looks like it won't collapse, it's good enough, and hopefully young people also can judge whether a building looks like it's going to collapse or not.
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've seen and heard of this in Mexico and Latin America as well. A lot of US housing styles, such as saltbox and narrow townhouses, are also attempts to game older versions of the tax code
Years ago I read the same about places in the US as well. And of assessors being really intrusive. People being butthurt because they feel they are being punished for keeping their house up. I've heard California used to base assessments on comparative values so that people don't try and game the system with crummy substandard construction and materials.
Well it's natural that people feel it's unfair to tax them more just because they make their house nicer. It's just a very unfair tax.
Think about it. You spend money and work a lot of hours to refurbish your kitchen and then you're informed you have to pay more because of it. I am surprised people don't rebel against this policy.
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#54Greece in the early 2000s had very many unfinished buildings as well, saw those as a tourist. I've been wondering ever since what the Greek reason for that was - any ideas?
If it's similar to the Sicilian version, there are many articles on the "unfinished Sicily". Here's one from NYT:
But one reason, I've read, is the mafia. They have evolved into financial organizations in recent decades, and often bid on and obtain public funds to start new building projects, build out the bare minimum then keep the rest for themselves, iirc.
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
England called theirs Domesday (Doomsday) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book
Nowadays it’s the Land Registry. It would be pretty cool if we did call it the Domesday Book, but alas..
Our land registry is really dodgy and enables corruption though, and not one to emulate.
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#56I have no idea if it is true, but, in Egypt, my guide (who I will say was wonderfully knowledgeable on historic matters), stated that the reason many properties had rebar extending upwards (e.g., it looked like there were more stories to be added) was related to tax policy. I forget the full detail of her explanation, but there was some different kind of tax treatment if the building was "finished," so there were a n…
Same in Greece (tax rules) apparently, and there you’ll also see lots and lots of unfinished buildings.
But how people can live in such buildings then?
I understand about poorer countries with lack of regulations, but have not thought that's possible in Europe. Government should not allow anyone to live or operate in such buildings if they're not up to code and are not finished.
How people can get mortgages for such things, or how business can register their offices if building is permanently "under construction"?
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#57When I talked to someone running a "work & travel" agency in Europe that was mostly frequented by young people looking to do "something meaningful" in poorer countries he mentioned that an open secret was that frequently these kids would end up helping "construct" buildings only for those to be torn down again afterwards because they weren't up to spec and local craftspeople would then rebuild them properly on their…
Sounds like an urban legend. If the local people want the building, why not guide the helpers so they have a proper building from the start, rather than waste their own time building something shoddy, tearing it down, and building it again? My Western viewpoint also thinks there isn't much "spec" that poorer countries follow, maybe just: if it looks like it won't collapse, it's good enough, and hopefully young people…
That is a fairly rudimentary viewpoint. People who've put up tens or hundreds of buildings in their lifetime are clearly going to be substantially more experienced and talented at doing that process than you, I or any random teenager. There's so much more work to creating a functioning abode than just evaluating 'will it collapse'. Would you trust a random youth to put up your house?
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#58> What is going on? Start with the lack of finance. Many Senegalese developers struggle to obtain loans without hefty collateral. Instead, some start building, hoping to tempt buyers to put down deposits on flats and then use that to help finance the rest of the building. But buyers are wary of making a commitment based on a construction site. These unfinished projects often tie up prime land, too. > For Senegalese h…
Well my experience as a person living in Eastern Europe is that EU funds are just very expensive roundabout subsidy for German car manufacturers - since everybody steals bulk of the money and buys expensive cars.
So injecting capital is almost guaranteed to not work.
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same in Greece (tax rules) apparently, and there you’ll also see lots and lots of unfinished buildings.
But how people can live in such buildings then? I understand about poorer countries with lack of regulations, but have not thought that's possible in Europe. Government should not allow anyone to live or operate in such buildings if they're not up to code and are not finished. How people can get mortgages for such things, or how business can register their offices if building is permanently "under construction"?
It's is common to remodel buildings, you kick out people near the work but on the other side they can still be there. So you need to convince the inspector and bank that the used part is done and the rest can be done later.
Re: Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa?
#60When I talked to someone running a "work & travel" agency in Europe that was mostly frequented by young people looking to do "something meaningful" in poorer countries he mentioned that an open secret was that frequently these kids would end up helping "construct" buildings only for those to be torn down again afterwards because they weren't up to spec and local craftspeople would then rebuild them properly on their…
Sounds like an urban legend. If the local people want the building, why not guide the helpers so they have a proper building from the start, rather than waste their own time building something shoddy, tearing it down, and building it again? My Western viewpoint also thinks there isn't much "spec" that poorer countries follow, maybe just: if it looks like it won't collapse, it's good enough, and hopefully young people…
Because the tourism brings in the money needed to do it's right. They can probably reuse the bricks and such layer.