This paper describes the new policy on urban development and housing which the Malian government launched after its transition to democracy in 1991 and discusses its effectiveness in reaching low-income groups in Bamako. After outlining Bamako's growth and housing situation, and the 1991 political transition, the paper describes the new housing policy, formally adopted in 1995. The policy's stated objective was to improve access to housing for low-income groups and it contained an ambitious programme of legalization and upgrading covering most of the city's unauthorized settlements. However, this programme soon ran into difficulties and was suspended by government decree after only four years. Some institutional innovations regarding urban land markets and public works have been more successful but their relevance to improving poorer groups' access to housing is limited. The legalization and upgrading programme has recently been resumed but its usefulness for low income households is still in question.

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