6. General Conclusions and Recommendations
The following are the main conclusions and recommendations drawn from the book that this report was based on: • Roma in South-Eastern European countries live in similar difficult housing and settlement conditions. The situation in each country has some particular characteristics, but the appalling situation of housing of Roma is something common to all those countries. • The number and volume of recently implemented projects related to housing are absolutely insufficient when compared with the needs of the Roma community in some countries. • The main direction of the process of improving the housing situation of Roma should encompass upgrading those settlements that in the future could exist as a coherent community. Legalization is a first step in the upgrading process. • The legalization of Roma settlements, solving property rights, etc. are primarily political processes. States have the possibility to carry out such processes through innovative approaches and goodwill. • Some settlements, including various types of slums, should be demolished, since conditions in those settlements cannot be upgraded. • Roma must and should be included in the process of development of housing and settlement projects from the very beginning. • Current town-planning practices and regulations do not correspond to the challenges of consolidation of existing Roma settlements, and they should be changed and improved. • Inclusive urbanism based on international documents is a new professional response to the needs of Roma in the area of housing and settlements. Low-cost housing should and could be the main orientation in the process of improving currently inadequate housing.
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