themselves, many governments make peri- odic if not sustained efforts to crack down on illegal shanties and find alternative housing options for the poor. The squatters, however, tend to creep back, causing shantytowns to persist. This paper takes up the interaction between squatters and the state by beginning with the question: what happens when an exception- ally strong state takes on an especially rapid expansion of squatter settlements? There is reason to expect an effective state to have the resources to limit illegal housing practices, Struggles over Unlicensed Housing in Seoul, 1960–80 Erik Mobrand [Paper first received, July 2006; in final form, March 2007] Abstract What happens when an exceptionally strong state takes on an especially rapid expan- sion of squatter settlements? A dramatic struggle of such proportions—between the forces of fast industrialisation pulling rural people into the city and an effective, modernising state intolerant of squatting—was played out in Seoul, South Korea, in the 1960s and 1970s, when that city was one of the world’s fastest-growing metropolises. This paper documents battles over unlicensed housing in Seoul and finds that leaders repeatedly failed in their endeavour to clear the city’s shantytowns, despite the impressive coercive capacity of the South Korean state. Instead, the state was forced to accommodate other interests, including industrial employers, more-privileged urban residents, land investors and squatters themselves. The remarkable case of Seoul offers insight into broader questions about the politics of housing the urban poor in the developing world. Leaders in the developing world commonly lament the perceived social ills that accom- pany rapid urbanisation. One of the most visible of these ‘ills’ is the expansion of make- shift housing settlements. The magnitude, intractability and ubiquity of squatting in cities across the Third World—from Lima’s barriadas to Istanbul’s gecekondu and Mumbai’s chawls—can leave the impression that these cities are simply destined to be teeming with shantytowns. Seeing these settlements as inhumane for their inhabitants, disgraceful to the nation or dangerous for 0042-0980 Print/1360-063X Online © 2008 Urban Studies Journal Limited DOI: 10.1177/0042098007085968 Erik Mobrand is a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, 11 Arts Link, AS1, Level 4, Singapore 117570. Fax: +54 6779 6815. E-mail: emobrand@nus.edu.sg. 45(2) 367–389, February 2008