European Journal of Housing Policy Vol. 7, No. 1, 63–84, March 2007 Bulgarian Policies towards the Roma Housing Problem and Roma Squatter Settlements ALEXANDER D. SLAEV Faculty of Architecture, Varna Free University, Bulgaria ABSTRACT The paper argues that the national and local authorities in Bulgaria do not utilize the vast experience accumulated by many developed and developing countries, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) and the World Bank in providing housing for the poor and dealing with squatter settlements. Ignoring this experience is a serious omission, which has resulted in a typically inefficient, top-down ‘slum eradication’ policy. New large- scale projects funded under European programmes also follow this flawed approach. The research identifies several important factors which could inform the development of better policies. For example, it stresses the existing extremely high rate of uncontrolled construction of robust housing made with reinforced concrete in the Roma neighbourhoods. The paper concludes that this is a critical factor, which has become the major threat to living conditions and leaves no other alternative but to regularize the settlements and develop streets and other infrastructure. Yet these high rates of construction serve as evidence that Roma households are capable of contributing to the solution of their own housing problems if only their development initiative is encouraged in the proper direction. KEY WORDS: Roma housing, eastern Europe, policy of enablement, Bulgaria Introduction The goal of this paper is to examine the housing and planning policies of the state and the local governments in Bulgaria. It briefly explores the relevant international experience and then details specifically Bulgarian housing policy and experience. The paper studies the current situation in the Roma neighbourhoods in Bulgaria in order to draw conclusions about the efficiency of the approaches of the local, national and the European institutions. The policy efficiency is assessed based on two main criteria and several sub-criteria, as follow. Correspondence Address: Alexander D. Slaev, 10 Luda Yana Street, Plovdiv 4003, Bulgaria or Varna Free University, Faculty of Architecture, Golden Sands Complex, Varna 9007, Bulgaria; Email: a.slaev@ evrocom.net ISSN 1461-6718 Print/1473-3629 Online 07/010063–22 C  2007 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/14616710601134753