Prewar housing in Myanmar compared favorably with that in other Southeast Asian nations, but housing conditions have deteriorated. In 2000, about 68% of the population had access to improved water sources and 46% of the population had access to improved sanitation. Urban dwellings are overcrowded and often unsafe. The last available statistics indicate that over 50% of all housing units were built of wood and bamboo. The government has been working on projects to alleviate homelessness and the prevalence of squatter communities in many areas by building apartment-style structures to replace hut dwellings.