how can squatter settlements change over time

Full Answer

What is the importance of squatter settlements?

Squatter settlements or informal settlements have been a very important part of many cities in the Global South. Shifting government and international agency attitudes toward them since the 1960s have reflected a growing recognition of the capacity of the urban poor to adapt and sometimes to thrive in very difficult circumstances.

How can we solve the squatter crisis?

National approaches to squatter settlements have generally shifted from negative policies (such as forced eviction, benign neglect and involuntary resettlement etc.) to more positive policies (such as, self-help and in situ upgrading, enabling and rights-based policies) .

Why is squatting on the rise in urban regions?

This trend of rural-to-urban migration has led to the result of more squatting in urban regions, particularly in the last three decades. Squatter and slum settlements have formed mainly because of the inability of city governments to plan and provide affordable housing for the low-income segments of the urban population [ 4].

Are squatter settlements ‘slums of Hope’?

Squatter settlements are increasingly seen by public decision-makers as ‘slums of hope’ rather than ‘slums of despair’. There is abundant evidence of innovative solutions developed by the poor to improve their own living environments.

How squatter settlements may change over time?

Over time, squatter settlements can be improved by the residents and become more stable permanent dwellings, with brick and concrete used to reinforce the structures. Squatter settlements are found in various locations, but are usually built on the edges of cities in the world's poorest countries or LEDC.

Why squatter settlements develop?

There are two reasons for this: one is internal to the squatter, and the other is external. Internal reasons include, lack of collateral assets; lack of savings and other financial assets; daily wage/low-income jobs (which in many cases are semi-permanent or temporary).

What has been done to improve squatter settlements?

Squatter settlements can be improved through urban planning . The plan to improve Dharavi is called Vision Mumbai. This involves replacing squatter settlement housing with high-quality high-rise tower blocks of flats.

What impact do squatter settlements have?

In terms of environmental challenges in the squatter settlements and slums, air and water pollution, lack of personal hygiene and poor environmental sanitation, and health, noise, and cultural pollution are among the most visible ones. Sprawling, litter, and polluted waterways are most prevalent in most urban slums.

What are the solutions to informal settlements?

Water and improved sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) are the biggest planning and design concerns of informal settlements and adjacent formal settlements as well. The prioritization of inclusive access to WaSH should be encouraged.

What are the 3 biggest problems of informal settlements?

Informal settlements are characterized by a lack of basic services, pollution, overcrowding and poor waste management.

What are the advantages of living in a squatter settlement?

Easy Jobs are the common advantage of shantytowns Slum-dwellers are often hired for blue-collar jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors. Most people are poor and have to work in nearby cities and towns. This solves their problems of work as they can live nearby to their work.

Why do informal settlements develop?

According to UN-Habitat (2015:2), informal settlements are caused by a range of interrelated factors, including population growth and rural-urban migration, lack of affordable housing for the urban poor, weak governance (particularly in the areas of policy, planning, land and urban management resulting in land ...

What is the cause of squatting in the Philippines?

In the Philippines, poor urban people squat on government and private property because they cannot afford their own housing. They face an uncertain future, as it may only be a matter of time before they are evicted.

What are the reasons for development of slums and squatters in urban areas?

Squatter and slum settlements have formed mainly because of the inability of city governments to plan and provide affordable housing for the low-income segments of the urban population. Hence, squatter and slum housing is the housing solution for this low-income urban population.

Why are informal settlements formed?

A number of interrelated factors have driven the emergence of informal settlements: population growth; rural-urban migration; lack of affordable housing; weak governance (particularly in policy, planning and urban management); economic vulnerability and low-paid work; marginalisation; and displacement caused by ...

When did squatter settlements start?

Under the California Land Act of 1851, squatters made 813 claims as the population in California increased from 15,000 in 1848 to 265,000 in 1852. The Squatters' riot of 1850 was a conflict between squatters and the government of Sacramento, California.

How have squatters been improved in Brazil?

In Brazil, squatter settlements have been improved through self-help schemes. This is when residents improve their own home with the support of the local authority. For example the local authority may provide cheap building materials or a loan for residents to purchase them.

Why is urban planning important?

They face a range of opportunities and challenges. Urban planning is important to ensure that the opportunities are maximised and the challenges are minimised. Part of.

What are squatter settlements?

Squatter settlements, widespread in urban Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia, are a characteristic feature of contemporary urbanization. Also known as shantytowns, slums, favelas in Brazil, and bustees in South Asia, they involve the extralegal occupation and settlement of public or private land, often by migrants from rural areas. Unplanned and typically located on peripheral or marginal land, squatter settlements have poor infrastructure and inadequate public services, including water, health, and sanitation. Houses tend to be auto-constructed and built incrementally. Residents of squatter settlements generally lack legally recognized rights to the land they occupy, and may lead precarious lives. The majority work in the informal economy, in insecure, low-wage jobs or are self-employed. State policies in many countries, seeking to curb a migrant influx to big cities, criminalize land encroachment but fail to address the housing needs of the urban poor. Squatter settlements may be demolished in slum clearance programs. Nonetheless, many such settlements endure and grow, over time acquiring public services and rights. Well-known slums like Mumbai’s Dharavi, Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, and Nairobi’s Kibera are populous, established, and diverse cities within cities. They are both celebrated and deplored in popular and academic accounts, as symbols of human resilience and entrepreneurship, or products of uneven development and global and national inequities. Early literature on squatter settlements located their growth in the distorted urbanization of what was known as the Third World, divorced from industrial modernization. Squatters were considered economically marginal, akin to peasants rather than “modern” urban citizens. Ethnographic and empirical research complicated these perspectives, providing insight into the lived experience and social, economic, and political organization of squatter settlements. Slums began to be viewed as solutions to challenges of housing, livelihoods, and economic growth. “Self-build” housing was celebrated, as was small-scale entrepreneurship. In-situ improvement and tenure legalization became preferred policy approaches. Later, critical urban theorists rejected notions of “underdevelopment” and development and argued that informal processes such as squatting were integral to urbanization in the Global South. As the world urbanizes, with population growth concentrated in developing world cities, slums have reemerged as sites for social-scientific inquiry. Debates about their relationship to growth and development, their viability as communities and living environments, and about policy approaches and outcomes continue to animate the literature. These debates reflect the fact that squatter settlements across the world, and even within cities, are heterogeneous and dynamic, within varied histories and trajectories.

What are the problems of squatters?

Unplanned and typically located on peripheral or marginal land, squatter settlements have poor infrastructure and inadequate public services, including water, health, and sanitation. Houses tend to be auto-constructed and built incrementally.

What did Mangin argue about the Latin American squatter settlements?

Mangin 1967 challenges these perspectives arguing that Latin American squatter settlements were unique sociopolitical formations that contribute to urbanization and development. Gilbert and Crankshaw 1999 suggests that Latin American urbanization offers lessons for South Africa.

What did Roberts 1978 and Gilbert and Gugler 1982 explain?

Roberts 1978 and Gilbert and Gugler 1982 explain squatter settlements as an outgrowth of “dependent” patterns of development in peripheral regions. Unequally incorporated into the world capitalist system, their cities were extractive rather than industrial centers.

What is squatters considered?

Squatters were considered economically marginal, akin to peasants rather than “modern” urban citizens. Ethnographic and empirical research complicated these perspectives, providing insight into the lived experience and social, economic, and political organization of squatter settlements.

What is the Third World Urbanization?

Wide-ranging account of Third World urbanization in the context of a “world” system of uneven capitalist development, with a wealthy First World core and “dependent” peripheries. Squatter settlements emerge in this context, in countries where industrial growth is retarded, and jobs limited. Chapters discuss regional disparities, rural-urban migration, labor markets and informal employment, squatting as a popular housing strategy, planning, and policy solutions.

What were informal workers and squatters?

Unlike the industrial working class in Western cities, squatters and informal workers were assumed to be economically and politically marginal. Their settlements, unsanctioned, self-developed, and makeshift, were distinct from industrial-era slums and poor urban neighborhoods in Western cities.

What are the problems of squatter settlements?

Living condition in these settlements suffer from overcrowding, inadequate accommodation, limited access to clean water and sanitation, lack of proper waste disposal system and deteriorating air quality. Squatter settlements are increasingly seen by public decision-makers as ‘slums of hope’ rather than ‘slums of despair’. There is abundant evidence of innovative solutions developed by the poor to improve their own living environments. This paper will assess the question if ideas of contemporary architecture can be implemented in providing ecological living for squatter settlements, along with a discussion on probable suggestions in relation to their daily living pattern. The paper also presents several case studies of sustainable living in high-density urban areas and slum settlements in different context, finally concludes providing some strategies and policies that might be helpful to the policy makers in providing sustainable settlement for urban squatter dwellers.

How do squatters improve their living conditions?

Looking at the characteristics and formation of squatter settlements all around the world, the living units in the slums are perhaps, the best examples of the most optimum utilization of living space. Moreover, the squatters use minimum building materials to create their living Space, which are easily available, like- old and used tin sheets, timber rafters, joists and posts, country tiles, plastic sheets and other recycled materials. [ 12] Use of traditional building materials in these settlements that are easily accessible from nature is also a character representing these dwellings. What these people mostly need in order to improve their living into sustainable settlements are- monetary help from Government, organized participation into constructing self-help housing along with local and recycling building materials, designer’s participation into making the spaces more comfortable for living within the constraint of structure and space. Solving all these issues together can definitely result into sustainable housing settlement for squatters and slums. Question that comes is- can this way of living not become a typology itself, when provided with all the necessities of a healthy living? These dwellings are using optimum space and resources from nature, which is the indication of living sustainable. How can architects and designers play in these parts, converting these squatter settlements to provide as healthy living pattern, while keeping these positive characteristics intact in the renewed solution? It has been observed that, from the history of improving squatter settlements in different regions, wherever appropriate upgrading policies and healthy living designs have been put in place, have become increasingly socially cohesive; offering opportunities for security of tenure, local economic development and improvement of conditions of their lives. In 21 st century living settlements around the world, when it is predicted, by 2050, two-thirds of humanity will be living in urban regions, and majority of them will be living in squatter settlements, then the question of providing adequate, healthy housing becomes a basic, emerging need for the increasing urban generations. This issue is not only about architect or designer’s role in providing proper housing; this is a complex issue addressing policies, economies and politics also. So, all these different dialogues have to be merged in transforming the squatter settlements as a way of healthy living in context of 21 st century. Lastly, the paper ends up with this question: Will the 21 st century be remembered as golden era of sustainable, socially conscious design, by providing an overall basic healthy living pattern for all?

How can squatters play a role in the construction of their homes?

The squatters can continue to play a central role in the design and construction of their homes and communities with the help of architects. Contemporary architectural practices and researches can set some design examples of low-cost ecological living settlements with basic living conditions provided (like-sanitation, water, electricity etc); these designs should be adapted to climates of different regions. The designs must fulfill the first condition of being affordable for urban squatters. Then, they should fulfill the criteria to be built in easy, traditional methods by the owners. Squatters have always been the architects, engineers and builders of their settlements, and here they can also play the role. The goal here is to use the knowledge and skills of the formal sector in complement to the skills of the informal sector- building quality houses without foreshadowing the participation of beneficiaries.

How to solve urban squatters?

Many governments around the world have attempted to solve the problems of urban squatter settlements by clearing away old decrepit housing and replacing it with modern housing with much better sanitation. In these specific cases, slum clearance often took the form of eminent urban renewal projects, and often the former residents were prohibited in the renewed housing. According to many critics, forced slum clearances tend to ignore the social problems that cause the formation of slums.

Why are squatters in urban areas inevitable?

Squatter settlements in urban areas are inevitable phenomena as long as urban areas offer economies of different scales as means for improving quality of living and environment for millions of poor in developing areas of the world.

What materials do squatters use?

Moreover, the squatters use minimum building materials to create their living Space, which are easily available, like- old and used tin sheets, timber rafters, joists and posts, country tiles, plastic sheets and other recycled materials. [ 12] .

How does secure tenure affect housing?

Secure tenure to slum dwellers transforms their homes into a tangible asset. They can leverage their house to finance their work; they can rent out rooms for income support. Investment in community improvements and urban infrastructure build value into this tangible asset while improving the productivity of home-based enterprises. But even so, securing tenure is not without its complexities and often leads to indirect eviction. For instance, the value of the tenure after development is sometimes so high that the resident is forced by its own poverty to pass it on and instead find a new informal settlement for himself. In this case, simply giving property ownership to urban or rural poor has created an increase in poverty by placing slum dwellers at the mercy of a voracious property market. Developers, with an eye toward entrepreneurial development, tempt the owner to resell or rent the new property. As a result, the owner sells the tenure which they received as a ‘gift’, then go back to live in slum again. One of the main goals to improve living for urban squatters should be, to create tenure situations that work for communities without subjecting them to increased market forces. For instance, slum settlements in Sao paolo, Brazil are called ‘Favelas’, more than 50% of people living in these settlements are self-employed informal workers, who $500 on average per month. A housing development project named ‘Cingapura’ took place in some favelas during 1990’s, targeting these lower-income households. The concept was simple: rationalizing a favela by creating new-construction publicly funded housing, five or six-storey walkup flats, which are then sold to the residents who used to live there. After construction, a typical Cingapura property cost was considered affordable only for the upper-income households of favelas. Therefore, the intended beneficiaries were not helped by this housing program. The units were also considered as larger than families need, and poorly suited for self-employed informal workers living in the settlement. As a result, those who moved back to the new constructed housing project were often quite different from those that moved away [ 9].

What are some examples of unauthorized settlements?

These popular but unauthorized settlements usually lack sewers, clean water supplies, electricity, and roads. Often the land on which they are built was not previously used because it is unsafe or unsuitable for habitation. In Bhopal, India , and Mexico City, for example, squatter settlements were built next to deadly industrial sites. In such cities as Rio de Janiero, Brazil; La Paz, Bolivia; Guatemala City, Guatemala; and Caracas, Venezuela, they are perched on landslide-prone hills. In Bangkok, Thailand, thousands of people live in shacks built over a fetid tidal swamp. In Lima, Peru; Khartoum, Sudan; and Nouakchott, shanty towns have spread onto sandy deserts. In Manila in the Phillipines, 20,000 people live in huts built on towering mounds of garbage amidst burning industrial waste in city dumps.

How many people live in slums?

The United Nations estimates that at least one billion people — 20% of the world's population — live in crowded, unsanitary slums of the central cities and in the vast shanty towns and squatter settlements that ring the outskirts of most Third World cities. Around 100 million people have no home at all. In Bombay, India, for example, it is thought that half a million people sleep on the streets, sidewalks, and traffic circles because they can find no other place to live. In S ã o Paulo, Brazil, at least three million "street kids" who have run away from home or have been abandoned by their parents live however and wherever they can. This is surely a symptom of a tragic failure of social systems.

Introduction

Causes

Measures Already Taken

• Many governments around the world have attempted to solve the problems of urban squatter settlements by clearing away old decrepit housing and replacing it with modern housing with much better sanitation. In these specific cases, slum clearance often took the form of eminent urban renewal projects, and often the former residents were prohibited in ...

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Possible Solutions

Concluding Remarks