What Are the Causes of Informal Settlements?
- Poverty. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), poverty and social ostracism are the primary causes of informal settlements in most nations.
- Urbanization. In 2007, a global tipping point was reached when more than half of the Earth’s population was residing in urban zones.
- Ineffective Housing Policies. Although governments have implemented policies to provide housing for the urban poor, their efforts have proved futile.
What factors underlie the growth of informal settlements?
Numerous socio-economic factors underlie the growth of informal settlements globally. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), poverty and social ostracism are the primary causes of informal settlements in most nations.
What are the main causes of informal settlements in Zanzibar?
Urbanization is one of the root causes for the spread of informal settlements on the fringe of Zanzibar town. The land administration and planning policies, which have often been seen as rigid and inadequate to meet ever increasing demand for housing by the poor majority, have also been associated with the mushrooming of the IS.
What is the definition of informal settlement?
For the purposes of this discussion, informal settlements are defined as residential buildings built on “planned” and “unplanned” areas which do not have formal planning approval. They are characterized mostly by the low quality houses and the lack of, or inadequate infrastructure and social services.
What are the main causes of informal housing?
Daniel (2006) found thatinformal housing is caused, among others, due to limitations of the present regulations, high and expensive building standards, poor land delivery system; long procedures to obtain housing finance from institutions coupled with lack of institutional capacity.
What problems are caused by informal settlements?
Informal settlements are characterized by a lack of basic services, pollution, overcrowding and poor waste management. These characteristics impact negatively on the environment posing risk and susceptibility to health problems associated with informal settlements.
What are the causes of squatter settlement?
Rapid urbanization, poverty and lack of access to land and ownership, in addition to limited or no social housing, have led citizens to build their homes illegally under very poor environmental and social conditions.
What are the causes of informal settlements in Zimbabwe?
The results of the study show that informal settlements in Harare are a result of a multiplicity of factors which include political economy, uncoordinated planning, invasion of land by land barons and inappropriate planning ideologies.
What are the causes of informal settlement in Durban?
Durban's current pattern of informal settlement is largely a product of apartheid factors during the second half of the 20th century. The 1913 Land Act alienated Africans from most of the land, forcing them wholesale into wage employment for survival.
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 causes of the creation of squatter settlements slums?
An unprecedented rate of urbanization and increasing poverty has resulted in uncontrolled proliferation of squatter settlements and slums. Informal settlements result in undesirable urbanization driven less by economic growth and more by rural-urban migration of the poor.
What are the causes of informal settlement PDF?
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 causes informal settlements in Alexandra?
From an institutional aspect, they determined that the overpopulation led to the informality of the settlement, and that the lack of available funding resulted in the inability to provide appropriate drainage services. The social conditions of the local residents were also identified as major underlying causes.
What causes fire in informal settlements?
Fires in informal settlements are caused by a number of hazards – open flames, paraffin lamps and stoves, and electrical faults. People have been trying to deal with the threat of fires in two ways: insurance so that they can recover quickly from a fire, and technology to prevent fires in the first place.
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 is an informal settlement in South Africa?
Informal settlements are housing areas that are often illegally built on municipal land. In South Africa, these settlements are found in a variety of areas and are home to a large percentage of the country's impoverished population.
How many informal settlements are there in Durban?
According to the eThekwini Municipality, there are 569 informal settlements in the city, which comprise of about 250,000 households and are home to more than a quarter of the total population.
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 causes of illegal settlement?
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 ...
What are three consequences of squatter settlements?
three consequences of rapid squatter settlements are: increased unemployment, pollution to the environment, and a negative aspect of a country's reputation. All who live in squatter settlements are unemployed. That could drastically raise the unemployment rate in poverty.
What are three characteristics of a squatter settlement?
Characteristics of squatter settlementshouses built from dried mud as the walls and corrugated iron for the roof.no toilets.no electricity between phone lines.no running water, sewage or electricity in homes.no paved roads or sewers.little space between houses.no infrastructure.extremely high density's.More items...•
What are the factors that contribute to the emergence of informal settlements?
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 conflict, natural disasters and climate change ( UN-Habitat, 2015b ).
What is informal settlement?
Informal settlements are residential areas where ( UN-Habitat, 2015b; Brown, 2015 ): inhabitants often have no security of tenure for the land or dwellings they inhabit ‒ for example, they may squat or rent informally; neighbourhoods usually lack basic services and city infrastructure; housing may not comply with planning and building regulations, ...
How does informal settlement affect women?
For women, for example, this can heighten barriers they face in accessing livelihood opportunities. Home-based workers also face challenges to entrepreneurial activity ( Chant, 2014 ). Women in informal settlements spend more time and energy accessing basic services than other urban counterparts, limiting their ability and time to earn through paid employment ( UNFPA, 2007 ). In addition, the prevalence of male-biased land tenure policies and restrictions on women’s rights to own property decreases the likelihood of alternative housing options. Poor quality housing, or eviction and homelessness, can also increase the risk of insecurity and sexual violence ( Chant, 2013; McIlwaine, 2013 ).
What are neighbourhoods lacking?
neighbourhoods usually lack basic services and city infrastructure; housing may not comply with planning and building regulations, and is often situated in geographically and environmentally sensitive areas (see Topic Guide on Provision and Improvement of Housing for the Poor, Patel, 2013). A number of interrelated factors have driven ...
What are the problems of informal settlements?
Studies (on informal settlements) have shown that residents of informal settlements are confronted with a combination of problems such as overcrowding, lack of social amenities, poor sanitation conditions and high rate of social vices (Sietchiping, 2004). At Garden house Townships, the sampled respondents were allowed to point out the problems that they were facing as a result of the unauthorised structures in the vicinity. The responses are shown below.
What are the challenges of Lusaka?
Institutions responsible for orderly development of land in Lusaka are faced with many challenges. Inadequate logistics, financial constraints and insufficient working staff are among the challenges that prevent the institutions from going about their expected duties, thereby leading to the proliferation of unauthorised structures at Garden House township.
Why was convenient sampling used?
The convenient sampling technique was used to select the household heads. The reason for using this sampling technique was that there was no adequate sampling frame for selecting household heads. This made it difficult for any of the probability sampling technique to be applied. The houses in Garden House Compound did not follow any order and most of them had no house numbers. Therefore giving each house a chance of being selected was not possible; hence conveniently, 85 houses were selected. In each of the houses that were selected, one household head was conveniently selected to conform to the sample size assigned to household heads in the study. Houses are used to select household heads based on Melese’s (2006) view that houses are appropriate avenues through which household heads can easily be located.
Why is cross sectional design used in research?
Cross-sectional design was used in the study because data had to be collected from the study population once, within a specific period. It also helped to assess the causes and consequences of unauthorized structures in the study area.
Why are development regulations important?
Development regulations are aimed at enhancing environmental quality, improved housing condition, privacy in residents and free flow of air among others. Despite the importance of development regulations in physical environmental balancing, series of factors still hinder its effectiveness. Informal settlements have been an integral part of urban settlements in the country. These settlements, which started as temporary homes to the urban poor on casual employment during the colonial era now form a permanent feature of urban areas and are homes to over 70 percent of the urban population. There are two cities within one city, that is, one part of the urban population that has access to all the basic facilities and amenities of urban living while the other part is deprived or lack access to the same facilities and amenities. Lusaka is experiencing this dualistic phenomenon as a result of increase in urbanization rate. Existing legal and regulatory frameworks mainly focus on planned areas and do not adequately provide for the informal settlements where the majority of people in the major urban areas live.
What is informal settlement?
For the purposes of this discussion, informal settlements are defined as residential buildings built on “planned” and “unplanned” areas which do not have formal planning approval. They are characterized mostly by the low quality houses and the lack of, or inadequate infrastructure and social services. Informal Settlement (IS) has been perceived both as a problem and solution to housing needs in speedily growing cities of many developing countries. (Srivinas 2005, Todaro 1994).
What are the consequences of a poorly controlled settlement?
The sprawling of poorly controlled settlement developments has resulted in many environmental and health related problems. Uncontrolled settlement development is causing physical disorder, uneconomical land utilization, and excessive encroachment of settlements into good agricultural land, environmental degradation and pollution risks (COLE 1995). Also, as explained below, it has become very difficult for the government to send social and economic infrastructure/services to these areas due to the lack of space and accessibility. The most common consequences of the expanding informal settlements include the following:
Why were 3 acres of land illegal in Zanzibar?
As part of the major land reform, the Government of Zanzibar distributed 3-acre plots to landless families immediately after the Revolution of 1964. Since the plots were to be used entirely for agricultural purposes, it was, and still is illegal to sell or convert them into human settlements. As the urban population grew, demand for residential plots intensified and many 3-acre plots in the urban fringes could no more be considered as agricultural lands. Higher prices offered by potential buyers lured many 3-acre plot owners to sell their lands which were eventually converted into human settlements. Subdivision of residential plots did not follow even minimum standards of planning as owners wanted to sell more plots to maximize income.
Where are informal settlements in South Africa?
This study was conducted from October 2017 to June 2018 in five informal settlements in three municipal jurisdictional areas in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, where there are high levels of unemployment, poor levels of education and income, and lack of, or poor, sanitation facilities. These settlements have high population densities and a mixed population of various racial and ethnic groups ( Table 1 ). Dwellings are located either on private or state-owned land. The municipalities have provided different sanitation technologies in each area.
What are the factors that influence sanitation practices?
Respondents concurred that their sanitation practices have been informed by a range of context-dependent factors ( Figure 2 ). Safety concerns (fear of being robbed, raped or killed) emerge in all study settlements as a prime factor for the adoption of particular sanitation practices. The lack of lighting in and outside the facility and night walking to the facility is a safety concern:
What is the sanitation problem in South Africa?
Access to safe sanitation is a growing challenge in informal settlements where over 65.0% of the residents have inadequate sanitation ( UN-Habitat 2014 ), and this has been identified as one of the biggest social issues of post-apartheid South Africa ( DWS 2016 ). Since access to sanitation (understood in this paper as the ability – and the right – to enter and to use the toilets at the time of need) is recognized as a human right in South Africa, all informal settlements are to be provided with basic infrastructure including water and sanitation facilities free of charge. Municipalities are responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facilities. Available sanitation facilities include communal flush toilets, MobiSan (a mobile communal urine diversion toilet), Kayaloo (a mobile communal full flush toilet) and porta-potties (individual portable toilet). However, most of these facilities are not fully accessible due to various operational issues (e.g. blockage and lack of water for flushing). Recognizing that sanitation is dignity, the Free Basic Sanitation (FBSan) policy that provides the right to limited water and sanitation services at no cost to low-income households ( Mosdell 2006) was introduced in 2001. The FBSan policy is a supply-driven approach with the focus on infrastructure delivery ( Tissington 2011 ), especially in rural and informal settlements. Although being acclaimed worldwide as one of the most progressive policies, the FBSan did not provide specifications regarding the nature of the services to be provided ( Mjoli et al. 2009 ). Municipalities (as service providers) were mandated to decide on the level of service and related allocations based upon their available resources and local circumstances ( DWAF 2008; Mjoli 2010 ). Municipalities focused on the supply of facilities based on either the availability of funds or the availability of the technology without considering site conditions, residents' socio-cultural preferences or sanitation practices and needs ( Lagardien & Muanda 2014 ). Through the FBSan policy, municipalities supplied sanitation facilities to various areas with the greatest need including informal settlements across South Africa. As a result, sanitation backlogs were reduced from 52% in 1994 to 21% in 2010 ( Mjoli et al. 2009; Mjoli 2010; DPME DWA & DHS 2012 ). To date, 76% of South African population living in urban and peri-urban areas has access to basic sanitation ( WHO & UNICEF 2019 ).
What are the two sections of the sanitation report?
Results are presented in two sections: (i) sanitation practices and their extent and (ii) factors informing sanitation practices and impact of residents' practices on the sanitation facilities and sustainability of the service.
What are the safety concerns of sanitation facilities?
Safety concerns (fear of being robbed, raped or even killed) emerge as the most common factor associated with the adoption of alternative and often undesirable, sanitation practices. The poor condition of the facility is being associated with users' fear of contamination. Taing (2015) and Garn et al. (2015) have found that the sustainable use of a sanitation facility is determined by its cleanliness. In our own study, the filthy conditions of many facilities deterred residents from using the facilities. As the WHO (2009) shows, unhygienic sanitation practices lead to disease. There is a vicious cycle as not using the facilities results in unhygienic practices which are being triggered by perceptions of users, in particular by the fear of contamination when accessing a filthy toilet. Safety and health concerns inform user practice most specifically in South Africa where there are high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime ( Stats SA 2019 ). While there were a large number of facilities in each of the settlements, many of these were dysfunctional and unusable. Where facilities are being used, there are particular problems that lead to the damaging of these facilities such as misuse, vandalism, lack of understanding, compliance, or disregard of use patterns or requirements.
Is sanitation a human right in South Africa?
Since access to sanitation (understood in this paper as the ability – and the right – to enter and to use the toilets at the time of need) is recognized as a human right in South Africa, all informal settlements are to be provided with basic infrastructure including water and sanitation facilities free of charge.
Who adopts sanitation practices?
These reported practices are adopted by almost every resident including children, adults, elderly and physically challenged people. Many users (89.0% n = 341) including those who do not use the provided facilities recognized that their sanitation practices are unhygienic. For many respondents (82.8% n = 317), these practices have brought shame, feelings of being neglected and of being undignified as well as feelings of desperation and of discomfort:
