Exploring Just Sustainability in Re-Blocking Intervention in a Johannesburg Informal Settlement

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 782-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olumuyiwa Bayode Adegun
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Urban Housing ◽  
Material Distribution ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Just Sustainability

Addressing intertwined socio-economic and environmental problems in informal urban areas underscores the need for just sustainability. The co-production of urban housing provides a useful domain to link issues related to sustainability with social and environmental justice. Using the example of an informal settlement re-blocking project, this paper shows how co-production as an approach might or might not promote principles ingrained in just sustainability. The study relied on data collected through semi-structured interviews with residents and key informants as well as transect walks within the settlement. The case shows that working towards just sustainability is not straight-forward. It demands efforts that navigate, with foresight rather than hindsight, the dynamics in multi-scalar contexts into which informal settlements are embedded. Social and institutional structures, processes and relationships producing and reproducing material distribution are crucial to entrenching the just sustainability praxis.

scholarly journals Disaster response and recovery in two informal settlements: A local government perspective

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 606-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethuel Sibongiseni Ngcamu ◽  
Malcolm Alan Henworth Wallis
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Response And Recovery ◽  
The Impact

Informal settlements in urban areas have long been afflicted by disasters and exposed to exploitation by politicians, shacklords, academics, journalists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), tavern owners and government officials. This problem is caused to some degree by limited land for expansion which has resulted in the creation of highly densified and unplanned, irregular settlements using poor, combustible building materials. The purpose of the article is to investigate whether eThekwini Municipality’s strategies are sufficient to respond to and recover from the impact of disasters. The research was undertaken at the Foreman and Kennedy Road informal settlements located in Clare Estate, under Ward 25, in Durban within eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal (refer to Annexure 1). These areas are very important politically as they are densily populated and highly contested between political parties and local resistant’s organizations such as Abahlali baseMjondolo. Questionnaires were self-administered to a sample size of 220 of which 140 respondents completed the questionnaires, thereby generating a response rate of 63.6%. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with municipal officials. The findings indicate that 44.3% of the victims of disasters received assistance from NGOs and regard civil society as playing an important role after disasters compared to 7.1% of the responding municipal officials.

scholarly journals Access to improved sanitation facilities in low-income informal settlements of East African cities

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Okurut ◽  
R. N. Kulabako ◽  
P. Abbott ◽  
J. M. Adogo ◽  
J. Chenoweth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
East African ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Joint Monitoring ◽  
Sub Saharan

Throughout Africa, the population in urban areas is increasing rapidly, often exceeding the capacity and the resources of the cities and towns to accommodate the people. In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of urban dwellers live in informal settlements served by inadequate sanitation facilities. These settlements present unique challenges to the provision of sustainable and hygienic sanitation, and there is insufficient information on access to improved facilities. This paper reports findings of a study undertaken in low-income informal settlements using a mixed methods approach to assess access to sanitation and identify the barriers to household uptake of improved sanitation facilities. More than half of the respondents (59.7%) reported using sanitation facilities that are included in the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme definition of improved sanitation. However, a high proportion of these facilities did not provide access to basic sanitation. Less than 5% of all the respondents did not report problems related to sustainable access to basic sanitation. The findings highlight the urgent need to develop specific and strategic interventions for each low-income informal settlement, to upscale the sustainable access and use of improved sanitation in urban centres.

scholarly journals Approaches to Addressing Informal Settlement Problems: A Case Study of District 13 in the Kabul city, Afghanistan.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maqsood Rezayee ◽  
Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling ◽  
Siti Hajar Misnan
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Land Readjustment ◽  
Post War ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

Afghanistan witnessed rapid urbanization in recent decades due to the post-war recovery process. When the war ended in 2001 by fall of Taliban regime, most Afghans refugees returned to urban areas of Afghanistan, especially in Kabul city. Moreover, the rapid urbanization, migration from rural areas, and population growth impacted on Kabul city with the manifestation of informal settlement. It is acknowledged that the residents of informal settlements suffer social, spatial, and economic exclusion from the benefit and opportunity of an urban environment. Furthermore, the residents of informal settlements experience disadvantages by geographical marginalization, shortage of basic infrastructure, improper governance framework, vulnerability into the effect of poor environment, and natural disaster. With all the above, the problems of informal settlements are considered challenges for and informal residents. Thus, it is a dire need to tackle and overcome problems of informal settlements. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the most proper approaches to addressing informal settlement problems in District13 of Kabul city. In order to reach this aim, interviews and a questionnaire survey have been conducted with government officials and local inhabitants. And the finding of this paper indicates that through the resident’s preferences, government capacity, and District 13 physical condition there are three approaches which can be implemented and adopted for improvement of informal settlement in District 13 of Kabul city, which is settlement upgrading as the first option, the land readjustment as the second option and urban redevelopment as the last option.

scholarly journals Towards an automated monitoring of human settlements in South Africa using high resolution SPOT satellite imagery

2015 ◽  
Vol XL-7/W3 ◽  
pp. 1389-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kemper ◽  
N. Mudau ◽  
P. Mangara ◽  
M. Pesaresi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Image Features ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Image Feature ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Spot 5

Urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa are growing at an unprecedented pace. Much of this growth is taking place in informal settlements. In South Africa more than 10% of the population live in urban informal settlements. South Africa has established a National Informal Settlement Development Programme (NUSP) to respond to these challenges. This programme is designed to support the National Department of Human Settlement (NDHS) in its implementation of the Upgrading Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) with the objective of eventually upgrading all informal settlements in the country. Currently, the NDHS does not have access to an updated national dataset captured at the same scale using source data that can be used to understand the status of informal settlements in the country. <br><br> This pilot study is developing a fully automated workflow for the wall-to-wall processing of SPOT-5 satellite imagery of South Africa. The workflow includes an automatic image information extraction based on multiscale textural and morphological image features extraction. The advanced image feature compression and optimization together with innovative learning and classification techniques allow a processing of the SPOT-5 images using the Landsat-based National Land Cover (NLC) of South Africa from the year 2000 as low-resolution thematic reference layers as. The workflow was tested on 42 SPOT scenes based on a stratified sampling. The derived building information was validated against a visually interpreted building point data set and produced an accuracy of 97 per cent. Given this positive result, is planned to process the most recent wall-to-wall coverage as well as the archived imagery available since 2007 in the near future.

scholarly journals Interacción con la Reserva Nacional del Titicaca y percepción de la problemática ambiental

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Diana Margaret Quispe Roque ◽  
Claudia Aravena
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Environmental Problem ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Socioeconomic Profile

This study investigates the differences in the interaction and perception of the environmental problems in the Titicaca National Reserve between households in the rural and urban areas of its buffer-zone. We conducted semi-structured interviews and surveys and a test of difference. Results show significant differences in the socioeconomic profile of the households. Rural interaction is associated with the use of the resources as a source of food and livestock, while in the urban area it is associated to recreation. The pollution of the lake was the main environmental problem identified. However, rural households perceive the overexploitation of natural resources.

scholarly journals Innovative Community Projects to Educate Informal Settlement Inhabitants in the Sustainment of the Natural Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6238
Author(s):  
Thelma de Jager ◽  
Mashupye Herbert Maserumule
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Urban Poverty ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Infrared Thermal Imaging ◽  
Community Projects

Increasing informal settlements are characterised by unplanned land management; lack of housing, sanitation, sufficient water and electricity supplies; overpopulation; high health risks; and growing urban poverty. These informal settlements are mostly occupied by citizens and immigrant families who seek job opportunities in urban areas. To sustain the ecology of the invaded land and provide a liveable informal settlement, education of the inhabitants is essential. Teachers as the implementers of sustainable environment curricula could be valuable in addressing the environmental challenges these informal settlement communities experience by educating children on how to sustain the environment. Data were collected by means of a literature study and an online survey consisting of closed and open-ended questions completed by student teachers (n = 280). Participants’ perceptions, perspectives, and experiences regarding educating informal settlement inhabitants in the sustainment of the environment were significant in answering the research questions. Most of the participants (n = 216) had visited informal settings, 48 were inhabitants, and 16 had never visited an informal settlement. Most of them believed that educating children at an early age and the inclusion of a compulsory subject on the sustainability of the environment were essential. Education can contribute to the sustainment of clean water, food, and the environment. Additionally, interactive community projects such as recycling, waste management, composting, aquaponics to grow plants, and infrared thermal imaging to detect plant diseases could assist informal settlement inhabitants in sustaining the environment.

scholarly journals Urban development interventions and living conditions in the informal settlement of Yaounde

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 709-717
Author(s):  
Angeline Raymonde Ngo Essounga ◽  
Frida Njiei Achu
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
City Council ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Entire Area

Since the mid-2000s, the political capital of Cameroon, Yaounde is undergoing construction with many urban development projects coordinated by the Yaounde City Council carried out in residential areas and informal settlements. These various activities as many other urban development projects have impacts on the living conditions of the inhabitants. This article focuses on the projects specifically carried out in the informal settlements, aims at analyzing the meaning and the scope of those projects in the lives of individuals and communities. Indeed, this work, is interested in the different operations of eviction, opening up and restructuring that took place in the informal settlements as well as their social consequences on the entire population of the city. It describes these different operations as public actions that are not deployed over the entire area occupied by the popular neighborhoods in Yaoundé, but only on certain slums concentrated around the central town. These results and conclusion are developed from data obtained during direct observations in the slums, from archives and from semi-structured interviews with some urban actors who participated in the implementation of urban development programs in the slums of Yaoundé.  

scholarly journals Approaches to Addressing Informal Settlement Problems: A Case Study of District 13 in Kabul, Afghanistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Maqsood Rezayee ◽  
Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling ◽  
Siti Hajar Misnan
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Government Capacity ◽  
Land Readjustment ◽  
Post War ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

Afghanistan witnessed rapid urbanization in recent decades due to the post-war recovery process. When the war ended in 2001 with the fall of Taliban regime, most Afghan refugees returned to urban areas of Afghanistan, especially in Kabul. Moreover, the rapid urbanization, migration from rural areas, and population growth impacted Kabul with the manifestation of informal settlement. The residents of informal settlements suffer social and economic exclusion from the benefits and opportunities of an urban environment. Furthermore, the residents of informal settlements experience disadvantages such as geographical marginalization, shortage of basic infrastructure, improper governance framework, vulnerability to the effect of poor environment, and natural disasters. With all the above, the problems of informal settlements are considered enormous challenges for informal residents. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the proper approaches to addressing informal settlement problems in District 13 of Kabul. To reach the aim of the research, the interview and questionnaires survey were used as instrument in data collection. The finding of this paper indicates that through the resident&rsquo;s preferences, government capacity, and District 13 physical condition, there are three approaches that can be implemented and adopted for improvement of informal settlement in District 13 of Kabul, which is settlement upgrading, the land readjustment, and urban redevelopment.

scholarly journals The Resurgence of Informal Settlements in Cuidad Juarez: Estrella Sol del Poniente, Causes and Conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-90
Author(s):  
Tajudeen Oluwafemi Noibi ◽  
Ramon Leopoldo Moreno Murrieta ◽  
Digvijay Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Urban Housing ◽  
Living Condition ◽  
Ripple Effects ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Border City ◽  
Municipal Authority ◽  
Land Policies ◽  
The City

The growth of informal settlements in the city of Cuidad Juarez have been part of the historical development of urbanization of the city. The sporadic rise in the disturbing trend was later grounded to halt by the agencies of government across the 3 tiers, namely, municipal, state, and federal. Outstandingly, the growth of the city of Cuidad Juarez and the existence of slums was largely pronounced by location and the neoliberalist ideology of the commodification of human needs. The rise of an informal settlement in recent times in the city, namely Estralla Sol del Poniente was basically due to the population growth in irregular settlements otherwise known as colonia which have prompted those living in precarious conditions to re-establish a habitat of their own. The living condition of characterizing a slum are poor public services such as water supply, sanitation, lack of electricity, among others. Through the methodology of qualitative research, the ethnography findings suggest that lack of trust in government agencies which also have reinforced social exclusion have further justified the construction of informal settlements. There is the need for the municipal authority of the border city to understand that the ripple effects of the immediate past have raised its ugly repercussions. The need to subjectively understand policies the effectiveness of land policies and all-inclusive urban housing, skill acquisitionand firm legislative and executive policy implementation would further control the rise of slums.

scholarly journals Proximal Cities: Does Walkability Drive Informal Settlements?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerio Cutini ◽  
Valerio Di Pinto ◽  
Antonio Maria Rinaldi ◽  
Francesco Rossini
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Configurational Approach ◽  
Essential Services ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Comparison Of The Results

The uncontrolled growth of urban areas worldwide is pushing a substantial part of the urban population to the fringes of society, confining them to the unsecure and unhygienic settlements that we call “informal.” These settlements lack in intelligible layout and essential services and infrastructures, thus representing a challenging issue for policy makers and urban designers in the development of renewal programs and strategies. In order to support the facing of these issues through an on-site upgrade approach, this paper argues that walkability deeply affects the functioning of informal settlements, so as to propose that they can be identified as “proximal cities,” which expresses the idea that the vital space in informal settlements has soft boundaries and follows a fuzzy logic. A quantitative analysis, based on a configurational approach, and a qualitative analysis, focused on the morphologic features of the settlements, have been implemented. A comparison of the results shows that this approach is suitable to provide a deeper knowledge on informal settlement and informal society under the assumption of their strict mutual connection. A primal definition of proximal cities, suitable for describing some properties of autopoietic urban systems, emerges from the evidence-based relationships between their spatial and social features. In this respect, a case study has been proposed and discussed.

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