Rethinking Cairo's Informal Settlement in the Light of Hardships

Author(s):  
Ahmed Hassan Abayazeed

This chapter aims at understanding and interpreting the informal urban growth in Cairo as a physical objection act against the failing radical ways in managing the city. Accordingly, this chapter tries to analyze both informal physical actions and the formal policies and approaches adopted, and reach reasons for the successes and failures. The chapter first investigates briefly the evolution of Cairo's informal settlements and the hardship conditions behind. Then it examines these settlements through analyzing their two main types. Afterward, it discusses the reasons behind the success of these informal actions. Then it reviews policies and approaches. Consequently, it tries to discover the reasons behind the failure of formal policies and approaches. Thereafter, it discusses briefly using geospatial digital research methods in Cairo's informal settlements. Finally, the chapter ends with a concluded discussion tries to figure out how to reach the right path in dealing with Cairo's informal settlements.

Author(s):  
Francesca Ferlicca ◽  

In Latin American cities informal settlements and insecure land tenure are the result of an exclusionary planning and urban management system which fails to provide legal and secure housing for lower-income groups. Against this backdrop, the State implemented land-title and urban regulatory policies, in order to improve the housing conditions of these neighbourhoods and integrate their residents into the legal regime. This paper proposes to address the conflicts implied in the processes of urbanization and regularization of the villas of the city of Buenos Aires during the first government of Rodríguez Larreta (2015-2019). In the official political discourse, the urbanization of informal settlements is considered one of the main axes of local management. Within this framework, institutional changes are being carried out, such as the creation of the Ministry of Social and Urban Integration. This report proposes to address the participation implied in the process of urbanization and regularization of Villa 20 in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. This process have raised many challenges in the interaction between government decision-making and the needs of inhabitants of informal settlement. These challenges are linked to a) the democratic participation of the inhabitants in the decision-making process at all stages, b) land management policies and domain regularization; c) the modalities and logic of relocation of inhabitants; d) the provision and access to infrastructure services and public spaces; e) the treatment of tenants and other more vulnerable groups. Based on the analysis of the case study, we propose to account for the limits and scope of the implemented urbanization policy as well as for the opportunities to expand the horizon of tools and intervention modalities promote the right to the city and reduce territorial inequalities


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-153
Author(s):  
Parmonangan Manurung

The growth rate of people very rapidly with urbanization and density urban environments, had affected the availability of children's playground in informal settlements, especially in big cities. These conditions have adverse effects for the development of children who live in urban environments. Children as mandated by law, have the right to get a chance to play, on the other hand, play a part of the development of the child as well as a medium of learning. Base on this background, this paper aims to examine the influences of density informal settlements in urban environment for the availability of children's playground, especially friendly playground. This paper used qualitative research methods to conduct a literature study and observation to some locations where children play. The results showed that the density of settlement and urban growth over time reduces children's playground, and this will have an impact on the growth and development of children. From the discussion, it can be concluded that, an open space or a children-friendly playground in an informal settlement is needed in order to support the growth and development of children, because play is a very important activity in the process of their physical growth and social development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel D. Pressick

Currently, 1 in 6 people live in slums, or informal settlements in cities throughout the developing world. They are built illegally and are characterized by lack of proper sanitation, unsafe housing, and crowded living conditions. Despite their appearance, informal settlements are legitimate communities; they are vibrant, with sophisticated social, economic and cultural networks that support the livelihoods of residents who call them home. These communities give the urban poor a physical place within the city, giving them access to the opportunities and advantages that the current age of the 'global city' can offer to any willing participant. As architects who see the responsibility in choosing the informal settlement as a realm for engagement, this thesis proposes that any architectural intervention be mindful of the importance of the networks contained within the streets and buildings of the informal settlement. By preserving the built-fabric of the settlement, the architect legitimizes the settlement's density and scale, while ensuring the urban poor have a physical place in the city. They have managed to develop their own communities without any investment from outside forces, any intervention should only support that autonomous development. These structures, as well as the people and activities with them, are vital to the survival of residents of informal settlements.


Author(s):  
L. Hassim ◽  
S. Coetzee ◽  
V. Rautenbach

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Informal settlements, also known as slums or shanty towns, are characterised by rapid and unstructured expansion, poorly constructed buildings, and in some cases, they are on disputed land. Such settlements often lack basic services, such as electricity. As a result, informal settlement dwellers turn to hazardous alternative sources of energy, such as illegal electricity connections and paraffin. Solar power is a clean and safe alternative. However, informal settlements are often located on undesirable land on the urban fringe where the topography may hinder the use of solar energy. The high density of dwellings could also be a hindrance. Therefore, the solar potential needs to be assessed before any implementations are planned. Solar potential assessment functionality is generally available in geographic information system (GIS) products. The nature, cost and accessibility of datasets required for the assessment vary significantly. In this paper, we evaluate the results of solar potential assessments using GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) for a number of different datasets. The assessments were done for two informal settlements in the City of Tshwane (South Africa): Alaska, which is nestled on a hill; and Phomolong, a densely populated settlement with a rather flat topography. The results show that solar potential assessments with open source GIS software and freely available data are feasible. This eliminates the need for lengthy and bureaucratic procurement processes and reduces the financial costs of assessing solar potential for informal settlements.</p>


Author(s):  
Merdassa Feven Tariku

The article is devoted to the features of informal settlement in Addis Ababa and the role of governmental and non-governmental organizations and public participation in the sustainable development of informal settlements. The purpose of the article is to identify the main types and characteristics of informal settlements and to reveal the factors that hinder the success of programs for updating informal settlements in the city. The research methods were the analysis and generalization of domestic and foreign literature on this research problem. The main conclusion of this study is that the principles of folk architecture are integral components of solutions for the sustainable development of informal settlements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazi Nazrul Fattah ◽  
Peter Walters

<p>With many cities in the Global South experiencing immense growth in informal settlements, city authorities frequently try to assert control over these settlements and their inhabitants through coercive measures such as threats of eviction, exclusion, blocked access to services and other forms of structural violence. Such coercive control is legitimized through the discursive formation of informal settlements as criminal and unsanitary, and of the residents as migrants and as temporary and illegitimate settlers. Using findings from ethnographic research carried out in two informal settlements in Dhaka, Bangladesh, this article explores how informal settlement residents engage with and resist territorial stigma in a rapidly growing Southern megacity. Findings show residents resist stigmatising narratives of neighbourhood blame by constructing counternarratives that frame informal settlements as a “good place for the poor.” These place-based narratives emerge from shared experiences of informality and associational life in a city where such populations are needed yet unwanted. While residents of these neighbourhoods are acutely aware of the temporariness and illegality of unauthorised settlements, these narratives produce solidarities to resist eviction and serve to legitimise their claim to the city.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel D. Pressick

Currently, 1 in 6 people live in slums, or informal settlements in cities throughout the developing world. They are built illegally and are characterized by lack of proper sanitation, unsafe housing, and crowded living conditions. Despite their appearance, informal settlements are legitimate communities; they are vibrant, with sophisticated social, economic and cultural networks that support the livelihoods of residents who call them home. These communities give the urban poor a physical place within the city, giving them access to the opportunities and advantages that the current age of the 'global city' can offer to any willing participant. As architects who see the responsibility in choosing the informal settlement as a realm for engagement, this thesis proposes that any architectural intervention be mindful of the importance of the networks contained within the streets and buildings of the informal settlement. By preserving the built-fabric of the settlement, the architect legitimizes the settlement's density and scale, while ensuring the urban poor have a physical place in the city. They have managed to develop their own communities without any investment from outside forces, any intervention should only support that autonomous development. These structures, as well as the people and activities with them, are vital to the survival of residents of informal settlements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-528
Author(s):  
Kayoumars Irandoost ◽  
Milad Doostvandi ◽  
Todd Litman ◽  
Mohammad Azami

Purpose This paper aims to present a critical analysis of placemaking by the urban poor based on the Right to the City, Henri Lefebvre’s influential theory regarding the production of space and placemaking. Design/methodology/approach This study reflects Lefebvre’s production of space and the right to the city theories and containing three main pillars including holism, the urban and praxis, and the use of spatial dialectics. Also, for collecting information in this research, along with scrutiny of documents and books, residents of the poor settlements of Sanandaj have also been interviewed. Findings In Sanandaj, urban poor who lack formal housing reclaim the Right to City by creating informal settlements. Such settlements, such as Shohada, Baharmast and Tagh Taghan, cover 23% of the city’s area but house 69% of the urban population. Originality/value This research seeks to understand placemaking in urban slums by low-income inhabitants using Henry Lefebvre’s critical theory of social production of space and the Right to the City. This case study examines the city of Sanandaj, Iran, where most residents are poor and live in cooperative informal settlements. It illustrates how the urban poor, as marginalized inhabitants, overcome the constraints of conventional planning and property ownership to creatively and cooperatively develop communities that reflect their needs. This indicates a schism between formal and informal sectors.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document