MARGINALISED RESIDENTIAL AREAS
Informal settlements
An ‘Informal Settlement’ exists where housing has been created in an urban or peri-urban location without official approval. Informal settlements may contain a few dwellings or thousands of them, and are generally characterised by inadequate infrastructure, poor access to basic services, unsuitable environments, uncontrolled and unhealthy population densities, inadequate dwellings, poor access to health and education facilities and lack of effective administration by the municipality. (NUSP 2013, taken from UISP Consolidation Document-2014).
Another definition in use which is similar to the above is: “Residential areas where 1) inhabitants have no security of tenure vis-à-vis the land or dwellings they inhabit, with modalities ranging from squatting to informal rental housing, 2) the neighbourhoods usually lack, or are cut off from, basic services and city infrastructure and 3) the housing may not comply with current planning and building regulations, and is often situated in geographically and environmentally hazardous areas”. The UN-Habitat (2015).
Informal settlements require specific attention from government, not only in terms of assistance with shelter and basic services, but also in terms of socio-economic development and human capital development. A 2011 Cabinet decision to upgrade informal settlements in approximately 45 municipalities has specific implications for Metros given that that a large proportion of households in informal settlements are in Metros.
The thrust of this national initiative – the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) – is capacity support to municipalities to focus more on in-situ upgrading rather than relocating large numbers of households. Specifically, capacity to support the issues of basic service provision, secure tenure and shelter provision. Integrated, in-situ upgrading of these settlements requires citizen-led planning and development with a transversal approach from the Metros, supported by a coordinated intergovernmental response.
People living in informal settlements require secure tenure and access to basic services and social amenities, need to be supported to lead the planning of upgrading programmes and empowered to oversee their execution. The upgrading and progressive formalisation of these informal settlements has a spatial impact at a city-wide level.
A minimum of 50% of the USDG allocation to Metros must be invested in the upgrading of informal settlements. For this reason, how this funding is allocated to prioritised informal settlements within a broader integrated spatial logic and intergovernmental programme of complimentary investments (the Integration Zone Plan) will determine the extent of transformation possible for this settlement.
Informal settlements require specific attention from government, not only in terms of assistance with shelter and basic services, but also in terms of socio-economic development and human capital development. A 2011 Cabinet decision to upgrade informal settlements in approximately 45 municipalities has specific implications for Metros given that that a large proportion of households in informal settlements are in Metros.
The thrust of this national initiative – the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) – is capacity support to municipalities to focus more on in-situ upgrading rather than relocating large numbers of households. Specifically, capacity to support the issues of basic service provision, secure tenure and shelter provision. Integrated, in-situ upgrading of these settlements requires citizen-led planning and development with a transversal approach from the Metros, supported by a coordinated intergovernmental response.
People living in informal settlements require secure tenure and access to basic services and social amenities, need to be supported to lead the planning of upgrading programmes and empowered to oversee their execution. The upgrading and progressive formalisation of these informal settlements has a spatial impact at a city-wide level.
A minimum of 50% of the USDG allocation to Metros must be invested in the upgrading of informal settlements. For this reason, how this funding is allocated to prioritised informal settlements within a broader integrated spatial logic and intergovernmental programme of complimentary investments (the Integration Zone Plan) will determine the extent of transformation possible for this settlement.
Other marginalised residential areas
In addition to informal settlements, there are other marginalised residential areas that are in decline and/or where people are deprived – areas in need of redress and generative development. These are areas that are typically not the focus of the private sector developers. These may be areas formally developed seeing increasing informalisation through informal infill development (front & backyarding) or unregulated densification, carrying much of the growth in informal housing supply. These areas are likely to require some kind of intervention from government to start with if they are to flourish as liveable neighbourhoods with high accessibility to the broader urban network.
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