Construction and energy aspects of affordable housing developments for formal settlements

Abstract

Nearly one-quarter of the world's urban population lives in informal settlements or encampments, most in developing countries but increasingly also in the most affluent countries. Many residents live in overcrowded, insecure dwellings, without water and sanitation, fearful of eviction and subject to preventable life-threatening illnesses. UN Sustainable Development Goal 11: ‘Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ is committed to ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and upgrade slums by 2030. There is therefore an urgent need for more affordable and permanent housing to be developed. This paper presents a review of the construction and energy aspects of affordable housing developments for informal settlement dwellers. The conditions of existing informal settlements in Global South countries have been researched and various case studies of informal settlement upgrading programmes are presented. The potentials of solar energy technologies in development of green affordable houses in case study countries Uganda and Indonesia are assessed.