Abstract
Rapid urbanization in developing countries has been accompanied by the spread of informal settlements, which is particularly prominent in sub-Saharan Africa. These settlements have become an important supplement to the inadequate formal housing supply in cities, and their spontaneously formed spatial patterns have important influences on sustainable development. In this study, qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to examine the morphological characteristics of informal settlements in Tanzania and the associated influences on urban development. Geographic spatial analyses, landscape pattern indices, and mathematical statistics, along with quick assessments, group discussions, and key informant interviews, were used to obtain detailed information on the spatial forms of informal settlements. The results indicate that the form of the settlements does not conform to the social, economic, or environmental characteristics of sustainable development. The disordered expansion of single-layered buildings with a single function, irregular road networks in poor condition, and a lack of consideration and protection of the ecological environment were found to negatively impact urban function and sustainable development. However, the structure and form of informal settlements could, in addition to formalization projects, be optimized to drive sustainable and socioeconomic development goals as well as environmental conservation.
Highlights
Given rapid urbanization, traditional formal urban sectors in developing countries cannot meet the needs of growing urban populations, and the coexistence of formal and informal sectors has become a major paradigm of urban development [1]
Informal settlements are a result of many factors, which include the political economy, uncoordinated planning, invasion of land by land barons, and inappropriate planning ideologies [4].They form spontaneously in the absence of planning; their rampant development can lead to the disorderly spread of cities and they are usually characterized by inefficient land use, environmental degradation, poor living conditions, unstable employment, and conflict over land use [5,6,7]
The temporal and morphological characteristics of informal settlements were analyzed, and the results showed that measures must be taken as soon as possible to prevent the further disordered spread of informal settlements
Summary
Traditional formal urban sectors in developing countries cannot meet the needs of growing urban populations, and the coexistence of formal and informal sectors has become a major paradigm of urban development [1]. Informal settlements have become an important component of the urban housing sectors of developing countries. Specific and strategic interventions must urgently be developed for informal settlements to upscale the sustainable access and use of basic facilities [3]. More than half (61.7%) of urban residents live in informal settlements in Africa [8]. How to effectively guide informal settlements into a sustainable development process has become a focus of governments and academia. Many African governments are becoming increasingly aware of the potentially positive contributions of informal settlements, and plans have gradually shifted from the forced removal and relocation model to the securing tenure model [12]. Accurate, localized, and standardized qualitative and quantitative data on the environmental, physical–spatial, and socioeconomic development characteristics of informal settlements are limited [16] but are critical for dealing with their problems [15,17]
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