Settlement Dwellers Research Articles

‘Urban acupuncture’ to alleviate stress in informal settlements in Mexico

ABSTRACTThis paper explores whether smaller-scale physical space interventions (‘urban acupuncture’) have the power to alleviate the stress, social pathologies and political disengagement experienced by the residents of informal settlements. The case study is Tepito, a barrio in Mexico City. The results, based on 20 qualitative interviews with local residents, support the idea that an ‘urban acupuncture’ approach has a high potential in this respect. In view of these findings, the authors argue that an indirect approach, focused on physical space, might, at least in the short term, be more productive in empowering of informal settlement dwellers than direct efforts at political organization. Physical, economic and political spaces are intrinsically linked. Little political engagement can be expected if people live in poor physical environments. While certainly not a panacea, acupunctural interventions might trigger much broader changes than initially intended.

Regulations and housing informality in African cities: appropriating regulatory frameworks to factors that influence resilience

ABSTRACTThe paper examines the regulatory factors that constrain housing in African cities evinced in the growing informal housing delivery system that characterize them. This is intended to draw lessons for appropriating regulations to various house developer needs. The research uses a case study approach involving two informal settlements in Lusaka City, Zambia. Data collection methods included both physical observations and interviews with informal settlement dwellers. The paper indicates regulatory frameworks which shape the general context of housing development, generate high land access problems and transaction costs, and impact cultural aspects which influence the manner in which people respond to situations and opportunities when making decisions about housing. This contrasts with the informal system which offers developers the freedom to use alternative construction methods offering affordable means of house production. The informal setting also offers people freedom to construct houses according to individual preferences enabling people to “live their dreams” made possible by the relaxation in rules and regulations. This helps in filling the gap created by the demand and supply mismatch in the formal areas. To motivate regulatory compliance, this paper establishes an adaptive regulatory approach that balances social-cultural building practices and land delivery methods.

The Political Economy of Climate Change and Vulnerability in a Neoliberal City: A Case of Bengaluru's Informal Settlements

Understanding vulnerability in a city requires due recognition of the political economy that governs the multiple intersections between people and their living environment. This paper uses the case of informal settlements in Bengaluru, India, to examine vulnerability through a political economy lens in order to capture the larger social, political, economic and structural factors that shape vulnerability to climate change. It discusses how the structural nature of vulnerability, in the form of pre-existing socio-economic marginalisation, reinforces itself in the city. Despite the perception of cities as emancipatory spaces, our findings reveal how caste and migration status remain important factors contributing to differential vulnerability among the informal settlement dwellers in Bengaluru. Marginalised castes as well as new migrants in the city lack the necessary political and bargaining power to tap into networks that can ensure supply of basic services. This focus on understanding vulnerability from a political economy perspective is inadequately prioritised in climate change literature.

A Closer Look at the Right to Have Access to Adequate Housing for Inhabitants of Informal Settlements Post Grootboom

In South Africa informal settlement dwellers are faced with a myriad of socio-economic problems, which relate, amongst others, to living standards, access to basic services, and suitable housing. Notwithstanding these problems, the Constitution affords everyone the right to have access to adequate housing. It also makes it obligatory for the state ‘to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right’. In light of the above, this article examines the constitutional obligation on the state to provide informal settlement dwellers the right of access to adequate housing. It explores some of the landmark cases that have shaped the jurisprudence of the right to have access to adequate housing in South Africa post the ground breaking Constitutional Court’s Grootboom decision.

Global environmental impact of informal settlements and perceptions of local environmental threats: An empirical case study in Suva, Fiji

It is commonly expected that informal settlements in developing countries have a smaller ecological footprint than more economically advantaged areas because they consume fewer resources and use less energy. In this paper we examine this idea by comparing material consumption of two informal settlements to one moderate socio-economic status (SES) neighbourhood in Suva, Fiji. We use the concept of the Ecological Footprint (EF) as a metric of comparison. Using a component-based EF approach we administered a questionnaire to 150 respondents from two informal settlements and one adjacent planned neighbourhood. Total EF and separate EF components (water, food, transport, energy, clothing, and material assets) were analysed through graphs, by examination of descriptive statistics, and through the use of non-parametric inferential statistics. We found differences between the adjacent planned neighbourhood and the informal settlements for several EF components, but found no difference for other EF components (e.g. water consumption). Through questionnaires and interviews we also examined perceived level of concern for environmental threats of informal settlement dwellers and residents of an adjacent moderate SES neighbourhood who share the same geographic space, but have very different living conditions. We found that concerns about sewage, deforestation, clean water and poor sanitation were of particularly high concern in one informal settlement, but not the other, suggesting that perceptions of threat can be very different even among informal settlements. We conclude that a better understanding of the social characteristics of informal settlements is valuable for informal settlement urban planning decisions in developing countries.

Informal settlement upgrading, assets and poverty alleviation: Evidence from longitudinal research in South Africa

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the relationship between housing as an asset and the accumulation of other assets. Using data from a longitudinal research project stretching over nearly 25 years, we have found that besides actual income, there have also been improvements in self-perceived wealth ranking, asset holding, housing size, infrastructure access and human capital. Not all households have however benefited or been found to be better off. We have found that those households who had settled in Freedom Square after 1994 were indeed better off than the earlier settlers. Asset building is a slow process, one driven by stability (accessing urban land and secure tenure), finding an address, accessing education and finding work or remaining employed (though not necessarily in this particular sequence). Contrary to what the Department of Human Settlements suggests, we have found little evidence that informal settlement dwellers build assets by means of the secondary housing market.

The Analysis of Foundry Engineering of Copper Alloys Based on the Research of a Metallurgist Settlement in Szczepidło

Abstract The article presents chosen aspects of foundry engineering of the settlement dwellers, including the archaeometric characteristics and metal science analysis of the artefacts, as well as an attempted reconstruction of the production organization. Discovered in Szczepidło (Greater Poland), the foundry workshop is unique in Central European Bronze Age. This workshop foundry operated roughly XIV-XII Century BC. Its production is evidenced by the presence of markers of the whole production cycle: semi-finished and finished products, production waste, fragments of crucibles and casting ladles with traces of usage, and tools. On this basis, the alloys and foundry technologies used have been described. The analysis of foundry technology of copper alloys in the settlement area was carried out by observing the surface and structure of the products, semi-finished artefacts and fragments of crucibles by applying optical microscopy (OM), confocal microscopy (CLSM) and Xray radiography (RT). The investigations of compositions were made by means of the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (ED-XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive X-ray analysis system (EDS).

Informal settlement upgrading and safety: experiences from Cape Town, South Africa

Informal settlement dwellers are disproportionately affected by ill health, violence and many other socio-economic challenges. These are largely connected to the unhealthy and unsafe physical conditions within which they live. Interventions in the built form through the provision of physical infrastructure have been proposed as a strategy to improve economic, social and health outcomes for informal settlement dwellers and are also suggested as tools to address violence and insecurity, which have reached unprecedented levels in many cities of the South. Whereas there is a clear case for improving the living conditions of people in slums, there is still much debate and uncertainty about what exactly constitutes upgrading, the most appropriate methods and approaches to upgrading, and what the objectives and desired outcomes of upgrading interventions ought to be. This paper tries to shed light on the complexity of upgrading interventions through a comparison of three upgrading projects, each utilising a particular method and approach, and their impact on the perception of safety of their beneficiaries. The research findings show that physical improvements and a full package of basic services are absolutely crucial to improve the living conditions, reduce vulnerabilities and improve the safety of informal settlement dwellers. But these need to be supported by social and economic programmes in order to bring about tangible improvements in people’s life circumstances. Research across the three sites, however, suggests that in a context marked by high unemployment, poor education and limited opportunities to break the cycle of poverty, the long-term impact and sustainability of upgrading interventions is limited in the absence of targeted programmes aimed at addressing the structural factors which drive and sustain high levels of violence and crime.

Attitudes towards foreigners in informal settlements targeted for upgrading in South Africa: A gendered perspective

abstractUsing intersectionality as the organising theoretical framework, this article argues that the attitudes of informal settlement residents towards foreigners are complex, varied and moulded by a multiplicity of factors. Gender intersects in complex ways with social class, space (urban/rural) and political/ideological leanings, among other variables, to shape attitudes. The socially constructed characterisation results in inclusion or exclusion. Indeed, the attitudes held by individuals and groups depend on social and economic positioning as well as the spaces they occupy within the urban/rural/class divides. This serves to explain reticence, denialism and/or justification of violence by different groups in informal settlements, and the distinctions between males and females, and between employers and workers.Therefore, the argument put forward by this article is that attitudes of informal settlement dwellers (as distinct from slum dwellers) in South Africa towards foreigners, and the resulting unequal outcomes, are explicable from multiple forms of oppression, advantage and disadvantage, and hegemonic power structures. These attitudes are dynamic over time. They are fashioned by interconnections and kinship ties between citizens and foreigners. In addition, contestations over resources and opportunity, as well as notions of identity and citizenship, play a part in how the former view the latter. Crucially, gender intersects with social class and region to form the attitudes that are displayed by citizens towards foreigners in South Africa.

Assessment of physicochemical parameters and prevalence of virulent and multiple-antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in treated effluent of two wastewater treatment plants and receiving aquatic milieu in Durban, South Africa.

The poor operational status of some wastewater treatment plants often result in the discharge of inadequately treated effluent into receiving surface waters. This is of significant public health concern as there are many informal settlement dwellers (ISDs) that rely on these surface waters for their domestic use. This study investigated the treatment efficiency of two independent wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Durban, South Africa and determined the impact of treated effluent discharge on the physicochemical and microbial quality of the receiving water bodies over a 6-month period. Presumptive Escherichia coli isolates were identified using biochemical tests and detection of the mdh gene via PCR. Six major virulence genes namely eae, hly, fliC, stx1, stx2, and rfbE were also detected via PCR while antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates were determined using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion assay. The physicochemical parameters of the wastewater samples ranged variously between 9 and 313.33 mg/L, 1.52 and 76.43 NTUs, and 6.30 and 7.87 for COD, turbidity, and pH respectively, while the E. coli counts ranged between 0 and 31.2 × 10(3) CFU/ml. Of the 200 selected E. coli isolates, the hly gene was found in 28 %, fliC in 20 %, stx2 in 17 %, eae in 14 %, with stx1 and rfbE in only 4 % of the isolates. Notable resistance was observed toward trimethoprim (97 %), tetracycline (56 %), and ampicillin (52.5 %). These results further highlight the poor operational status of these WWTPs and outline the need for improved water quality monitoring and enforcement of stringent guidelines.

Community resistance to megaprojects: The case of the N2 Gateway project in Joe Slovo informal settlement, Cape Town

Interactions between megaproject interventions and local communities represents critical subjects of investigation as national and metropolitan governments are using large-scale investments in urban landscapes as pillars of their growth strategies. This article analyses community resistance to the large-scale housing project N2 Gateway in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa township, Cape Town. Since 2004, the inhabitants of Joe Slovo have experienced evictions and relocation, but also the materialisation of new housing opportunities for many community members. Their response to the project has evolved from an initial show of resistance, via a legal process, to a more engagement-oriented strategy during the allocation phase. I argue that the mobilisation of informal settlement dwellers facing megaproject implementation has created disempowerment, social division and a reconfiguration of power relations. It is also proposed that community resistance to megaprojects is best understood when traced over time as a dynamic response to a constantly unfolding project-related intervention.

Social movements and the struggle for shelter: A case study of eThekwini (Durban)

The needs of informal settlement dwellers across towns and cities in the global South are acute. While much emphasis has been placed on income poverty, for urban dwellers affordable access to improved secured accommodation and basic services such as water and sanitation is essential for well-being. In part due to the lack of such access, urban citizens organize in multiple ways to address these needs and to press for state investment and redistribution. South Africa, despite relatively high levels of income and a state with redistributive capacity, is no exception. Indeed, this country is particularly interesting for those seeking to understand effective approaches to addressing housing need because of the efforts that have been made and the resultant scale of state investment in the housing sector. This paper draws on the experiences of urban social movement organizations in South Africa to understand better how shelter needs can be addressed. We reflect on their goals, strategies and activities and explore what this means for themes discussed within the social movement literature. The research has a specific focus on the city of eThekwini/Durban primarily because of the scale of social movement activities there.The paper describes the core concerns with respect to shelter as elaborated by social movement activists, staff of other civil society agencies and officials. While there is a broad consensus about the shelter problems, there is less agreement about solutions. The discussion summarises the shelter objectives and core strategies used by the social movement activists, and considers the success they have had. This includes reviewing their understanding of what success is and how success is achieved. Movement organisations have been able to secure access to the housing subsidy scheme for their members. However, their progress has been limited. The paper concludes that there is a primary focus on what is offered through state programmes and policies despite evident shortcomings. While there is an awareness of the misfit between available programmes, the needs of movement members and more general shelter needs, no fundamental challenge is being made to the dominant approach. A second finding is that while movement members and leaders have an explicit focus on material improvements, underlying their motivations and some of their strategies and actions is the more fundamental goal to be treated as equal citizens. In this dimension, movement organizations seek both recognition of their citizenship as well as the redistribution of state resources. Third, we argue that while social movement progress is related to the political opportunity structures, it also depends on the ability of movement organizations to manage the emerging opportunities, particularly their relationships with the state, professional support organizations and other movement organizations. Relations shift between contention and collaboration to improve negotiating positions, secure access to shelter and achieve greater political inclusion.

Cholera risk factors, Papua New Guinea, 2010

BackgroundCholera is newly emergent in Papua New Guinea but may soon become endemic. Identifying the risk factors for cholera provides evidence for targeted prevention and control measures.MethodsWe conducted a hospital-based case–control study to identify cholera risk factors. Using stool culture as the standard, we evaluated a cholera point of care test in the field.Results176 participants were recruited: 54 cases and 122 controls. Independent risk factors for cholera were: being over 20 years of age (aOR 2.5; 95%CI 1.1, 5.4), defecating in the open air (or river) (aOR 4.5; 95% CI 1.4, 14.4) and knowing someone who travelled to a cholera affected area (aOR 4.1; 95%CI 1.6, 10.7); while the availability of soap for handwashing at home was protective (aOR 0.41; 95%CI 0.19, 0.87). Those reporting access to a piped water distribution system in the home were twice as likely to report the availability of soap for handwashing. The sensitivity and specificity of the rapid test were 72% (95% CI 47–90) and 71% (95%CI 44–90%).ConclusionsImproving population access to the piped water distribution system and sanitation will likely reduce transmission by enabling enhanced hygiene and limiting the contamination of water sources. The One step V. cholerae O1/O139 Antigen Test is of limited utility for clinical decision making in a hospital setting with access to traditional laboratory methods. Settlement dwellers and mobile populations of all age groups should be targeted for interventions in Papua New Guinea.

The challenges of implementing Millennium Development Goal target 7D in Pacific island towns and cities

In the Pacific island region, the progress towards achieving the global Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target 7D, improving the lives of a hundred million slum dwellers, is fraught with many challenges. Out of all the MDG targets, minimal support has been provided to improving the quality of life of residents living in squatter and informal settlements in Pacific towns and cities. In this context, this paper seeks to understand and explain why MDG target 7D and the broader urban sector in the Pacific island region is marginalized. The paper examines the state of squatter and informal settlement growth in Pacific towns and cities, and explores the reasons as to why there is a lack of interest in addressing the plight of squatter and informal settlement dwellers at the Pacific country, regional and development partner levels. The paper calls for renewed action in elevating MDG 7D onto the Pacific island region and national development agendas.

Environments of Change: An Open Building Approach Towards A Design Solution for an Informal Settlement in Mamelodi, South Africa

Poor living conditions in informal settlements may be attributed mostly, though not exclusively, to the lack of basic services. Informal settlements, which also go by the name of squatter camps, are volatile by nature. Even within relatively fixed settlement boundaries, change in urban fabric continually manifests through altering dwelling configurations. Deemed unstable and unsafe by formal criteria, these environments disclose schizophrenic characteristics: beyond the dirt, grime and smog, exist relatively functional societies capable of survival and self-regulation. Public and private sector investment within informal settlements is restricted as a result of their illegal status. Inhabitants have no incentive to invest their own resources where they have no formal tenure over the land. Due to a rather backward approach to informality in South Africa, innovation in dealing with these settlements has been limited. Despite the fact that the rhetoric has sometimes changed from eradication to upgrading, little has been done with regards to alternative forms of settlement development that has relevance in terms of improving the lives of informal settlement dwellers. With rising anger in poverty-stricken areas and on the peripheries of cities, what is needed is improved service delivery through immediate solutions. This article suggests a service delivery core, an architectural catalyst, rooted to the ‘energy’ of the public realm, stimulating growth of infrastructure networks. This catalyst core aims to instigate the amelioration of the surrounding environment. The concept presented is that of a dynamic service core – universal in principle – while also being contextually-driven by responding to a specific environment and needs of a specific community. A generic architectural solution is thus presented to providing basic services and infrastructure within informal settlements, with focussed consideration for the unique situation of an informal settlement in Mamelodi, Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa. It is important to realise that there is no final product, but rather an organic architecture that adapts in a process of continuous and progressive change.

19世紀中期の東蝦夷地三石場所におけるアイヌ集落の存続期間と血縁親族関係

定住性が高い狩猟採集社会である1864∼1869（元治元∼明治2）年の東蝦夷地三石場所のアイヌ集落を対象として，定住性の程度と集落の血縁率の関係を分析した。その結果，「集落の存続期間が長くなると血縁率は低くなる」という傾向はとくに認められなかった。また「家の同一集落内滞在期間が長くなると血縁率は低くなる」という傾向もとくに認められなかった。集団の空間的流動性の程度と集落の血縁率の関係を分析した結果，分裂・結合の流動性の程度と集落の血縁率の間にもとくに関係はなかった。これは集団の空間的流動性が，移動する家のみで形成されるのではなく，集落内に定住する家と移動する家の組み合わせで生じており，集団の空間的流動性には血縁共住機能があり集落の血縁率が維持されているためと考えられる。集落の血縁率の変動率（絶対値）は平均24.9%と大きく，その変動は主に集団の空間的流動性に起因していた。多くの場合に集落の血縁率は50%以上に保たれており，血縁率は平均73.6%である。この結果は，三石場所のアイヌ集落においては，移動性（あるいは定住性）の程度に関わりなく，集団の空間的流動性によって集落の血縁率は低下しない可能性，つまり国家という枠組みのなかに組み込まれながらも「血縁から地縁へ」という変化は生じない可能性があることを示唆する。

A Cross-Cultural Study on the Degree of Fluid Residential Groupings of Settlement Dwellers among Hunter-Gatherers with Special Reference to the Ainu and Orochon

世界の狩猟採集社会の特徴の一つとして集団の空間的流動性があげられる。これまで複数の異なる民族を対象として流動性の程度を比較した研究例はほとんどみられなかった。本研究の目的は，アイヌとオロチョンを例に，集団の空間的流動性の程度を比較することである。分析の結果，以下のことが明らかとなった。集落共住率（U）を算出した結果，同一集落内に定住する傾向が強く集落を構成する家があまり変化しなかった紋別場所のアイヌでは，集落共住率（U）が0.9∼1.0である家の総家数に占める割合は73%ほどであった。一方，多くの家が集落間で移動する傾向が強く集落構成が流動的に変化していた三石場所のアイヌでは，集落共住率（U）が0.9∼1.0である家の総家数に占める割合は43%ほどであった。三石場所のアイヌと同様に，集落構成が流動的に変化していたオロチョンでは，集落共住率（U）が0.9∼1.0である家の総家数に占める割合は25%とさらに低く，0.1∼0.2の家は33.3%，0.3∼0.4の家は25%であった。13年間における集落共住率（U）の経年変化をみると，オロチョンの値は常に0.11∼0.33であり，三石場所のアイヌよりも下回っていた。アイヌの事例を1戸ずつ検討しても，集落共住率（U）の値が常に0.4未満であるような事例は1例もなかった。アイヌ社会のなかでも三石場所のアイヌ集落においては集団の空間的流動性が大きかったが，オロチョンの一家の場合にはさらに流動性が高かった可能性がある。

Thyroid hyperactivity with high thyroglobulin in serum despite sufficient iodine intake in chronic cold adaptation in an Arctic Inuit hunter population

Adult man hosts brown adipose tissue with the capacity to consume energy and dissipate heat. This is essential for non-shivering thermogenesis and its activation depends on sympathetic activity and thyroid hormones. This led us to evaluate the impact of chronic cold exposure on thyroid activity and thyroid hormones in serum in Arctic residents. Comparative, population-based study (n = 535) performed in Greenland. Hunters were compared with other men, and Inuit in remote settlements in East Greenland with no modern housing facilities were compared with the residents of the capital city in West Greenland and residents of a major town in East Greenland in a cross-sectional study. We used interview-based questionnaires, measured TSH, free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine (fT(3)), thyroglobulin (TG) antibody and TG (a measure of thyroid activity) in serum, and iodine and creatinine in spot urine samples. Serum TG was the highest among hunters (P = 0.009) and settlement dwellers (P = 0.001), who were most markedly exposed to cold, even though they had the highest urinary iodine excretion (hunters, P < 0.001; settlement dwellers, P < 0.001). Hunters and settlement dwellers also had the lowest fT(3) (hunters, P < 0.001; settlement dwellers, P < 0.001) after adjusting for gender, age, smoking habits, alcohol intake and iodine excretion in multivariate linear regression models. TSH was not influenced by measures of cold exposure (hunter, P = 0.36; residence, P = 0.91). Cold exposure influenced thyroid hormones and TG in serum in Arctic populations consistent with consumption of thyroid hormone and higher thyroid hormone turnover. Findings emphasise that changes in thyroid activity are essential in cold adaptation in Arctic residents.

Increasing rates of diabetes and cardiovascular risk in Métis settlements in northern Alberta

Objectives. To determine the prevalence of diabetes (using secondary data analysis), as well as undiagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes (using primary research methods) among adult Métis Settlement dwellers in northern Alberta. We also sought to identify cardiovascular risk factors.Study design. Quantitative research study utilizing both population census and community-based diabetes screening data.Methods. Self-reported diabetes was analyzed from the results of the Métis Settlement specific censuses in 1998 and 2006. Mobile clinics travelled into each of the 8 Métis Settlement communities in Alberta recruiting 693 subjects for screening for undiagnosed diabetes, pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Logistic regression analyses (adjusted for age and sex) were used to identify associated factors.Results. According to the censuses, 4,312 Métis individuals were living on Settlements in 1998 and 5,059 in 2006. Self-reported age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes increased significantly from 5.1% in 1998 to 6.9% in 2006 (p<0.01), with a crude prevalence increase of 66% (p<0.01). In 2006, diabetes prevalence was higher among females than males, 7.8% vs. 6.1% respectively (p<0.05). Of the 266 adults screened in the fasting state, 5.3% had undiagnosed diabetes, whereas 20.3% (Canadian Diabetes Association criteria) and 51.9% (American Diabetes Association criteria) had 434 International Journal of Circumpolar Health 68:5 2009 pre-diabetes. Rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome were 49.4% (n=693) and 46.4% (n=266), respectively. Hemoglobin A1c>6.1% was strongly associated with diabetes, pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome.Conclusions. Our results indicate high rates of diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome among adult Alberta Métis Settlement dwellers.

What tenure security? The case for a tripartite view

In the face of advancing urban informality in the developing world there appears to be increasing consensus that tenure security is an important engine driving settlement development. This has, however, not led to a consensus about what tenure security exactly entails. In both theory and policy, the idea of tenure security for low-income settlement dwellers is encountered in three distinct forms: tenure security as perceived by dwellers, tenure security as a legal construct and de facto tenure security. The main argument of this paper is that much controversy that surrounds the debate arises precisely as a consequence of the indiscriminate use of these different kinds of tenure security. To address this problem, a tripartite conceptualization of tenure security that incorporates its three constituent components (perception, de jure, de facto) and clarifies their interrelations is presented.