Squatter Housing Research Articles

Shifts along the Decommodification-Commodification Continuum: Housing Delivery and State Accumulation in Hong Kong

This paper engages with the discourse about commodification of housing in an Asian context and presents a methodology to explore shifts in the delivery of housing along the decommodification-commodification continuum. It reviews the extent to which the Hong Kong state has articulated an understanding of a continuum through its actions in the public and private housing sectors, and how it has acted developmentally in manipulating shifts along the continuum. It is found that, although Hong Kong had a large squatter population, the state controlled the commodification of squatter housing and also implemented an enormously successful and publically lucrative assisted home-ownership scheme, whose success in large part is explained by state management of the commodified nature of this tenure. The paper also reviews how the state's control of decommodified land through state ownership and leasehold alienation, and commodified housing in the private sector, led to the generation of large revenues to fund developmentalist activities. In all, unlike many other examples, the benefits of commodified housing in Hong Kong seem to have flowed in large measure from the private sector to the public sector; from this perspective, the paper offers another insight into the oft-neglected public management aspects of Hong Kong as a development case study.

The Effect of Squatter Housing on Income Distribution in Urban Turkey

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of home-ownership on income distribution in Turkey. Making use of raw data from an official income distribution survey which provides information on cash and in-kind incomes of household members and imputed rents for home-owners, it is found that home-ownership has an equalising effect on income distribution in the urban areas of Turkey. This result is attributed to the fact that many low-income families reside in squatter housing built at the outskirts of large cities.

From nation‐building to globalization: an account of the past and present in recent urban studies in Turkey

Sema Erder Istanbul'a Bir Kent Kondu, Ümraniye [A City Disembarked to Istanbul, Ümraniye].Yildiz Sey (ed.) 75 Yilda Degisen Kent ve Mimarlik [Changing city and architecture in 75 years].Caglar Keyder (ed.) Istanbul, between the global and the localSibel Bozdogan Modernism and nation building: Turkish architectural culture in the early RepublicOguz Isik and Melih Pinarcioglu Nöbetlese yoksulluk, gecekondulasma ve kent yoksullari: Sultanbeyli örnegi [Poverty in turn: squatter housing and urban poor: the example of Sultanbeyli]Ayse Bugra and Caglar Keyder New poverty and the changing welfare regime of Turkey

Charting the ‘Voyage’ of Squatter Housing in Urban Spatial ‘Quadruped’

Sufficient time has expired to look back and chart the ‘voyage’ of the two components of squatter housing phenomenon; the shelter and its builders/inhabitants in time. Both have gone through radical transformations in a period of half a century. This study includes one such attempt. The basic assumption is that; of the two components, the shelter is the variable, dependent on the builders/inhabitants’ position, role and function in the labour market which constitutes the independent variable. This assumption is discussed in an urban spatial quadruped (three abstract, relation-based, economic, political and social spaces, and the physical urban space) displaying chronological ‘refractions’ with reference to different development models adopted in Turkey.

Impeded self-help: toleration and the proscription of housing consolidation in Hong Kong's squatter areas

This article develops the literature on housing consolidation in squatter areas by examining a case where the improvement of squatter dwellings has been consistently proscribed, rather than encouraged, since 1954. Hong Kong devotes significant resources to patrolling and monitoring irregular settlements to ensure that residents do not expand or improve the quality of building materials of their dwellings. I first review what is known about the conditions under which squatter housing is improved. I then suggest an explanation for this unusual situation in the context of the history of squatting and its control in postwar Hong Kong. I then use recent ethnographic fieldwork to provide an account of the way in which the proscription of squatter housing improvement is implemented on the ground.

Models of Urban Transformation

Squatter housing (called gecekondu in Turkish) has been the central element of urban discussions in Turkey since the beginning of the 1950s. However, the solutions to this problem have changed over time. Until the mid-1960s, governments had a negative attitude to squatter housing areas and their populations, seeing them as the sources of social ills in the urban system. Thus, renewal was defined as clearance and redevelopment. However, this situation changed in the 1970s, preparing the necessary ground for rehabilitation and upgrading. In contrast, in the 1980s renewal was evaluated in a global context and equaled regeneration. So, following the 1980s, squatter housing areas have again been considered as problem areas which have to be transformed for the capitalization of global interests, in the name of urban rent. These areas could have been transformed into prestige areas to increase the physical and visual wealth of the city. Thus, first with the improvement plans and later with the urban transformation projects, squatter housing areas have been subject to urban renewal for the betterment of urban space. This study aims to compare these two different squatter housing transformation approaches from the point of view of their impact on the physical and social topography of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey.

Samba

This paper traces the development and diversification of the squatter housing form — favela — and the music form — samba — in Rio de Janeiro from the late 19th century to the present. It is posited that in reflecting (working class) endogenous attitudes and (middle class) exogenous social mores, these two forms have shared a parallel if not precisely time-phased evolution. Evidence is presented to show that poverty, black identity and spatial exclusion from wider society were essential contributors to the origins of the favelas in the late 19th century and the samba in the early 20th century. During the 1940s and 50s when public attitudes to the favelas and their inhabitants were strongly negative, with many favelas being eradicated under public housing policy, protest themes and songs against poverty and marginalisation in samba were suppressed by the Rio authorities. In more recent times, with official attitudes towards the favelas improving and the favelas diversifying in socio-economic and cultural terms, the samba has begun to incorporate other music forms and to widen its cultural basis. Just as attempts are now being made by the city hall to integrate the favelas with the formal city, the samba, assisted by Carnival, has become accepted as a form of mass culture, enjoyed not only by the city of Rio but also by Brazil and the world at large. The close, if not parallel, development of the Rio favelas and samba, encourages a consideration that samba can be seen as a metaphor for the favelas themselves.

Gardening to reduce hazard: urban agriculture in Tanzania

AbstractUrban agriculture is an illegal activity in most African towns and cities, as it is seen to be competing with other, higher value, urban land uses. Despite this, food production occurs throughout the African urban environment and is crucial to the urban economy; providing employment, food security and investment opportunity for a large proportion of the urban population. Urban agriculture also adds value to urban land, bringing unused land into production, reversing degradation and improving the urban landscape. In the context of a rapidly expanding urban population, food production in Dar es Salaam is playing a crucial role in sustaining the city, employing 210000 people. Urban agriculture also has an important role to play in providing a viable land use in the hazard lands of Dar es Salaam, as an alternative to squatter housing which exposes the inhabitants to a substantial risk from flooding. This paper looks at the role that urban agriculture plays in Dar es Salaam and identifies the major actors. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The development and testing of low-cost insulation for shacks

Tin shacks and squatter houses, by virtue of their design and construction, are very thermally inefficient. Inhabitants of these dwellings can spend up to 20% of their disposable income on space heating during winter months. Space heating is usually achieved by burning bio-fuels like wood, coal and paraffin. This heating process produces indoor pollution, and the pollution levels in informal low-cost houses are up to 10 times higher than prescribed by the World Health Organisation. The solution to this problem is to make the houses more energy efficient, and studies have shown that the best way to do this, is to insulate the houses. The aim of this study was to develop a low-cost insulating material for this purpose. It was decided that to make the material economically feasible, a waste product of some type should be used. Used tyres were selected as the waste material, processed to produce a granular rubber, and then combined with additives to produce sheet rubber. One hundred and thirty-one experiments were performed to try and optimise the ratio of solvents, fire retardants, foaming agents and colourants. The experiments, and several computer simulations, showed that energy savings in the region of 45% could be realised using the material. This amounts to a saving of US$91.5-million each winter if all the informal low-cost houses in Gauteng alone were to be insulated. The material was developed into a workable form during this study, but work still needs to be done to improve the flammability, toxic gas emissions, and fire retardancy.

Squatter ( gecekondu) housing versus apartment housing: Turkish rural-to-urban migrant residents' perspectives

This paper investigates the meaning of squatter ( gecekondu) and apartment housing for rural-to-urban migrant residents and their perceptions and preferences regarding this issue in the context of Turkey. The research, conducted in Ankara in a gecekondu settlement, a newly developing apartment district and an established apartment district, reveals that gecekondu and apartment housing hold different meanings for their different types of residents. Gecekondu housing is perceived very positively by those rural migrants who are oriented to the rural community, particularly for the ‘ gecekondu-rooted’ women who spend much of their time in the neighbourhood. This is so because of the way of life gecekondu housing provides, for example, close relationship, with neighbours and spontaneous relationships with the outside. On the other hand, the association of gecekondu settlements with rural migrants in the larger society creates a very negative perception of gecekondu housing in the case of those rural migrants who are oriented to established urban society, particularly for young women (‘younger modernizers’). Low standard of housing, and inadequate services and infrastructure are major problems with squatter housing shared by all residents. On the other hand, apartment housing is perceived by its rural migrant residents as a means of becoming closer to established urban society, and hence as a means of granting them higher status. Unlike the case of gecekondus, this perception of apartments creates a general feeling of satisfaction and a higher degree of commitment among apartment residents, shaping their preferences for apartments. Apartments are further perceived as housing environments which offer ‘clean and comfortable lives’ and urban services to their residents. However, apartment residence is not preferred by those migrants, particularly women, who are oriented to rural community and who need community support and ‘squatter spirit’ in their lives. Gender, time spent in the city, socio-economic status and age were found to be associated with gecekondu/apartment preferences of migrants.

The co-option of low-income borrowers by informal credit suppliers: a credit delivery model for squatter housing

The co-option of low-income borrowers by informal credit suppliers: a credit delivery model for squatter housing

For an improved rural housing to limit distress migration

Abstract Third World cities have been suffering from many problems notably slums, squatter housing, unemployment and so on. The aim of this study is to discuss the process and means of transforming rural life so as to create better opportunities and enhance the living conditions in the countryside. It is suggested that this approach would retain a substantial part of the rural population in the rural areas, thus avoiding the urban problems and chaotic unplanned development.

Spontaneous Shelter: International Perspectives and Prospects

1. Evolution of Third World Shelter Policies Elizabeth Kubale Palmer and Carl V. Patton 2. Geographic Perspectives on Spontaneous Shelter W. Donald McTaggert 3. Spontaneous Settlements as Vernacular Design Amos Rapoport 4. Self-Help Housing Technology David Evan Glasser 5. Environmental Issues in Spontaneous Settlements G. William Page 6. Informal Settlement in Latin America and Its Policy Implications Ernest R. Alexander 7. The Growing Housing Crisis in Ecuador David Evan Glasser 8. Meeting Shelter Needs in Indonesia Carl V. Patton and Leksono Probo Subano 9. Hong Kong's Floating Settlements Bruce Taylor 10. Low-Income Settlements in Monrovia Liberia-Linda Lacey and Stephen Emanuel Owusu 11. Commercialized Rental Housing in Nairobi Kenya-Philip Amis 12. Abusivismo and the Gorgate of Rome Albert Guttenberg 13. Squatter Housing in Yugoslavia Boris Pleskovic 14. Economic Issues and the Progressive Housing Development Model Eric Hansen and Justin Williams 15. The Role of the State in Sheltering the Urban Poor Howard Handelman 16. Prospects for the Future Carl V. Patton

The demand for tenure security in developing countries

We use survey data for Manila, the Philippines, to estimate hedonic functions for formal and squatter housing values. We show that on average a rented squatter unit in Manila would rent for 15 percent more if it were a formal sector unit. An owned squatter unit would sell for 25 percent more if it were a formal sector unit. These percentages are interpreted as eviction risk discount for squatter dwellings. We conclude that assistance projects that provide secure tenure over a wide area will bestow comparatively greater benefits on lower income households, and to those in newer less established settlements, since the risks that they bear initially are greater.

The future of informal sector housing in Malaysia: A case study of squrtters in Kuala Lumpur

Urbanization in Third World countries today invariably involves the expansion of informal sector housing,i.e. houses which are built extraneous to urban housing standards and regulations. Malaysia is no exception in this respect. In all its urban growth centres Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Baharu, Ipoh, Kuantan, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu informal sector housing abounds, but it is in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, that its presencc^is most conspicuous. In the city, such housing is found mainly in two areas i.e. in the squatter settlement and in Malay Reservation areas.2 This paper confines itself to informal sector housing in the squatter areas. Here, the writer examines the extent of squatter housing in Kuala Lumpur, the goverment's attitude and policy towards it, and the future of such housing in the process of urban physical development.

The Limits of State Self–Help Housing Programmes

Development and ChangeVolume 16, Issue 2 p. 271-312 The Limits of State Self–Help Housing Programmes Rod Burgess, Rod Burgess currently terminating his doctoral thesis which compares squatter housing with state self–help housing projects in Colombia. He has lectured on Urban and Regional Planning in Latin America at University College London, and on Third World housing and urban issues at the Architectural Association, London. He has contributed chapters to several books and articles to journals such as World Development, the Internationa/Journal of Urban and Regional Research and Third World Planning Review on self–help housing, urban theory, and urban politics.Search for more papers by this author Rod Burgess, Rod Burgess currently terminating his doctoral thesis which compares squatter housing with state self–help housing projects in Colombia. He has lectured on Urban and Regional Planning in Latin America at University College London, and on Third World housing and urban issues at the Architectural Association, London. He has contributed chapters to several books and articles to journals such as World Development, the Internationa/Journal of Urban and Regional Research and Third World Planning Review on self–help housing, urban theory, and urban politics.Search for more papers by this author First published: April 1985 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1985.tb00211.xCitations: 47 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume16, Issue2April 1985Pages 271-312 RelatedInformation

THE STATE OF LEISURE STUDIES AND RESEARCH IN TURKEY

ABSTRACT The foundation of sociology as a discipline in Turkey took place mainly after 1960 both in terms of more refined research techniques and the number of field studies. Earlier interest in rural and political issues were followed during the 1960s and 1970s by studies the political-economy of development and various problem areas in urbanization, such as squatter housing («gecekondu»). A preliminary survey revealed that the work of pioneers in leisure research such as Abadan-Unat and Kiray in the early 1960s were followed later by leisure inputs in surveys on the «gecekondu» problem. Outdoor recreation resources and second homes, beside tourism development, received increasing attention during the 1970s. It was also during the 1970s that leisure began to be included in curricula of universities of Istanbul and Ankara. In general, comprehensive time-budget and leisure-provision surveys are still to come, and there is yet no special course on leisure per se with its sociological, economic and psychological aspects.

The Value of Squatter Dwellings in Developing Countries

The value of squatter dwellings for a sample in the Philippines is estimated, and the statistical relationship between value and housing characteristics is described. The results of a survey approach indicate that while the discrepancies in the estimates are quite large for individual properties, they are offset by using sufficiently large samples. In addition, when two estimates are highly correlated with one another they yield similar results when they are used as dependent variables in a hedonic price equation. Methodological considerations aside, the determinants of the value of squatter dwellings tend to be similar to those of conventional formal sector dwellings. The external appearance and quality of materials used in construction are among the most important variables. Water and sanitary facilities may not be valued as much as expected. Age may be positively correlated with value because housing services are improved more gradually in squatter communities and because longevity in a particular area is a sign of reduced risk. Overall, squatter housing markets appear to behave as economically rational entities that valuate dwelling units similarly to conventional markets.

The Evolution of Squatter Settlements in Peninsular Malaysian Cities

Squatter, and other vernacular, housing is found in almost all cities of Peninsular Malaysia. In 1976 such dwellings accounted for the majority of all residences in most urban areas, with squatter housing constituting over twenty per cent of the total in several cities. Squatter settlements are the most clearly defineable residential form outside of the modern sector and consequently their dimensions and history are better documented than others. These aspects of squatting provide the basis for this paper, by inference giving some insights into the evolution of all types of unconventional housing.