Unplanned Settlements Research Articles

Study of regulation development of settlements in the edge of water in Pangururan Samosir District

In Indonesia, the incremental of settlements can develop naturally due to social and cultural influences. This settlement emergence from the need for a place to live and the community’s activities. Therefore it can not be separated from the effect of internal and external factors that grow in society. People living in waterfront areas tend to build unplanned settlements against government regulations. The incremental of settlements does not support the development process of the Indonesia archipelago, which is divided into long-term, short-term, and annual. This research purpose is to find out the concept of proper regulation for settlements that developed naturally. Furthermore, the concept has preferential values in people’s lives will be a government regulation that is more easily accepted by people in urban villages. This research will carry out by examining the regulation for building waterfront settlements. Besides, observations will also make to pay attention to cultural values, potentials, and characteristics in settlements that have characteristics as naturally incremental settlements. In terms of aspects of the development of science, this research will contribute to the field of settlement morphology. The findings of this research will be a recommendation in waterfront development planning that reflects the social and cultural values that develop in the community.

Improved four‐component based polarimetric synthetic aperture radar image decomposition

Scattering mechanism ambiguity, negative power problem, and complete utilisation of coherency matrix elements have been the major challenges of the model-based decomposition methods. In this study, the aforementioned issues are addressed simultaneously with an improved four-component decomposition method. In the proposed method, helix scattering power is obtained conventionally, while helix angle compensation is used parallelly for the pixels where helix scattering power is overestimated. In the next step, volume scattering power is determined through the eigen-decomposition approach. Both steps are performed by ensuring the positive semidefinite attribute of the coherency matrix after subtracting helix and volume scattering contributions. The next two scattering powers of surface and dihedral components are derived through the decomposition of the remainder rank-2 coherency matrix into two rank-1 matrices. The experimental validation of the proposed method is carried out on the urban environment of two Indian cities where one can easily find out the random streets distribution and unplanned population settlement. The experimental analyses on these dense and complex urban areas indicate that with the proposed decomposition methodology, non-negative scattering powers are obtained and scattering mechanism ambiguity is greatly suppressed.

Unplanned Settlements in Saudi Arabia. The Case of Al-Sabeel District, Jeddah

"Unplanned settlements represent a twentieth-century phenomenon that has been steadily growing on the periphery of almost all cities in the world. These areas are usually overpopulated and characterized by inadequate housing, unpleasant living conditions. Jeddah, a second major city in Saudi Arabia, consists of many unplanned settlements and slums, which affect the future development of its urban and social fabric. This paper intends to explore some essential issues relating to the issues of unplanned settlements in Jeddah through the study, analysis, and assessment of the built environment of Al-Sabeel district, one of the oldest districts in Jeddah. The main objective of this research is to investigate the major physical problems of the deteriorated areas of the district. Thus, the primary purpose is to define a set of recommendations for the upgrading of future unplanned settlements, which will help these informal areas to improve and gradually integrate into the existing urban fabric of the city. Regarding methodology, a qualitative research approach was adopted, which included a literature review, a face-to-face interviews, and field visits to document the physical condition of the built environment of the district. The outcome of the study represents a set of recommendations that indicate the importance of community participation approach as a means of improving the physical condition of the urban environment of Al-Sabeel district."

Causes of Bursa Yıldırım district mollaarap landslide and improvement studies

The slopes at the north of Uludag, where there is an unplanned and dense settlement, have landslide potential in terms of engineering geology. In this study, the causes of the landslide occurring as a result of the uncontrolled excavation carried out on the slope with landslide potential and the improvement or control studies were investigated. With the disturbance of the slope stability, settling and deformations on the upper part of the slope increased, and then 8 decares of area was affected by the flow and sliding mass movements on the slope, and approximately 80 houses in this section were evacuated for safety purposes. As a result of the researches and investigations made in the landslide field, an engineering geology model is revealed Geotechnical properties of geological units and the depth of slip surface were determined by the field and laboratory studies. Prevention and support projects are prepared according to geotechnical properties. As a first measure within the scope of the project, the construction of the support structure consisting of double rows of bored piles in the toe cut was then controlled by the production of a three levelled support structure. This study is a typical example where uncontrolled excavations without consideration of engineering geology and geotechnical conditions cause serious costs and other grievances.

Reviewing the Potential and Constraints of Modified Technology Options for Faecal Sludge Management in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Cities in the developing world face the challenge of safe management of faecal sludge because of rapid population growth that overwhelms the sanitation infrastructure and services. In developing countries, only 50% of faecal sludge (FS) generated is safely managed the remaining portion is haphazardly disposed of in the environment risking public health and environment. In response to the urgent need for safely managed sanitation services, technological options for containment, desludging and transportation of FS are being modified. This paper reviewed current desludging practices and the potential of modified technological options for addressing FSM at containment, desludging, and transportation in Dar es Salaam unplanned urban settlements. The paper reviewed; water seal squat pan, Urine Diversion Dry Toilet (UDDT), split slabs, pre-installed suction hose, and the container-based sanitation (CBS) for containment stage. Others are the hand tools, sludge digger, the excrevator, rammer, and the eVac for desludging; and small pick-up truck and motorized tricycle and transfer stations for transfer and transportation of FS. Based on technical feasibility, social and environmental context of Dar es Salaam, the reviewed modified technology options have the potential of addressing FSM challenges in unplanned urban settlements in Dar es Salaam. However, institutional arrangement particularly the absence of the modified technologies in the menu of recommended technological options affects their upscaling. Paradoxically, most of the technologies have not been vigorously tried in the field to inform policy choice. Improvement of FSM with the application of modified technological options will require improvement in enabling environment for their operation and continuous modification. The major research gaps have also been identified in this review.

The September 16, 2017, Linjiabang landslide in Wanyuan County, China: preliminary investigation and emergency mitigation

This paper reports on a typical slow-moving landslide that occurred in Shuitianba village in Wanyuan County, Sichuan Province, China, on September 16, 2017. The landslide in Wanyuan County is regionally outstanding for its features and well-developed landslide morphology. Hence, this event can provide a good case study for understanding the possible triggering conditions of the occurrences of all the landslides examined in Wanyuan County. The 225 residents of Shuitianba village did not flee the village because the deformation of the landslide was extremely slow. However, the primary emergency tasks are still necessary to reduce the landslide risk that may affect the residents. Detailed field investigations, boreholes, and exploratory trenches were performed to investigate the characteristics and triggering factors of this landslide. Rainfall and anthropogenic activities (such as informal, unplanned settlements and deforestation) were revealed to be the main triggering factors. The main engineering control measures, including anti-sliding piles, an anti-sliding retaining wall, and intercepting ditch, were applied to stabilize the landslide. However, landslide mitigation measures have not been finished, and hence, some interim measures are suggested to effectively reduce landslide risk.

Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban

Growing urban centres have been attracting ever higher numbers of rural migrants, including small-scale farmers, looking for better opportunities due to the rise of large-scale farming, loss of land and climate change. Consequently, there has been an increase in the number of spontaneous and informal settlements being constructed as cities do not keep up with the planning and infrastructure development for new arrivals. Urban dwellers in informal, unplanned settlements where issues of land tenure and access to services are prevalent have, consequently, been exposed to precarious living conditions with limited access to food and water scarcity. Urban agriculture (UA) strategies have been adopted by those residents to alleviate poverty and food insecurity, and have been seen to perform other functions, such as environmental, social, cultural and developmental. This study explores challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban farming as an integrated environmental management strategy for the upgrading of informal settlements in three case studies in Durban. This paper demonstrates the need for municipalities to support community driven processes to ensure sustainability of UA initiatives and sustained investment for maintenance. Policy makers need to create an enabling environment for academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector to co-develop water efficient solutions to manage the food-water nexus and capitalise on localised community structures and groups, such as co-operatives and women groups.

Projection of urban settlement in eco-sensitive hilly areas and its impact on peak runoff

Environmental degradation due to the rapid growth of urban sprawl to eco-sensitive areas emphasizes the need of future projection of urban settlement in eco-sensitive areas. As a promising step towards the eco-friendly urban development, this paper projects the urban settlement in hills of Guwahati city by using a well-validated urban settlement assessment model of the study area. Future values of the socio-economic, demographic and geographical parameters incorporated in the model have been determined with reference to the “Master Plan for Guwahati Metropolitan Area-2025”. As per this model projection, by 2025, average 25.45% of the hilly area of Guwahati city is going to have an unplanned urban settlement, whereas, in 2011, it was only 14.33%. Future landuse land cover change data of the hills have been generated by spatially distributing the projected urban settlement depending on the grid-wise elevation in hills. This type of projection, done on the basis of future socio-economic and demographic condition derived from the master plan of a city can be used for environmental impact assessment of the plan. Finally, by using Rational Method, the impact of the future urban settlement on peak run-off generation has been evaluated for a watershed in the Fatasil hill of Guwahati city. The hydrological study has shown an alarming result with a 20.75% increase in peak run-off due to the conversion of additional 14.5% of the watershed area to urban settlement.

Peri-Urban Livelihood and Adaptive Capacity: Urban Development in Dar Es Salaam

This research focuses on the interactions between urban development and global environmental change processes as crucial for reducing the impacts of climate change. Together with the challenges of rapid urban growth, environmental change impacts will undermine efforts to achieve sustainable development. Peri-urban refers to the area where urban and rural features and processes meet, intertwine and interact, usually located between city and countryside. Peri-urban growth patterns are shaping most of the urban development in sub-Saharan Africa, raising concerns regarding vulnerability to global environmental change in unplanned settlements. To date, there has been little exploration of the implications of peri-urban patterns for social vulnerability and adaptation options. The study discussed in this paper, conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, illustrates the livelihood strategies and environmental management practices used by peri-urban dwellers, while underlining challenges and opportunities for adaptive capacity. According to a few scholars, the acknowledgement of such hybridity leads to a reconsideration of the dominant strategies for addressing environmental issues in peri-urban areas. Assuming the transition to urban is the best solution, those strategies emphasize the role of infrastructure and services provisioning. Moreover, a criticism of dominant approaches arises through analysis of the recent trend toward ecological security in global cities‘ environmental management.

Malawian urbanism and urban poverty: geographies of food access in Blantyre

ABSTRACT Malawi is among the world’s least urbanised countries, yet Malawian cities are growing rapidly and most growth is in unplanned informal settlements. Conventional approaches to urban planning are inadequate to address the growing problem of urban poverty. New perspectives on the nature of Malawian urbanism, built upon notions of liveable, sustainable, and “untamed” urbanisms rooted in African contexts, are needed to generate dialogue on sustainable urbanization suited to local needs, preferences, and resources. This article is based on qualitative fieldwork in Blantyre, Malawi’s second largest city. It provides descriptive accounts (drawn from in-depth interviews, participative mapping, and exploration of the city’s neighbourhoods) of the types of places where residents purchase and produce food. In describing these places, context-specific observations emerge about the locally specific ways that aspects of “untamed” urbanisms, such as informal markets, rural-urban linkages, and customary land allocation, reduce vulnerability to food insecurity for the urban poor.

The Implications of Unplanned Settlement On Environmental Quality in Gwagwalada Town Abuja, Nigeria

The Implications of Unplanned Settlement On Environmental Quality in Gwagwalada Town Abuja, Nigeria

The Great Assam Earthquake of 1950: A Historical Review

Northeast India is prone to major earthquake events due to its geographical and tectonic settings. Recurrence of the earthquakes in this part of India is frequent and associated with devastating events. Earthquake scenario in the region is very dangerous as the unplanned settlements with rise in population increased the vulnerability of human life. To understand such a risk and variability in human life and changes in natural dynamics; it is essential to know and study the past earthquake events. In northeast India, the last most devastating earthquake was the great Assam earthquake of 15th August 1950. This event brought different types of changes in the physiography which, results in havoc among the people. The changes in the river course, landslides, liquefaction and river bank changes are most influential factors in both human and natural arrangements. This brought devastation in human lives that resulted into several unsettled socio-economic issues. After the earthquake, Government and people tried together to overcome such trauma, although lack of preparedness caused some problems. This is the time to review all the scenario of major earthquakes in northeast India and realise that the necessity of preparedness is very important. The paper attempts to review the impact of the earthquake on different spheres: geographical, social and economic.

Material Flow Analysis as a Decision Supporting Tool for Faecal Sludge Resource Recovery: Mathematical Formulation and Quantification

In this work, a conceptual framework for faecal sludge (FS) management and resource recovery in Dar es Salaam city was developed. Material Flow Analysis (MFA) approach was used to assess and quantify the current materials and nutrients to support on decisions for nutrient recovery and minimize environmental pollution in three unplanned settlements of Manzese, Keko and Kipawa in Dar es Salaam city. Nitrogen and Phosphorus were chosen as indicators for the evaluation of the process. The results showed that about 75% of the Dar es Salaam city population relies on pit latrines and 15% connected to septic tanks, translating to a large amount of faecal sludge being contained onsite. The situational analysis study on faecal sludge management (FSM) showed that the collection, treatment and proper disposal of FS are the major challenges that pose risks to public health. Currently, 57% of faecal sludge generated in Dar es Salaam is disposed to the environment inappropriately. Onsite Sanitation Systems in all study areas are the main polluters, discharging large quantity of nutrients to the environment. About 37.7% of faecal sludge is with large amount of nutrients emptied from onsite sanitation systems discharged to the environment and through seepage to the groundwater.

Nepal, a multi-hazard risk country: Spatio-temporal analysis

Nepal, though covers small area of the earth, exposes complex geology with active tectonic processes, high peaks, sloppy terrain and climatic variation. Combination of such geo-physical and climatic conditions with existing poor socio-economic conditions, unplanned settlements, rapidly increasing population and low level of awareness has put the country in highest risk to multi-hazard events. Fires, floods, landslides and epidemics are the most frequent hazard events, which have cumulatively caused a significant loss of lives and property every year. However, due to diversity in physiographic, climatic and socio-economic conditions within the country, the type, frequency and degree of the impact of such events differs in different places. During the period of 46 years (1971-2016), an average of 2 events have been occurred causing 3 deaths/missing every day. Disaster events occurred most frequently during the months of April, July and August, while relatively lesser number of events have been reported during January, November and December. However, earthquakes have been reported in different months, regardless with the season.
 This paper is an effort to analyse the spatial distribution and temporal variation of disaster events in Nepal. Further it has drawn a trend of disasters occurrence in Nepal, which will help the decision makers and other stakeholders for formulating Disaster Risk Management (DRM) plan and policies on one hand and heighten citizens’ awareness of against disasters on the other.

Prevalence and risk factors for sexual assault among class 6 female students in unplanned settlements of Nairobi, Kenya: Baseline analysis from the IMPower & Sources of Strength cluster randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundGender-based violence (GBV) is a crucial global health problem among all age groups, including adolescents. This study describes incidences of GBV, as well as factors associated with sexual assault, among female adolescents in class six living in urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.MethodsStudy participants were interviewed using a structured survey instrument focusing on experiences of GBV, including emotional, physical, and sexual violence, and corresponding perpetrators, as well as gender attitudes, alcohol use, self-efficacy, and previous sexual experiences. Summary statistics and clustered bootstrap confidence intervals were calculated for social behaviors and violence rates. Stepwise logistic regression identified variables associated with an adolescent’s experience of sexual assault.FindingsIn this population 7·2% of adolescent girls reported being raped in the prior twelve months, with 11·1% of these rape victims reporting over five experiences. Among the 21·3% who report having had a boyfriend, 38·1% reported emotional, physical, and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV). Boyfriends were identified most often as perpetrators, accounting for 46·3% of reported lifetime rapes. Previous experience of physical (p = <0·001) or emotional (p<0·001) IPV and home violence (p<0·001) were risk factors for being raped, while high self-efficacy (p<0·001) was a protective factor.InterpretationSexual assault and GBV are major challenges in this highly-disadvantaged population. Novel prevention efforts are needed for this age group, as prevention is often targeted at older adolescents. Prevention efforts should focus on assaults by perpetrators known to adolescents, especially boyfriends, and may need to account for the adolescents’ previous experience of, and exposure to, violence.

Landslide susceptibility mapping of the Tehri reservoir rim area using the weights of evidence method

This study was aimed to utilise important landslide causal factors for the delineation of the landslide susceptible area using the weights of evidence (WofE) method in the Tehri reservoir rim region on a macro scale. The Tehri reservoir extends up to 70 km and bounded by moderate to steep slopes. Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) is an essential measure for identifying the potentially unstable slopes bounding the reservoir. With the help of ancillary data, remote sensing imagery and a digital elevation model, 10 causative factors along with landslide inventory were extracted. Initially, the WofE model was applied to obtain the association between landslides and causative factors. The process gave the numerical estimate of correlation between landslides and causative factors by means of positive and negative correlation. Important factor attributes, potentially causing landslides, were identified based on high positive correlation values. Later, the posterior probability of landslide occurrence for each mapping unit was also computed using the WofE model. Posterior probability was divided into five relative susceptibility classes. Validation of the posterior probability map was carried out by using the prediction rate curve technique and a reasonable accuracy of 83% was achieved. LSM of the Tehri reservoir rim area implicates unplanned road construction and settlements coupled with the reservoir slope settlement process for the present degradation of the geo-environmental system in that region.

CONFORMITY BEHIND THE SOCIAL AND SPATIAL SEGREGATION IN SUB-URBAN AREA A CASE AT GADING SERPONG NEW TOWN, TANGERANG

The phenomenon of urban growth in rural areas created sub-urban areas like Tangerang region. Occupancy of space created by planned settlement against unplanned settlement raises spatial and social segregation. Previous studies have shown more on the negative side of the collision phenomenon with the point of view of the occurrence of physical and social unconformity between the newcomers as residents of planned settlements with the natives. On the other hand, it turns out that unplanned settlements still exist, thus raising the question of research is there conformity in the point of view of unplanned settlement settlers? To get an answer to the question, this research used analytical descriptive method, where data obtained directly from the field through observation and in-depth interviews with unplanned settlement settlers. The result of the analysis showed that although the spatial and social segregation is apparent, the community of unplanned settlers does not feel disturbed and the daily social economic activity of the community keeps going well, even the quality of life improves in some points. Such conditions create a form of internal conformity with parameters formulated by the community, including access to and from unplanned settlements, integrated infrastructures, open access to economic activities, and still guaranteed socio-cultural activities.

Systematic Review of Fish Ecology and Anthropogenic Impacts in South American Estuaries: Setting Priorities for Ecosystem Conservation

Research on estuarine ecology in South America (SA) increased quali-quantitatively since the early 1980 in search of consistent recommendations for estuarine conservation. The most important ecological theory achieved is that the seasonal fluctuation of the salinity gradient creates an ecocline influenced by gradual changes between river-dominated to marine-like waters. Estuarine fish fauna adapts to these changeable abiotic characteristics, including the spatial and seasonal bioavailability of dissolved oxygen and numerous pollutants. However, studies on the influence of the estuarine ecocline are still missing for key estuarine systems. This study provides an overview of fish ecology and anthropogenic impacts within estuarine systems of SA and discusses priorities for environmental conservation. Research on fish reached important conclusions regarding essential habitats and fish interaction with other biological and abiotic compartments over spatio-temporal settings, including conditions of severe anthropogenic impacts. These impacts are related to unplanned urban settlements, industrial estates, ports, damming of major rivers, dredging activities and deforestation for extensive farming. Changes in estuarine morphology alter natural flows and lead to habitat losses, disrupting the ecocline and impairing fishes from moving among formerly connected habitats, especially earlier ontogenetic phases. In addition, industrial, urban and farming activities often result in high loads of metals and persistent organic pollutants, organic enrichment and oxygen depletion. Moreover, plastic debris, a ubiquitous contaminant with sources on every human activity, including fishing, when fragmented into microplastics, become preferably concentrated in semi-enclosed environments, as estuaries. Metals, POPs and microplastics are actually asserted to be persistent. When in high concentrations, they become bioavailable to the estuarine trophic web through bioaccumulation, being biomagnified or biotransfered towards higher trophic level organisms, such as top predator fishes. Therefore, research on environmental quality and fish ecology must be based on robust sampling designs along the whole ecocline using long-term approaches. In addition, basic sanitation, co-management, an improved licensing system and scientifically-based risk assessments/monitoring for all sorts of enterprise are also urgent. These conservation priorities need to be in place before human-driven changes surpass the ecosystem’s capacity to produce resources and maintain services.

Hunting for tonnage: waste workers’ incentives in a public-private partnership in Bafoussam, Cameroon

ABSTRACTPublic-private partnerships are often depicted as an effective institutional arrangement to improve urban services towards sustainable development. In sub-Saharan Africa, the involvement of private parties in municipal solid waste management is believed to bring in technical, managerial and financial capabilities, which municipalities generally lack. However, several studies revealed that access to privatised waste collection services is often unequal and disfavouring unplanned settlements. This research contributes to an understanding of the production of such socio-spatial inequalities and injustices through public-private partnerships by specifically looking at the everyday collection practices of formal waste workers employed by Hysacam, the private company in charge of waste management services in the medium-sized city of Bafoussam and elsewhere in Cameroon. Drawing primarily upon qualitative data, including participant observation, the paper shows how the weight-based collection target, prescribed in the tripartite partnership contract between the central government, the municipality and Hysacam that theoretically should cover the whole urban area, produced perverse incentives at various scales for uneven garbage collection in Bafoussam. More generally, this case study points to the importance of considering workers and their everyday practices, as well as incentives and accountabilities, for the design of sustainable and socially just solid waste management.

The Land Is Ours. Vulnerabilization and resistance in informal settlements in Puerto Rico: Lessons from the Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust

Between 2002 and 2004, residents from seven informal settlements located along the Caño Martín Peña, a highly polluted channel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, established a community land trust to regularize land tenure and protect the historically marginalized barrios against the threat of displacement, as an unintended consequence of the ecological restoration of the channel. This article looks at the Fideicomiso de la Tierra del Caño Martín Peña (the Caño Martín Peña Community Land Trust or Caño CLT) from a political ecological perspective, as it aims to identify how the interests, policies and discourse of political and economic elites function to perpetuate the vulnerability of residents in unplanned settlements, and how the Caño CLT is an effective instrument to counter this process. The Caño CLT supports on-site rehabilitation by taking land out of a hostile market, reinforcing solidarity networks and democratizing sustainable planning through ongoing participatory planning-action-reflection processes. It is a critical piece of the wider comprehensive development ENLACE Caño Martín Peña Project, whose benefits include reducing the risk of flooding and restoring the environmental qualities of the mangrove channel. The article considers that informal settlements like those in the Martín Peña area are often located in a city’s most environmentally vulnerable, yet ecologically and geographically valuable areas, prone to land grabs after disasters. By looking at public discourse in Puerto Rico and the U.S. in the aftermath of the devastating hurricanes that struck the island in 2017, we analyze the assumed links between informality and vulnerability and how these assumptions are used to spur public support for displacements. The article argues that documenting and theorizing the knowledges produced by the enduring resistance of the Martín Peña communities can support residents in unplanned settlements in the Global South to come together and create mechanisms that protect land and counter vulnerabilization.