affordable land and housing in asia - International Union of Tenants

An analysis of sufficient living area in Asiain general shows a growing trends towardovercrowding in most cities and countries.Overcrowding and poor ventilation are relatedto morbidity and child mortality rates. The riskof disease transmission and infection can risein relation to increasing numbers of occupantscrowded into small, poorly ventilated spacesincreases.2.2.3 Access to improved water supplyTwo-thirds of the world’s population lackingaccess to an improved water supply live in Asia.This equates to over 670 million people in bothrural and urban areas. However, according toofficial reports, the proportion of the populationwith access to an improved water source in urbanareas in Asia is very high. The vast majority, 93per cent, have access to safe drinking water. 73 Inmany countries, official statistics reflect betterwater coverage in urban areas than in rural areas.However, in many cities, the quantity, qualityand affordability of water in slums falls belowacceptable standards.2.2.4 Access to improved sanitationMore than one in four people in the developingworld do not have access to adequate sanitation.Asia alone accounts for over 70 per cent of thisnumber, mainly because of the large populationsof China and India. In 2000, approximately 33per cent of the urban population in China lackedaccess to improved sanitation.Recent years have seen a significant increase inthe numbers of urban dwellers with access toimproved sanitation in Southern and South-Eastern Asia, however, access lags far behindin Eastern Asia where 31 per cent of the urbanpopulation still lacks access to improvedsanitation, as Table 4 shows. Lack of access to anadequate toilet impacts adversely on householdoccupants’ health, increases morbidity andmortality rates and more often than not doeslittle to improve their dignity.2.2.5 Security of tenureMass evictions of slum and squatter settlementsin various cities in recent years suggest thatsecurity of tenure for the urban poor in Asia isbecoming increasingly precarious. The scale ofinsecurity of tenure and forced evictions is largelya result of public and private sector policies andpractices.The three most common causes of mass evictionsin cities in Asia are large-scale infrastructureprojects, urban beautification initiatives andinternational mega events. For example, anestimated 1.5 million people were displacedfrom their homes due to construction and urbanredevelopment in the eight-year run-up to the2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. 74 Inmany cases evictions are carried out without legalnotice or without following due process. 752.2.6 Multiple shelter deprivationsHousing that is characterised by one or moreof the above shelter deprivations is defined asinadequate. However, the degree of inadequacydepends on both the number and the degreeof the deprivations. Thus, a slightly crowdedhousing unit that satisfies all the other adequacyTable 5: Proportion of slum households in developing regions by number of shelter deprivations, 2001DeprivationsOne Two Three FourAsia Southern 66 29 5 0South-Eastern 74 20 5 1Western 77 16 6 1Eastern - - - -Africa Northern 89 11 0 0Sub-Saharan 49 33 15 3Latin America and the Caribbean 66 25 8 1Source: UN-HABITAT (2005) Urban Indicators Programme, Phase III (data for Eastern Asia not available).22PART two