urbanization, slum development and security of tenure - Center for ...
URBANIZATION, SLUM DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY OF TENURE… 81
edge of society in illegal, informal and festering slums where the urban
environment is being actively degraded and urban life and urban living
made increasingly precarious.
The literature on informal housing and land development has
grown considerably in the last decade. The research into the economic,
social, and political forces that generate and sustain the formation of
informal settlements or slums is abundant. These include the works of
Payne (1989), Satterthwaite et al. (1989), Archer (1992), Kombe and
Kreibich (1997), Rakodi et al. (1993), Durand-Lasserve (1998), UNCHS
Habitat (1996), and Kombe and Kreibich (2000). These authors, singly
or individually, observe that because of their inherently “non-legal”
status, squatter settlements have services and infrastructures below the
“adequate” or minimum levels. These services include both network
and social infrastructures, such as water supply, sanitation, electricity,
roads and drainage, as well as schools, health centres, market places,
etc. For example, water supply to individual households may be lacking,
or a few public or community stand pipes may be provided, using
either the city networks or a hand pump. Informal networks for the
supply of water may also be in place. Similar arrangements may be
made for electricity, drainage, toilet facilities, etc., with little dependence
on public authorities or formal channels. Most squatter settlement
households belong to lower income groups, either working as wage
labour or in various informal sector enterprises. On average, most earn
wages at or near the minimum wage level. But household income levels
can also be high as a result of the large number of income earners and
part-time jobs. Squatters are predominantly migrants, either rural-urban
or urban-urban, though many are also second or third generation
squatters. The degraded environments of the informal sector housing
in third world cities continue to cause severe health problems. In particular,
the inadequate quantity and quality of household water supply,
inadequate sewage and waste disposal and the effects of crowding reflect
the continuing inability of city authorities to supply infrastructural
services and adequate housing. Kombe and Kreibich (2000) attributed
these failings, during the last 20 years, to rapid population growth and
immigration, economic decline, political instability and institutional
decay within cities.
The discussion concerning security of tenure, land law and illegality
in the context of urban development has gathered momentum in
recent years, especially since the Habitat Agenda emphasized the cen-