South African History Archive (SAHA) – Housing Workshop Feedback

Housing sector participants give feedback on Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). They share what they have learnt and how they will apply PAIA in their communities.

Audio Lecture Dr. Kamna Patel – Challenging Conventions Of Slum Upgrading: Lessons Learnt From A Study Of Upgrade In South Africa

Listen: http://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1438820

Dr. Kamna Patel (Lecturer in Development Administration, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL)

Cambridge University

Abstract 
The in situ upgrade of slums is widely considered global best practice in approaches to urban poverty management. This paper presents some of the findings of an investigation into the effects of in situ upgrade on conceptions of tenure security and insecurity, and practices of access to land and housing in low income settlements in Durban, South Africa. Drawing on the grounded experience and lived realities of 24 shack dwellers, and the creative uses of aspects of their identity and social relations, the paper argues the conception and execution of slum upgrading in South Africa reveals two major flaws in upgrade convention. The first flaw is that tenure security can be conceptualised in a way distinct from other securities that affect claims to property, and the second, that slum upgrade can forge a basis on which to renegotiate relations between (informal) citizens and (the formal) state. These findings have wider implications for current trends in urban poverty management.

Tim Smedley – Sustainable Urban Design: Lessons To Be Taken From Slums

guardian.co.uk. Jun 5, 2013. We should not romanticise slums, but informal settlements can teach us a lot about society and the economy of resources.

Alfredo Brillembourg is enthusing about Zurich’s blue recycling bags. “They are an incredible thing,” he says, his accent revealing his Venezuelan roots. The architect and former Columbia University professor talks at a breathless pace, most sentences ending in exclamation marks. “Zurich is an incredible city for recycling! Not only that but they figured out how to finance the whole thing, everyone is obliged to throw their garbage out in one type of bag, the Zuri-bag. That bag is more expensive than a normal plastic bag, you get fined if you don’t use it so the price of the bag includes the cost of collection and an incentive to reduce waste.”

However, we’re not here to talk about Zurich, the latest home for his urban design practice Urban Think Tank, jointly run with co-director Hubert Klumpner. Rather, our conversation regards slums. The informal settlements of the global south, off the map and off the grid, which could not be further removed from the Swiss financial capital. But the Zuri-bag offers an interesting contrast – recycling is something that slum inhabitants do naturally, without expensive schemes. And Brillembourg is one of a number of urbanists who believe we can learn a lot from slums.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-design-lessons-from-slums

Nwachukwu Egbunike – Floating School Replaces Stilts In Lagos Slum

Mercatornet.com – June, 6, 2013

Poverty is no news to Africa: actually the poverty porn dominates media frames about the continent. What is new however, is the rising tide of innovation and creativity. From Cairo to Cape Town, Lagos to Lusaka, some are silently working for change, carving a niche and retelling a sordid narrative punctuated by wars, poverty and famine. Just as African mobile networks are transforming the way commerce operates, architects are also giving rein to their imagination. It was therefore heart-warming having a chat with Chiagozie Fred Nwonwu, a Lagos-based Nigerian writer, about his recent visit to Makoko and his impressions about the Makoko’s new floating school.

Makoko, a slum in Lagos State, Nigeria, was partially demolished last year by the government – drawing public ire. However, from this apparently hapless city, springs forth an innovative green architectural solution that grants hope to the hopeless. The Makoko Floating School designed by NLÉ Architects with sponsoring from the United Nations Development Programme and Heinrich Boell Foundation.

Chiagozie attended at a local workshop last year, where participants were encouraged to come up with innovative ideas to solve local climate-change problems. “Makoko was one of three communities in Lagos that were identified as to be in great need of the type of interventions the workshop aimed to propose.”

See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/harambee

Sanjukta Ghosh – Regional Disparities Of Slums, 2013 –An Overview With Special Emphasis To Kolkata

Sanjukta Ghosh * *M.Sc, Department of Geography, Session: 2010-2012, University of Calcutta, India.

ABSTRACT: The slums of Kolkata represent a contrasting picture that is reflected in terms of poverty and disorganization surrounding the communities. The slum dwellers of Kolkata live in conditions that are not actually fit for their rehabilitation. To alleviate such chronic problems several initiatives have been undertaken by government as well as by Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Various slums have been portrayed in this paper as case studies to draw transparent picture of slum diversity. The historical background analysis along with recent developmental plans for their amelioration has helped in drawing current plight in the slums of Kolkata.

Keywords: Slums, rehabilitation, chronic problems, diversities and developmental plans.

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 7714 www.ijhssi.org Volume 2 Issue 3 ǁ March. 2013ǁ PP.48-54

Read more (PDF-format): http://www.ijhssi.org/papers/v2%283%29/version-4/H234854.pdf

Delhi Choosing High-rise Over Consultative Planning Despite National Consensus On Slums

Posted by Future Cape Town on June 4, 2013

The global community of designers, urban practitioners and community organisers is largely in agreement over what type of urban form promotes inclusive cities: mixed-use, mixed-income neighbourhoods that enable mobility, encourage pedestrianism, and incorporate multi-use public spaces. But the architectural team in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the primary agency responsible for planning and land development in India’s capital, is busy designing high-rise low-income housing that looks like the failed projects of the Bronx and the banlieues. Far from becoming the “world class city” it is striving to be, Delhi is poised to repeat the public housing mistakes of the West…

In the east Delhi neighbourhood of Sundernagari, an intensive community interaction process in designing a pilot project for RAY itself resulted in a design of four-storey cluster units. By maximizing light and ventilation but limiting direct sunlight in the summers, the design ensures year-round energy efficiency. The plan still achieved densities of 600 households per hectare, roughly equivalent to a dense urban slum.

Read more: http://futurecapetown.com/delhi-choosing-high-rise