mg.co.za. August 2, 2013.  Cecily Ghall speaks with pride about the neat, whitewashed two-room shack she built in an acquaintance’s backyard using scrap wooden planks and asbestos plates. It’s warm and – important in the midst of a wet winter – dry, she says. But it isn’t hers.

Ghall (47) has waited for a government-provided home since 2008, when she and her daughter Deonie, then 13, moved to Kurland Village, a predominantly coloured settlement of about 2 000 residents. Less than 16 kilometres away is Plettenberg Bay, a seaside resort where homes selling for more than R15-million are common.

“I don’t know how they decide who gets a house,” said Ghall, who works part-time as a domestic servant. “I’ve been on the waiting list all this time, but I never hear anything. In the meantime, I have to live in someone’s backyard and I can get kicked out at any time.”

Substandard housing remains a legacy of apartheid almost two decades after former President Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress came to power in the nation’s first multiracial vote. Since then, 3.3-million low-cost homes have been built, yet informal settlements have mushroomed around cities as the state programme failed to keep pace with population growth. The housing backlog of about 1.5-million in 1994 has burgeoned to 2.1-million as the population has grown by 13-million to 53-million, according to government data.

Read more: http://mg.co.za/where-the-heart-is-south-africas-post-apartheid-housing-failure/

consultancyafrica.com August, 2, 2013.  The world has undergone a demographic metamorphosis that has never before occurred in the history of mankind. Whereas before the 21st century the majority of people lived in rural settings, now more than half the world’s population lives in cities.In addition, the number of cities in the world has more than quadrupled since 1950. This trend is particularly relevant for Africa, a continent that is experiencing an annual urbanisation rate of 5% – urbanising faster than any other continent. Although urbanisation does present various opportunities, cities in Africa must develop sustainably in a manner that can maintain and support urban health and environmental wellbeing, or they stand to crumble.

Of particular concern is the overwhelming establishment and growth of urban slums throughout African cities. Today, nearly three quarters of Sub-Saharan African city dwellers call the slums home. It is partly due to this rapid continent-wide expansion of urban slums that Africa stands to be the only continent where poverty continues to worsen over the next decades if sustainable growth is not promoted. The ‘slum sickness’ is spreading across African cities with a contagious fervour. Without understanding its causes and exacerbating factors, this contagion is likely to spread at an unparalleled pace. Therefore, it is critical that policymakers at the community, city, national, and international level understand the unique characteristics of this demographic shift and the implications it has for urban policy design.

This CAI discussion paper summarises the characteristics and causes of the unprecedented growth and expansion of urban slums within the urban centres of Africa. After reviewing these trends, the paper discusses what implications these findings have with regard to sustainable urban design and policy of the African city.

Read more: http://www.consultancyafrica.com/contagion-the-epidemic-of-slum-growth

urbantimes.com. According to the slum target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers around the world by 2020. A total of 227 million people in the world have moved out of slum conditions since 2000. However, in terms of absolute numbers, slum dwellers have actually increased from 776.7 million in 2000 to some 827.6 million in 2010.

Read more: http://urbantimes.com/the-future-of-slums-on-the-line-between-hope-despair

sociologyatwork.org. July 25, 2013. In just a few hours, the UN is hosting an online panel to discuss its recent report, World Economic and Social Survey 2013: Sustainable Development Challenges. The panel will discuss issues arising from its research on building sustainable cities, food security and energy transformation. Below I provide an overview of the major findings and some sociological resources that speak to the theme of green planning.

futurecapetown.com. July 26, 2013. Rural villages worldwide are being deserted, as billions of people flock to cities, to live in teeming squatter camps and slums. And Stewart Brand says this is a good thing. Why? It’ll take you 3 minutes to find out.

Take a look: http://futurecapetown.com/why-squatter-cities-are-a-good-thing

After witnessing the appalling quality of life for people in the slum areas of South Africa, Andreas Keller — co-creator of iShack- questioned how he could help. His solution involved harnessing solar power to help build a brighter future for those living in energy poverty. Andreas shares his touching story of how his idea is fostering a renewed hope in creating a more sustainable future for slums.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)