Case Study 2 1
Case Study 2 1
Case Study 2 1
DOCTOR OF ARCHITECTURE
MAY 2021
By
Hsuan-ling Chen
DArch Committee:
endeavor. The accomplishment of completing this dissertation would not have been
My deep gratitude goes first to Professor Daniel Friedman, for his patience,
motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Thank you for your continued support
and encouragement. I could not have imagined having a better mentor for my doctorate
research. To my greatest committee members: Ashok Das and Chris Hong. Professor Das,
thank you for always being eager to help and sharing your knowledge with me every time.
Mr. Hong, thank you for guiding me and bring out the best in me throughout the process.
I would also like to appreciate all the support I receive from my friends and family.
Thank you all for love, caring, and preparing me for my future. Finally, I owe my deepest
Their love, support, and the consistent confidence they showed in me were indispensable
ii
ABSTRACT
in the US and developing countries worldwide. It comes in many forms, but in most cases,
exorbitant cost of dwelling options for low-income populations in conventional public and
private housing markets. What I am calling “makeshift” places are the consequence of a
series of deteriorating political rights and deficient market initiatives culminating in the
maximization of land use and the privatization of city structures. Such profit-driven
social exclusion.
Informal buildings and makeshift compounds are growing at a faster rate than any
other form of urban development. They comprise urban neighborhoods or districts that
develop and operate outside the formal control of the state. They are so economically,
spatially, and socially integrated with their urban background that most developing cities
are unsustainable without them.1 However, the desire to remove them has persisted and
remains linked to the issues of urban imagery, place, and identity. Although the literature
building and must be included in debates about the future of architecture and urban
development.
1
Kimberly Dovey and Ross King, “Forms of Informality: Morphology And Visibility Of Informal
Settlements,” Built Environment 37, no. 1 (2011), https://doi.org/10.2148/benv.37.1.11.
iii
This study will first explore the process of informal building and recognize its
consequences for architecture and urban development. It may also serve as a basis to
that will become a catalyst for achieving more sustainable and equitable cities and
communities. We will examine different aspects of residential context, including how the
sense of belonging and housing operates with respect to culture, society, and land. It
takes architectural of design beyond the impulse to reaffirm individual identity and speaks
to dignity and self-determination in ways that shape individuals and enable them to
manage the spaces where they live. In this context, informality is architecturally relevant.
iv
TABLE CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ iii
TABLE CONTENTS ............................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. viii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ xi
ACRONMYS ...................................................................................................... xii
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
1.1. Background ........................................................................................... 1
1.2. Objective .............................................................................................. 5
1.3. Methodology .......................................................................................... 7
2. UNDERSTANDING INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS ..................................................... 9
2.1. Beginnings of Informal Urban Development ............................................... 9
2.2. Informal Settlements and Global Urbanization .......................................... 12
2.3. Poverty and Inequality .......................................................................... 17
2.4. Failures of Formality ............................................................................. 22
3. THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE FORMAL AND INFORMAL .................................. 27
3.1. Ambiguity ........................................................................................... 27
3.2. Image and Identity............................................................................... 33
3.3. Provisionality ....................................................................................... 35
3.4. Adaptation to Place .............................................................................. 42
3.5. The Coexistence of the Formal and Informal ............................................ 45
3.6. Peoples in Transit ................................................................................. 49
4. INFORMAL SPACE AND MAKESHIFT TRANSFORMATION .................................... 54
4.1. Patterns of Informal Building and Community Formation............................ 54
4.2. Design Implications .............................................................................. 58
4.3. Self-Organizing Buildings and Settlements ............................................... 60
5. PRECEDENT STUDIES .................................................................................. 67
5.1. On-Site Redevelopment: Kampung Improvement Program......................... 68
5.1.1. Study Area Profile ............................................................................. 70
5.1.2. Cultural and Social Context ................................................................ 73
5.1.3. Physical Building and Structure Analysis ............................................... 74
5.1.4. Upgrading Project Development .......................................................... 78
v
5.1.5. Results and Recommendations ............................................................ 80
5.2. Incremental Adjustment: Aranya Community ........................................... 83
5.2.1. Study Area Profile ............................................................................. 84
5.2.2. Cultural and Social Context ................................................................ 86
5.2.3. Physical Building and Structure Analysis ............................................... 86
5.2.4. Upgrading Project Development .......................................................... 88
5.2.5. Results and Recommendations ............................................................ 91
5.3. Servicing Approach: Occupy Madison Village ............................................ 94
5.3.1. Study Area Profile ............................................................................. 96
5.3.2. Cultural and Social Context ................................................................ 98
5.3.3. Physical Building and Structure Analysis ............................................... 98
5.3.4. Upgrading Project Development ........................................................ 100
5.3.5. Results and Recommendations .......................................................... 103
5.4. Evacuation and Relocation: Chennai Resettlement .................................. 107
5.4.1. Study Area Profile ........................................................................... 108
5.4.2. Cultural and Social Context .............................................................. 110
5.4.3. Physical Building and Structure Analysis ............................................. 113
5.4.4. Upgrading Project Development ........................................................ 116
5.4.5. Results and Recommendations .......................................................... 118
6. IMPROVING THE IMPERFECT ...................................................................... 120
6.1. Stakeholders ..................................................................................... 121
6.1.1. Renters and Squatters ..................................................................... 124
6.1.2. Landowners.................................................................................... 124
6.1.3. Community .................................................................................... 125
6.1.4. Local Authority ............................................................................... 127
6.2. Conceptual Framework ....................................................................... 131
6.2.1. Organization of Basic Units ............................................................... 131
6.2.2. Modular Typology ............................................................................ 132
6.2.3. Typological Forms and Patterns ......................................................... 133
6.2.4. Planning Scenarios .......................................................................... 135
6.3. Vignette: Kaka’ako Transition Village .................................................... 137
6.3.1. Planning Objectives ......................................................................... 141
6.3.2. Implementation .............................................................................. 144
6.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 147
vi
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 148
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 150
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
viii
Figure 24: Characteristics of Ananya Community. ................................................. 83
Figure 25: Street View (Left) and Aerial View (Right) of Aranya Community Housing,
Indore, India. ............................................................................................. 84
Figure 26: Indore City Extension. ........................................................................ 85
Figure 27: Location of Aranya Community. ........................................................... 85
Figure 28: House Variation. Users decide how and how much to build. ..................... 88
Figure 29: Levels of Share Spaces Conducted on Site. ........................................... 89
Figure 30: Service Plot (Left) and Streets with Hierarchy (Right). ............................ 91
Figure 31: Aranya Community, To Do List Before and After Upgrade. ....................... 91
Figure 32: Aranya, A Way of Life: Cluster, Streets, Bazaars, Images, and People. ..... 92
Figure 33: Characteristics of Occupy Madison Village. ............................................ 94
Figure 34: American Tiny House Villages .............................................................. 95
Figure 35: Location of Occupy Madison’s Village. Madison, Wisconsin, US. ................ 96
Figure 36: OM Village Site Plan (Left) and Floor Plan (Right). .................................. 99
Figure 37: Tiny Houses in the Courtyard (Left). The Tiny Home is Just Right for One
Person (Right). ........................................................................................... 99
Figure 38: Ocuppy Madison Village, To Do List Before and After Upgrade. ............... 104
Figure 39: Characteristic of Chennai Resettlement............................................... 107
Figure 40: Location of Resettlement in Chennai, India.......................................... 109
Figure 41: Repartition of Slum Population in Chennai (Left), and Slum Location in
Chennai (Right). ....................................................................................... 110
Figure 42: The Example of Katcha House (Left), Semi Pucca (Middle), and Pucca
House (Right). .......................................................................................... 112
Figure 43: Location of Tamilnadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) Tenements in
Perumbakkam. ......................................................................................... 114
Figure 44: Aerial View of Perumbakkam Tenements (Left), and Lack of Natural
Lighting (Right). ........................................................................................ 115
Figure 45: Chennai Resettlement, To Do List Before and After Upgrade. ................. 118
Figure 46: Organization of Basic Units. Units for 1-2 People (Left), and Units for
Families and ADA (Right). .......................................................................... 132
Figure 47: Modular Typologies Adapting to the Existing City. ................................ 133
Figure 48: Typological Forma and Patterns. ........................................................ 134
Figure 49: Planning Scenarios. ......................................................................... 135
ix
Figure 50: Characteristic of Kaka’ako Transition Village. ....................................... 137
Figure 51: Homeless Encampment along Kaka’ako Mauka Gateway Park. ............... 139
Figure 52: Location of Kaka’ako Makai Gateway Park. .......................................... 140
Figure 53: Waikiki Health’s Next Stem Shelters. .................................................. 141
Figure 54: Kaka’ako Transition Village. Activity Plan (Left) and Site Plan (Right). ..... 142
Figure 55: Kaka’ako Transition Village: Interaction on Site. .................................. 143
Figure 56: Kaka’ako Transition Village: Eyes on the Street. .................................. 144
Figure 57: Kaka’ako Transition Village, Perspective. ............................................ 145
Figure 58: Kaka’ako Transition Village, To Do List Before and After Upgrade. .......... 147
x
LIST OF TABLES
xi
ACRONMYS
xii
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
Informal settlements have existed for a long time, in the sense that an individual
other than the landowner has built houses with or without the landowner’s consent.
development and came out of the writing of Charles Abrams and John Turner, following
the 1976 Habitat Conference in Vancouver, Canada. 2 Charles Abrams illustrates the
process of squatting as the illegal appropriation of the space for shelter, defined both by
the law of force and the force of law.3 John Turner takes a positive outlook of squatting
For the millions of poor living in the developing areas of the world, moving to the
city has always been a means for improving job opportunities and quality of the life.
Recent studies have shown a dramatic increase in urban population; governments are
not able to meet the high demand for building plots, resulting in the proliferation of
informal settlements. The informal settlement has been defined in various ways
depending on the planning and legal framework of the country in which it is located. This
areas where a group of housing units has been constructed on land to which the
2
“The Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements,” United Nations Conference on Human Settlements,
1976, https://www.un.org/en/conferences/habitat/vancouver1976.
3
Charles Abrams, Man's Struggle for Shelter in An Urbanizing World (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1964).
4
Gerald Breese, The City in Newly Developing Countries: Readings on Urbanism And Urbanization
(Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1969).
occupants have no legal claim or which constitute unplanned settlements and housing
services. It has been perceived both as a problem and solution to housing needs in
the formal control of the state. Although it may be impossible to separate them from
slum housing and legal tenure issues, it is important to define informality separately from
slums. Squatter settlement implies a blanket lack of tenure; most informal settlements
involve a range of rental, squatting, and informal entitlements. Many dwellings in informal
settlements have most or all of these, yet not every informal settlement is a slum. The
United Nations defines a slum as any dwelling with more than three people per room or
without access to clean water, sanitation, security, and durable shelter.7 It presupposes
healthy living environment: sanitation, water, toilets, and personal space. Most of the
channels for wastewater and sewage. In many cases, these clusters of houses might start
off as slums, but with the addition of toilets and upgrading transform into a healthy
neighborhood. Overall, slums are urban areas characterized by poverty and substandard
living conditions, and informal settlements are areas developed outside of planning
regulations and legally sanctioned housing and land markets. Slum settlement refers to
the condition of a settlement, while squatter settlement refers to the legal position of the
5
Raymond J. Struyk, Guide to Preparing A Housing Finance Strategy (Nairobi: UN-HABITAT, 2009).
6
Peter Kellett and Mark Napier, “Squatter Architecture? A Critical Examination of Vernacular Theory and
Spontaneous Settlement with Reference to South Africa,” Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review 6, no. 2
(1995).
7
Slums of The World (Nairobi: UN-HABITAT, 2003).
2
settlement.8 There is a significant overlap between them, but some slums are part of the
formal housing sector, and some informal settlements may have excellent living
There are several names by which different writers identify squatter settlements
that highlight various attitudes toward and approaches to them, ranging from positive to
Noteworthy local names for squatter settlements (often also used for slum settlements)
Venezuela.9
8
Will Jason, “Sustainable Development,” LILP, 2018.
9
Hari Srinivas, “Defining Squatter Settlements,” Gdrc.Org, 2015, https://www.gdrc.org/uem/define-
squatter.html.
10
Glossary of Environment Statistics (New York: United Nations, 2000),
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesF/SeriesF_67E.pdf.
11
Shaaban Sheuya and Xing Quan Zhang, Informal Settlements and Finance in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
(Nairobi: UN-HABITAT, 2020), xx.
3
overcrowding, insecure residential status, and
poor structural quality of housing.
Squatter Areas of housing units that have been contracted UN Statistics Division
Settlements or erected on land to which the occupants do not Glossary of
have a legal claim. See also Informal Settlement. Environment
Statistics12
Marginal Housing units that lack basic amenities and/or are Glossary of
Settlements not considered fit for human habitation. Environment
Statistics
Amount the listed settlements typologies, squatters and informal settlements are
not qualified as formal houses because of their lack of legal claim; the housing condition
12
Glossary of Environment Statistics.
4
defines others. Only the minimum housing meets the standard for living, and the rest
1.2. Objective
of urban poverty and marginalization, and only a sparse portion is concerned with
understanding the form of informal settlements. Among all these studies, some adhere
permanent part of the housing supply.13 These settlements have also increasingly been
indistinguishable from the urban form of the city, and this does not only happen in
developing countries.
13
Lombard, “Constructing Ordinary Places: Place-Making In Urban Informal Settlements In Mexico,”
Progress in Planning 94 (2014), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2013.05.003.
5
When an outsider first perceives these “makeshift” places, space appears to be
organic and lacking structure, but on closer inspection, a form of logic begins to emerge.
Although most of these buildings have not been designed by an architect or structured
often suggests logical economic saving and intelligent planning of the household.
Surprising similarities have been observed between modern building material and
link between builders of informal settlements and professional architectural design and
practice.
Didier Drummond, who studies the urban growth of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro,
of these three stages. These stages typically include the minimal and only the most
then the effects of improved infrastructure must be linked to perceived tenure and
security. Such improvements at the urban scale are followed by those in the housing
units, especially when the state takes part in those urban improvements, because it
provides community members with some assurance that they will not be removed.
When people cannot afford to own a house, they end up having to live in makeshift
neighborhoods that are crime infested, unsanitary, and overcrowded, with poor education
is an opportunity for planning objectives to guarantee access to green space and to nature,
14
Didier Drummond, Architectes Des Favelas (Paris: Dunod, 1981).
6
access to physical activity and group sports, and walkability to elementary schools and
health-care centers.
In the final stage of these makeshift places, improvements are made cooperatively
to the physical structure of the neighborhoods after residents have built their own houses.
Living as a collective would be one of the most important features for successful
often occurs when these features are present in combination, as government agencies
recognize that upgrading is cheaper, more effective, and more long-lasting if their
upgrading programs work with community resident organizations. The goal of this
research is therefore to extract lessons of value for the different settings of informal
informal settlements lie in their integration into the formal planning and organizational
processes. If our cities want to continue to promote development and progress, we must
1.3. Methodology
The past and future are connected in some. To provide a guideline to improve
necessary. Figure 1 defines the framework of this research. The report is based on a
summary of previous scholarly findings, theories, and literature reviews based on trends,
images, and events of current makeshift places, concluding with complementary methods
for improving the imperfect. As explained, the theory is evidence of the present, and it
7
Conclusion from the Past Theory
This research aims to identify a series of key drivers and approaches with the most
straightforward and simplest application with “if” or “else” methods regarding improving
makeshift places through architecture and design thinking. Every chapter introduces
makeshift places in different aspects and presented them with color-coded diagrams.
and may be applied to other cases worldwide. It also reflects on the way the architecture
8
2. UNDERSTANDING INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
Informality is not confined to the third world or developing countries only but is a
perception that exists even in a rigid setting. During the last decades, hundreds of
thousands of informal buildings have been built around the world. Although they are
rarely made by people with architectural skills or building expertise, the number of these
units produced per year exceeds the number of units in formalized developments.
Compared with the institutionalized planning policy characterized by highly regulated and
deregulated conditions by individuals who have no vision or plan for the final whole.
Instead, they build ad hoc by sequentially adding one element to another. The results
have often been determined by the basic construction techniques and materials available.
Nevertheless, informal buildings have rapidly filled up all the voids in downtown areas as
well as in the outskirts, such as the flat rooftops of the existing houses, green zones along
the boulevards, empty spaces between the buildings, and crop fields at the edges of the
cities. They cluster near primary city services and infrastructure, creating a new urban
Both the informal and the formal involve form. The prefix “in-” hints at a secondary
character of the notion that formal allegedly came first, but this is true only in terms of
the morphology of the language. Informality prevails at the beginning of many spaces
and fields of activities, and humans regulate and create formality afterwards. One could
order and regulation. We divide physical space using walls, screens, and other partitions.
9
We create restrictions known as rules and laws to regulate behavior. Therefore, the
The other way in which these two notions are not interchangeable is that the
space and set frames while the informal process is still applied within, just with less
freedom. Of course, informality has its own rules, with complex structures and thousands
of parameters, but formality makes things more understandable and controllable for
people. Finding the balance between the limitations and flexibilities within a domain is
important. Formality is clearer and more organized but less adaptable, whereas
Either is imperfect because human nature is imperfect. Rules and restrictions are
sometimes well considered or too weak to prevent informality entirely. One can frequently
find loopholes in the boundaries of formality that allow informality to evade it. Formality
is like a dam surrounding water pushing against it constantly, but many scenarios can
occur that crash the system: the dam could break under pressure, or the reservoir may
overflow or dry out completely. There is a continuous disequilibrium between formal and
informal, and urban informality can provide a starting point in understanding the
The urbanization process brings up new urban challenges, including the insufficient
supply of infrastructure, public transport, and employment. One of the most significant
markets and docile governments. The cities' crises overwhelm the conventional planning
industry and require the formulation of alternatives that will integrate the architecture of
10
Informal architecture and global urbanization are closely related. An investigation into
the effects of neoliberalism and dysfunctional political systems on the growth of informal
settlements reveals the underlying reasons. In addition, the ways informal dwellers
subsist in poor conditions shows how the scarcity of resources and adverse living
environments trigger creativity in the development of resilient communities for living and
The earliest developed literature regarding urban informality may come from
sociology. It posits informality as a pre-existing condition in the 18th century before the
formal urban realm began. Nezar AlSayyad argues that “many aspects of the formal and/
or informal dichotomy may owe their origin to unresolved problems in this historical
practices that exclude a large segment of the population. 16 Ananya Roy argues
insightfully that “the urban growth of the 21st century is happening in the developing
world, but many of the theories of how cities function remain rooted in the developed
world.”17 The sociological account of informality in the urban context typically privileges
social, economic, and political problems. There was a surprising lack of research on
informality's physical properties before the early 1960s when a theory by Perlman based
on research in Latin America dismantled many of the “myths” about informality. She
argued that informal settlements are squarely part of the more extensive economic
system, and informal economies are criticized as distinct from the formal economy.18 This
15
Ananya Roy and Nezar AlSayyad, Urban Informality: Transnational Perspectives from the Middle East,
Latin America, and South Asia (Berkeley: Lexington Books, 2004).
16
Gavin Shatkin, “Planning to Forget: Informal Settlements As 'Forgotten Places' In Globalising Metro
Manila,” Urban Studies 41, no. 12 (2004), https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980412331297636.
17
Ananya Roy, “Urban Informality: Toward an Epistemology of Planning,” Journal of The American
Planning Association, 71, no. 2 (2005), https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360508976689.
18
Janice Perlman, Myth of Marginality: Urban Poverty and Politics in Rio De Janeiro (City, CA: University of
California Press, 1992).
11
provided the possibility of understanding that informal settlements are not a finite static
object but rather an outcome of a long process of socioeconomic exchange and physical
In his book, Planet of Slums, Mike Davis introduces the scale of the problem of
urban informality. He writes that “neoliberal capitalism since 1970 has multiplied
Residents of slums, while only 6% of the city population of the developed countries,
the world’s population is considered urban, and more than one billion urban residents live
in informal settlements, then at least one-third of the world’s urban population lives in
slums.22 The United Nations’ Population Division predicts that there will be 9.3 billion
human beings on our planet by 2050. 23 This dilemma gives birth to a host of
environmental concerns, scarcity, political strife, and perhaps most significantly, slums.
Not only are our numbers rising rapidly, but we are also witnessing a growing
brought with it the production of slums in many developing countries. The relationship
19
Jose Samper, “Toward an Epistemology of The Form of The Informal City: Mapping the Process of
Informal City Making,” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2014, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3492729.
20
Lynn Shepherd, Tom-All-Alone's (City: Constable & Robinson, 2012). The story Tom-All-Alone's takes
place in the “space between” two masterpieces of mid-Victorian fiction: Bleak House and The Woman in White. The
novel explores a dark underside of Victorian life in London slum.
21
Mike Davis, Planet of Slums (New York: Verso, 2017).
22
“SDG Indicators,” Unstats.Un.Org, 2020, https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-11/.
23
“World Population Prospects,” Population.un.org, 2004, https://population.un.org/wpp/.
12
The underlying causes can be identified by investigating the impact of
settlements. In addition to finding out the reasons for their formation, the ways informal
how the scarcity of resources and an adverse living environment can trigger residents’
creativity to shape a resilient community for living and working. Teresa Almeida provides
a detailed discussion on each of the key concepts mentioned above: “Although capitalism
global integration that exacerbated unequal and exclusionary development, giving rise to
slums.” 25
Globalization has resulted in a series of derailed political rights, and deviant market
economic and social segregation. Cities and urban population growth correlate with
entirely organic creation within a country's domestic conditions. Instead, it is one of the
People usually associate their formation with economic growth and housing development,
highlighting the interplay between poverty and insufficient housing provision among
urban populations. Informal settlements have become the only housing solution for low-
income earners, accounting for almost a third of the urban population that strives to live
24
Neoliberalism is a political approach that favors free-market capitalism, deregulation, and reduction in
government spending.
25
Teresa Almeida, “Goal 11, Department of Economic And Social Affairs,” Sdgs.un.org, 2020,
https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11.
13
in urban cities by informality. There is no doubt that globalization plays a vital role in
regarding the correlation between the exact role of globalization and economic
development in the sprawl of informal settlements in urban cities. The principle of free-
urban areas. Privatization, deregulation, free markets, free trade, minimal state
interference, and regulation are all primary characteristics of neoliberalism and its
trade between nations and the integrity of markets. However, it also increases the income
gap in modern society between the wealthy and the poor. While the poor remain under
great economic hardship throughout their lives as they do not benefit much from the
economic growth, while the wealthy have become more prosperous. Under neoliberal
capitalism, the city population faces difficulties in accessing formal employment because
of over-urbanization. This leads to minimal wages and a poor working environment for
contract workers, part-time workers, and unregistered workers. As the poor cannot afford
conventional housing or access to privatized land for subsistence living, considering the
poor living environment, they can only choose to reside in informal settlements despite
poor housing conditions. Their willingness to reside in cities is closely linked with the
economic growth driven by the rapid urbanization of those seeking better working and
14
Figure 4: Schematic illustration of the emergence of informal settlements as a manifestation of low adaptive
capacity within a rural-urban SES. The left and right sides of the outmost circle represent factors of generic
capacities as rural push and urban pull. The middle circle illustrates the lack of specific capacities required to
address vulnerabilities in the outmost circle.
Source: Niva, Taka and Varis, Rural-Urban Migration And The Growth Of Informal Settlements: A Socio-Ecological
System Conceptualization With Insights Through A “Water Lens”.
Informal urbanization is not a pragmatic solution for the lack of formal housing in
26
Roberto Rocco and Jan van Ballegooijen, The Routledge Handbook on Informal Urbanization (New York:
Routledge, 2018).
15
Living in informal settlements becomes the only solution for the poor striving to stay in
urban areas because of the lack of affordable formal housing. It is also an expression of
the social exclusion associated with dysfunctional political systems that the public has
only a little awareness of these issues. City planners fail to cope with rapid rural-to-urban
migration, such as providing affordable housing for the newcomers, and the government
has no funding for massive demand for housing to construct in a short time. The whole
city marginalizes the urban poor outside of the city’s development and believes that the
problem will disappear with economic growth. Therefore, the proliferation of informal
settlements is mainly the result of poor housing planning by the city government resulting
from insufficient financial funds and the lack of coordination among different
development.
At the same time, the housing market profits more from the supply of middle-
rather than low-income dwellings, which exacerbates the demand for informal
the market economy, which have shifted housing policy goals from protecting a
architecture has been transformed from a discipline in service of the larger part of the
population to a disparate niche of the real estate business that has more to do with the
marketing industry than the public good. Building schemes have been reduced to those
that are standardized, best-selling, and most profitable for a society of consumers.
Because opportunities for conceptual innovations are limited, architecture efforts have
been redirected toward rendering facades to provide a fancy, luxurious face to compete
in the market.
16
Without the rights and voices that other city residents have, people living in
informal settlements are continually faced not only with political injustice but also with
social exclusion. The everyday activities of informal dwellers are often hampered by their
poor living conditions and infrastructure. Their activities are limited to what is within
walking distance, and this divides them from the formal cities and results in social
isolation. To raise consciousness among city governments and other citizens on issues of
poverty, tenure insecurity, informal housing, lack of basic services, and overcrowding.27
Apart from urbanization, their expansion has also been attributed to colonialism, poor
urban planning approaches, poor management, and the governments’’ inability to meet
the demands of the growing urban population.28 However, these settlements also provide
disenfranchisement from the general economy means that dwellers in the informal
settlements do not have equal access to good jobs, good health care, better education,
or, in some cases, even potable water. They face various economic and health
27
Davis, Planet of Slums.
28
Simiyu, Cairncross, and Swilling, “Understanding Living Conditions And Deprivation In Informal
Settlements Of Kisumu, Kenya.”
17
vulnerabilities, such as unstable income from which they must pay a premium for
face discrimination when attempting to access public services and find employment.
informal subdivision, sale, and vacant land development. Residents are forced to use low-
cost building materials to construct shelter and often build community assets
Although city living can be healthy for most people, where one lives in a city plays
a critical role in determining one’s well-being and life chances.31 Residents in informal
levels, low-quality shelter, food insecurity, and political exclusion. These factors all widely
interact with environmental health risks. The formal health department normally
encounters slum residents only when they develop complications of preventable chronic
diseases, which takes a costly toll on these uninformed communities and already limited
healthcare services. Indeed, the urban poor living in informal settlements face a “triple
diabetes and heart disease.32 The multiple risks residents of informal settlements face
29
Satterthwaite, McGranahan and Tacoli, “Urbanization and Its Implications for Food and Farming.”
30
Lilford et al., “Improving the Health and Welfare of People Who Live in Slums.”
31
Dye, “Health and Urban Living.”
32
UN-Habitat, Slum Almanac 2015–2016: Tracking Improvement in the Lives of Slum Dwellers.
18
are due to (1) hazardous shelter and poor living environment; (2) limited or no access to
safe water, sanitation, public transport, and clean energy; (3) tenure insecurity; (4)
exclusion from affordable, high-quality healthcare, education, and other vital services;
(5) spatial segregation; (6) violence and insecurity; and (7) political marginalization.33
These social inequalities may influence housing risk and health, as listed as following
table:
33
Corburn and Sverdlik, “Slum Upgrading and Health Equity.”
19
Increased occupational hazards;
Poverty and Low incomes, few assets
maternal health complications; vaccine-
informal and access to credit; lack
preventable diseases; perinatal
livelihoods of social protection
diseases; drug-resistant infections
20
Increased occupational hazards;
Poverty and Low incomes, few assets
maternal health complications; vaccine-
informal and access to credit; lack
preventable diseases; perinatal
livelihoods of social protection
diseases; drug-resistant infections
areas at high risk of flooding or landslides. Indigenous populations are not permitted by
the occupying power to live in urban areas. Instead, they are only allowed either to labor
in the city or settle on land designated for them, which is frequently the riskiest, flood-
prone, and/or adjacent to growing industries. Informal settlements reflect not only
household poverty and urban population growth but also represent a legacy of
economic exclusion, and municipal governments that are unable or unwilling to serve the
urban poor.
have summarized the key health issues facing many urban slum-dwellers and
emphasized that their root causes are spatial and material deprivation and pervasive
healthy environment is what all human beings and all forms of life need to thrive. Poor
21
health in informal urban settlements is not due to the behaviors or lifestyles of the urban
poor. Urban slum upgrading is a process and collection of outcomes that can have a
inequities experienced by the urban poor. Responses to inequitable health outcomes and
living conditions in urban slums must not merely treat people and return them to the
living and working conditions that made them sick in the first place.
Formality, which is defined as the rigid observance of rules or norms to secure the
overall progress of society, leaves room for a lot of loopholes. People react and only obey
rules when it serves their best interests. If the system offers no economic or personal benefit,
22
ways around it are found that give rise to informality. Formality is concerned with following
protocols to achieve a result, but it allows for just one protocol to be strictly followed and
replicated by all, without making various changes and adjustments in conditions. On the
contrary, informality, as a system, is very flexible: the result, rather than the protocol, is
what matters. For example, formality requires setting down principles, guidelines, and
materials to build a house and a lot more before construction can begin. In contrast, with
informality, the opportunities to build are always considered before any work is applied. The
flexibility of the informal gives rises to creativity and allows for a progression. Informality has
given rise to so-called “incremental building,” whereby houses can be built over a period of
time and improved upon, in contrast to the formal protocol where everything is thoroughly
means to develop control over resources and then redistribute them equally. However, this
did not end up working out as planned. In fact, most of the formal ways used nowadays were
written down years ago, ignoring the fact that people, societies, and cultures do change over
time. It is impossible to get the same result every time by applying the same framework all
the time. Although formality could have been created with the best intentions to streamline
efforts and increase efficiency, these divisions created limits to our actions. Despite its
acceptance, formality has also always met with opposition for many different reasons.
Most cities have planned for a specific number of inhabitants and expected population
growth which would be constant and kept under check from the start. However, the rate at
which the world has urbanized over the past years has been unprecedented. City populations
have more than doubled or tripled, in some cases, and have grown way past projections. The
problem is our failure to plan for this expected influx. Urbanization has limited formality from
functioning in some cities already. Unplanned urban sprawl, deficiencies in basic facilities,
environmental pollution, and general urban decay have brought formality almost to a halt.
Basic services and public infrastructure must be sourced informally. Formality has made our
23
cities so stiff and rigid that they cannot be modified to embrace changes. One advantage of
the informal in this regard is its flexibility and resilience. It could be said that informal systems
do not have an identity but work against odds that definitely are not in their favor. Against
all these odds, informality remains afloat and accommodates change as it happens and is
always able to make enough space for the next influx. We must learn from the process and
apply it to our formal cities to be able to cope with the upcoming new wave of urbanization.
The impact of rapid population growth on the need for housing in the city is also an
example of the failure of managing growth. In almost all economies, the growth of housing
development is usually the result of the push of rural areas and the pull of town. This move,
despite being anticipated, still appears highly unplanned. It is absolutely understandable that
people would want to stay in an area with jobs or other economic opportunities, but they
move into cities where they are almost unable to get befitting accommodation at a price they
can afford. Some remain at the mercy of housing policies, which is often an attempt to keep
them silent but is never enough. Housing growth arising from acute unemployment results
from the increase of people in cities. This growth and physical expansion of cities have been
infrastructure, and general urban decay. Most cities have lost their original dignity, social
cohesion, and administrative efficiency as the rise in poverty and urbanization exerts more
pressure on urban facilities. Providing affordable housing for incoming citizens has always
been a major problem, so they have no way but to resort to the informal. The informal system
is flexible, expandable, and able to readjust at little or no cost and is almost always less
trouble.
Galvin Shatkin exposes the ways that informal settlements have increasingly been
forgotten by urban planners despite these housing crises, as planners have consciously
abandoned place-based poverty alleviation efforts based on the rationale that they are no
24
longer tenable in the global era.34 Such purely legal approaches are limited in that they do
not address physical or social needs. The global urban planning approach to dealing with
urban poverty and its impact on inhabitants’ quality of life is more a compilation of strategies
than a single-minded approach. This approach is reflected in various sectors of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG)35 and developed as a multi-practice approach in the UN. It broadly
follows the same structure defined in policy guidelines, and this guidance offer is implemented
in the neighborhood upgrading programs and emphasizes seven necessary dimensions: (1)
vehicle of social and physical integration; (4) the project must have an impact on a citywide
scale; (5) public and private partnerships; (6) engagement in these type of projects requires
some level of state reform and support from the state; and (7) the pursuit of inclusion,
responsibility toward the inhabitants of the slum areas as a “social debt”37 or their “right of
the city.”
The other main struggle in formality has been control. The main purpose has been a
way to control human activity, but we all know that the last thing any human being needs is
to be controlled. With formality in place, boundaries are set. Freedom is given, but not fully.
With the informal, boundaries are so blurred that they almost do not exist. Restriction of
people to designated areas almost does not allow for a social mix. What is required is an
inclusive development that leaves space for control to help with social mixing and exchanges.
34
Shatkin, “Planning to Forget.”
35
According to the UN, The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development
goals for the year 2015 and committed by 191 United Nation member states, and at least 22 international
organizations. The following are the MDFs by 2015: (1) To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. (2) To achieve
universal primary education. (3) To promote gender equality and empower women. (4) To reduce child mortality.
(5) To improve maternal health. (6) To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. (7) To ensure
environmental sustainability. (8) To develop a global partnership for development. Each goal has specific targets,
and dates to achieving those targets.
36
Vicente del Rio and William Siembieda, Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil (Gainesville, University Press
of Florida, 2010).
37
Jose Samper, “Urban Regeneration in a Context Of Violence: The Case of the Favela-Bairro in Rio De
Janeiro,” Informalsettlementsresearch.com, 2020, http://www.informalsettlementsresearch.com/2011/06/urban-
regeneration-in-context-of.html.
25
In response to these failures over the last few decades, a new form of strategy has
emerged, with government agencies investing in policies and programs that engage the
problem of the informal from a new viewpoint. These policies are moving from focusing on a
single practice to a more operational multi-practice approach. The world has been trying to
learn from informality and apply the experiences extracted from informal settlements. This
learning opportunity would not exist if formality were as perfect as proclaimed. This is not
intended to romanticize informality, which also is not perfect, but together the informal and
the formal could work for the betterment of all. It is important to note that formality and
informality should be seen as a continuum and part of a socioeconomic fabric with participants
exchanges with one another and not as a hierarchy of one over the other. Also, one should
not be simply regarded as necessarily good or the other as bad, but both should be seen as
a part of a whole. The goal is to make both benefit those who happen to live within them. The
decision we make now would significantly affect our world’s future sustainability.
26
3. THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE FORMAL AND
INFORMAL
3.1. Ambiguity
Informal urbanism is an urban phenomenon that defies clichés, and its only
common characteristic is its origin. Typically, it draws criticism from governing entities,
which focus on its negative aspects, but it can draw cautious praise from select academics,
practitioners, and community members who find hidden value through closer study. In
reality, whereas the formal urban process tends to destabilize, the informal solidifies. The
integration of formal and informal at any scale becomes a code for managing sustainable
urban development.
are working descriptions of urban reality with varying degrees of formality. Informal
urbanism ranges from the penniless rural migrant who builds his home in an emerging
community to the speculator or developer who subdivides land without complying with
all regulations.38
- “Informal” and “illegal” are not equivalent because the informal may be the only
- “Informal” and “poor” are not equivalent because middle class families can be
38
Werthmann, “Informal Urbanism,” Uni.Unhabitat.org, accessed 12 December 2020,
https://uni.unhabitat.org/informal-urbanism-about/.
27
Therefore, no settlement is ever completely formal or informal, and the abiding
condition is ambiguity.39 What is known as “squatting” often occurs on land without clear
cadastral maps or legitimate title, where there are contested clams over land tenure,
Martin and Mathema describe three primary process models for the formation and
unused land by a small group who may then take a role in overseeing further
development as others join in. In some cases, the first squatters charge a fee or become
slum landlords to those who follow. The urban morphology in such cases tends to be
piecemeal. The second model is the overnight land invasion organized by a group of
community leaders, sometimes with informal “rights” of use bought from the “owner.”
Such settlements tend to be roughly pre-planned in grid layout with plots allocated. In a
third model, the owners of a title develop it in an unauthorized subdivision where plots
or houses are then sold or rented for profit, a model that is sometimes called pirate
housing.42
where different sources of law and patterns of ownership can coexist. There is also a
range of tenure situations, varying from the most informal forms of possession and use
to full ownership. Many kinds of informal tenure engender the emergence of “landlords”
who charge rent on property for which they do not hold title. Land and houses are
39
Kimberly Dovey and Ross King, “Forms of Informality: Morphology and Visibility of Informal
Settlements,” Built Environment 37, no. 1 (2011).
40
Hans-Dieter Evers and Rudiger Korff, Southeast Asian Urbanism: The Meaning and Power of Social
Space (Munster: LIT Verlag, 2003).
41
Martin Robert and Ashna Mathema, “Clash of Civilization: Reflections on the Problems of Upgrading
Informal Settlements, Experiences in Ethiopia, Kenya, Swaziland, and Zambia,” Informal Settlements: A Perpetual
Challenge? (2006).
42
Davis, Planet of Slums.
28
informally “bought,” “sold,” and “registered” with community leaders. Political alliances
often emerge between political parties and squatter communities who guarantee to
deliver voting blocs in return for protection from eviction. Resident interests in security
ambiguous.
The following table details the continuum in land tenure rights according to type
of land tenure. However, it is important to note that a variety of other considerations can
still affect the level of rights. These include limitations on land usage, given that land use
must comply with zoning regulations, development, and construction standards and
norms, as well as with the form of development referred in the agreement or contract
between the owner and the land user. The level of rights will also depend on the period
for which the rights are negotiated and whether they are renewable and transferable.
Finally, the degree of formality of rights or lease contracts can influence the level of rights
as they can range from informal unwritten agreements to formal contracts between
landlords and tenants. There will also be customary arrangements, which may allow for
different levels of rights depending on the local legal and regulatory framework.
Not Protected
Against Forced ✓
Eviction
Squatters With
Temporary
Protection ✓
Against Forced
Eviction
29
On Sites
Occupants in Unsuitable for ✓ ✓
Unauthorized Development
Land On Sites
Subdivision Eligible for ✓ ✓
Upgrading
Holders of Long-Term or
✓
Renewable Permits to Occupy
With No
Formal ✓
Contracts
Long-Term Leaseholders
✓
(Registered Leaseholds)
Freeholders ✓
The definition of a home is distinguished from a house by the fact that the former
The use of a term such as “home ownership” considers house and home as synonymous
phrases. However, there may be more uncertainty in the context of other uses. 43
as a kind of relationship between people and their environment. Being at home is a mode
43
Kimberly Dovey, “Home and Homelessness,” Home Environments, 1985, xx,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2266-3_2.
30
of habitation whereby we are oriented within a spatial, temporal, and sociocultural order
dwellers and their dwelling places. Concomitant with this distinction is that the
the housing problem can be, and often is, solved in a manner that creates homelessness.
Type of
Spontaneous/ informal Spontaneous Spontaneous
settlement
None, little, or
Partial or temporary/
Security of tenure misplaced None
psychological security
psychological security
Permanence Permanent Not permanent Not permanent
Level of Stable/more
Consolidated Not consolidated
consolidation problematic
Quasi/informal
Physical planning Quasi/informal planning Not planned
planning
Scavenged
Wood, iron sheets,
Type of building Scavenged wood, iron cardboard boxes/
sometimes mud, brick
materials sheets blankets, plastic
or stone walls
sheets
Life span of
More than 5 years Less than 5 years Weeks or months
housing
Personal safety Moderate safety Minimum safety Not safe
31
Renting or informally Renting or informally Night shelter,
Type of
constructed owner constructed owner under flyover, in
accommodation
occupation occupation station, pipes, etc.
Increases/expands in Increases/expands in
Expand without
Growth density over a limited density over a limited
control
area area
Low but accepted for Low but accepted for Not trusted, lowest
Social status
most employment most employment status
Non-recognition/
Response of Resettlement/often
Upgrading demolition and
government summary eviction
relocation
Access to
facilities, e.g., Difficult Difficult Impossible
banking
Table 5:Differentiating Factors Between Inadequately Housed and Homeless people in Informal Settlements and
Street-Homeless People
Reference: Based on Tables Complied by Tipple Graham. 2006. “Who is Homeless in Developing Countries.”
International Development Planning Review
32
3.2. Image and Identity
The process of globalization affects the very definition of place and identity in
architecture and urban design. One could argue that re-conquest of the capacity of
architecture and urbanism to express local identity is among the key requirements for
sustainable development.44 The identity of one place emerges from a specific locality but
embodies a multitude of layered phenomena. Some are tangible and measurable, while
and common practices over time. The locality in which an image of place is rooted consists
of physical setting and activities. Traditional urban and architectural history charts the
In place theory, the identity of a particular place often refers to its significance in
relation to other places. The cluster of characteristics defines the unity and uniqueness
of one place and its relation to some other places. Thus, the identity of place refers not
only to the distinctiveness of individual places but also to sameness between different
fundamental element in any definition of place.46 Such approaches insist that identity is
Tangible elements of place identity, its physical setting, and its activities are
palpable and immanent elements that conceive ground for its creation. Intangible
these experiences are based on tangible elements of place, they do not necessarily
depend on it. The meanings of place may be situated and linked to their physical elements
44
Milica Muminović and Darko Radović, “Spatial Expressions of Local Identity in the Times of Rapid
Globalization,” paper presented at the International Network Symposium, 2012.
45
Edward Relph, Place and Placelessness (London: Sage, 2016).
46
Christian Norberg-Schulz, Genius Loci: Towards A Phenomenology of Architecture (New York: Rizzoli).
47
Muminović and Radović, “Spatial Expressions.”
33
and associated activities, but they are not their property; they are, rather, the property
attempt to conform by lesser means. Nowadays, there is more architectural and urban
informal system, where the threshold between formality and informality is blurred, can
say that they have acquired a sense of resilience and resourcefulness as part of their skill
set. Society has acknowledged that informal settings are a “beautiful chaos” and a
resource for understanding urban culture. Advocates for the formal system are now
urbanism.
John Turner, whose influential work in Peru made way for the self-help policies of
the World Bank, remarks eloquently that housing needs to be seen as a verb instead of
a noun. Not only is housing the constructional built form, it is also about the process of
social evolution. Informal settlements are one of the best examples of adaptability and
incremental growth. They develop through a bottom-up process and demonstrate a level
notice its informal characteristic through its people and their behavior. These
observations inform us of how people live and go about their everyday life. We learn
more about the city from a chat with the local taxi driver than from the travel guidebook.
34
Unfortunately, most of the informal settlements are portrayed as the black holes
of social, economic, and cultural pathologies- a site of violence, insecurity, and poverty.
However, these settlements are not going to go away. They are a part of the
contemporary city and the attempt to produce public housing as a remedy for
substandard housing. We still have such backfired projects in New York City and the other
cities. The characteristics of life in the projects are crime, drugs, lack of security, police
Popular culture reinforces that these places are different and separate from
everything else, and this is the kind of language in images that influences the public
debates. In practice, there are actually lessons in urban design that we can learn here.
Almost all these neighborhoods are mixed-use, pedestrian friendly, and within walking
distance of jobs. They display high-density, low-rise housing, with a high degree of
outdoor life in the laneways. Through driven by cramped interior space, the house
interface allows for activity to spill out of the indoors and creates a lively streetscape,
which in turn contributes to public safety through “eyes on the street,” as pointed out
decades ago by Jane Jacobs. 48 These settlements serve as an exemplary model for
3.3. Provisionality
criteria has been the topic of several studies. As an accurate description of urban
informality is often impossible to provide, the concept has been adopted differently over
recent decades. In fact, the criteria for developing typologies of informal settlements are
48
Robert Kanigel, Eyes On The Street: The Life of Jane Jacobs (New York: Vintage Books, 2017).
35
often not the same. Davis suggests a typology of informal settlements based on proximity
Dovey and King outline a typology of informal settlements that considers the
process in three terms. The first is settling on the unclaimed and often unbounded land
as indigenous village/town over millennia. The second is inserting into the uninhabited,
or excrescences grow out of, or attach onto, the structure of the formal city. 50 This
typology introduces eight types framed within the categories of districts, interfaces,
trajectories, and topographic. Such categorizations help organize thinking rather than
1. District
The most common type of urban slum is often that where informal settlements
have grown to become large mixed-use districts incorporating major retail and
industrial functions. Such informal settlements develop over a long period and
site of major upgrading schemes where the prevailing informality has been
infiltrated by the formal city. Examples: Kibera (Nairobi), Tondo (Manila), Khlong
49
Davis, Planet of Slums.
50
Dovey and King, “Forms of Informality.”
36
Figure 5: Urban District Settlement. Kibera Slum in Nairobi (Left) and Dharavi Slum in Bombay (Right)
Resources: Peter Prokosch (Left), Ritesh Uttamchandani (Right)
2. Waterfront
These are are settlements located on marginal land between formal city and water
frontage. This marginal land has usually been considered unsafe for settlements
and tsunami. In some cases, the settlements have been raised artificially above
the water. Many informal settlements in the wet tropical cities of Southeast Asia
are of this type. Examples: Khlong (Bankok), Rivers of Manila and Indonesia.
37
3. Backstage
between existing city buildings under conditions where it is largely hidden from
the public gaze of the formal city. This “backstage” is an urban zone that becomes
more informal the deeper one penetrates behind a relatively formal street frontage.
At times, the entry through the street wall is nothing more than a half-meter gap,
beyond which the morphology of public street give way within a few meters to
Figure 7: Backstage Settlements. Manshiet Nasser (Left), Guangzhou (Middle), and Zhuhai (Right)
Resources: Adriana Navarro Sertich (Left), Cinzia Losavio (Middle and Right)
4. Enclosures
here is that the formal boundary sets a limit to the extension (and often the
visibility) of the informal settlement. The original shell becomes the bounding
38
condition of informal appropriation even where the informal accretions are clearly
5. Easements
Major urban infrastructures such as railways, freeway, bridges, and major power
or sewer lines often have easements or buffer zones that become major sites of
these easements and sometimes turns the railway line into a pedestrian street
between trains. If the freeway is elevated, then the space underneath can become
39
Figure 9: Infrastructure Easement. Slums in Delhi (Left) and Manila (Right)
Resources: Indian Legal (Left) and The Daily Opium (Right)
6. Sidewalk
Sidewalk settlements often emerge under conditions where public sidewalks are
lined with blank walls or fences and are not used for access to adjacent properties.
The spatial framework generally leads to linear housing that is only one room deep
but several stories high. Domestic space thus occupies what remains of the
constructed from cardboard and plastic, can be cleared away during the day.
Figure 10: Sidewalk Settlement. Dharavi, Mambi (Left) and Manila (Right)
Resources: Flickr CC User M M (Left) and Guidelines (Right)
7. Adherences
existing formal framework. The formal construction becomes the armature for
façade. Although informal additions may also be internal, the impact on the city is
related to informal intrusions into public space. This type differs from the sidewalk
type in that the source of informality lies in the occupation of the formal buildings.
40
Figure 11: Adherences Settlement. Dharavi Slum Area in Mumba (Left) and Manila
Resources: Elena Odareeva (Left) and The Borgen Project
8. Escarpments
Some parts of urban topography are too steep to build on but have been
appropriated for informal settlements. Frequently, this is the margin between the
formal city and mountains, with terrain to rugged for vehicle to navigate that may
also be subject to landslides. Examples are most found in South American where
the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the squatters of Caracas are largely located on
escarpments.
Figure 12: Escarpments. Favelas of Rio de Janeiro (Left) and Squatters of Caracas (Right)
Resources: Yahoo Life on Pinterest (Left), Gabriel J. Diaz (Right)
41
Although the previous descriptions seem to suggest the typology of informal
and exploration in Google Earth demonstrates that the distinctions outlined here are
heuristic tools. Nearly all informal settlements are hybrids. A waterfront is often an
embankment or escarpment that combines the dangers of flooding and land slippage.
Railway, freeway, water, and power easements may be co-located with waterfront or
or the exterior of an enclosure. One settlement type can also be transformed or morphed
into another.
(not in my backyard) principle, which connotes that such residents only oppose them
42
when the development is close by but tolerate or support settlements built farther away.51
They are noticeably against the chaos, disordered planning, and ramshackle construction.
But like other informal sectors, these informal settlements benefit from the deficiencies
of the formal sectors and use their own capital to create a habitable environment through
flexibility, pragmatism, negotiation, and the constant struggle for survival and self-
organization. In other words, it could be said that informal settlements need their cities
to survive, just as much as these cities benefit from their informal parts. Many informal
economic activities in informal settlements are essential links in supply chains and closely
integrate with the “formal” sector. They also provide the basis for cost-effective
in which ideas have their meaning, one might suggest that the impressions surrounding
informal settlements are images of chaos, poverty, violence, and disease. However, those
are only a construction built from outside informality and are created for people who
belong outside. Currently, the central debate around informal settlements is that they
are dangerous and toxic wastelands that must be contained, tamed, and remediated;
and that they would never recover without outside intervention. We expect poor
communities to suffer from a culture of poverty that undermines initiative and rewards
predatory behavior, that the poor can only mimic the affluent and become upwardly
mobile through submission and repetition while creating and perpetuating a culture of
structures underlying the informal settlements and their varied internal organization. In
fact, informal dwellers develop their own practical solutions in dealing with environmental,
51
“NIMBY,” Dictionary.com.
43
social, and economic problems. These implications must be considered when talking
capacities could aggravate social and cultural problems. In short, one could conclude that
although the negative aspects and dynamics of informality cannot be denied, the positive
should not be ignored either. On the one hand, it is essential to understand that informal
settlements are indeed centers of poverty, criminality and ecological problems, but on
the other, they are also the provenance of innovation. Their inhabitants find solutions
under critical environment and political restrictions on a scale without historical precedent.
The rules of informality serve as a force concurrent with that of the governing body
in shaping the urban condition. Whether these contrasting ways of producing and
appropriating cities coexist, one must look at inner relationships within informal
a logic through which various spatial values are produced and managed.52 The city is
definitely a fine example of a complex system, where the parts can only be understood
through the whole, and the whole is more than the simple sum of its parts. Informal
settlements are clearly subsystems within complex urban systems. Like third world cities,
traditionally known for their inherent chaotic and discontinuous spatial patterns and rapid
52
Roy, “Slumdog Cities: Rethinking Subaltern Urbanism,” International Journal of Urban and Regional
Research 35, no. 2 (2011), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2011.01051.x.
44
3.5. The Coexistence of the Formal and Informal
More research than ever now focuses on informal architecture and urban planning.
Following the dissatisfaction with the modern approach to housing solutions, some studies
have directed attention toward understanding the production and functioning of informal
settlements. The bottom-up formation of the informal building practice has become the
quality that architects are now exploring to apply and integrate into the formal design
process. Therefore, it is important to understand how formal and informal sectors coexist
infrastructure and services, and substandard dwellings at locations that are not in
compliance with land use regulations and are often not suitable for development.
Features of informal settlements are houses made of local building materials with
populations managed by small-scale and large-scale landlords. Most dwellers are low-
activities. Rental accommodation is the most common form of tenancy. Still, these
settlements offer an affordable shelter alternative for many. Informal settlements are
more supportive of people socially than formally organized ones. This makes us question
the spatial and social qualities in informal settlements that support their residents’
livelihoods.
Spatial qualities that are lacking in planned housing areas are the main
utilities for everyday life. Because they are built by the dwellers, they can more accurately
45
facilitate their needs. From a broader perspective, other qualities of informality are
heterogeneity, flexibility, and flow of spaces for specialized and temporal uses and
because they are temporary in nature. Their transformability makes them resilient to
The built environment of informal settlements does more than provide shelter that
is defined by the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. It provides privacy, identity, security,
additional sources of income, and much more. The social qualities of informal settlements
include the social and economic mix of residents, a rich network of social interactions
among them, and a high level of social capital. Above all, bottom-up resourcing is the
rule by which informality forms, operates, and evolves across multiple scales. This kind
This finding is a big blow to current urban development policies and practices,
which are based primarily on the assumption that formalization improves living conditions.
Following the successful model for sustainable and equitable development of informal
the active participation of a broader group of actors in the building process. In recent
times, the concept of urban commons has gained popularity with its strong potential to
management of resources turns out to be the most vital urban strategy for generating
The problem with formal systems is that they appear to take advantage of lower
classes or migrants to benefit wealthy and influential policy makers. In many cases,
informality emerges from a formal system that has failed to meet the needs of the
46
community. Housing inequity may result from public policy that favors the “one size fits
all” approach. Formality cannot deal with the things which are not absolute because
formality tries to deny and set boundaries, which, inevitably, sparks a slow but steady
mass social revolt, eventually leading to the development of the informal. If something
cannot be addressed by solving or repairing it, people might seek ways of “hacking” it.
We all have the potential to be extremely creative when facing the problem of survival,
even willing to take risk and work illegally. Satisfying physiological needs is usually more
formal and informal. It is a nighttime street market that lies along a one-kilometer stretch
road with glimmering lights and sounds, enticing visitors to purchase all sort of items.
Juxtaposition operates at varying levels: the makeshift kiosks against the backdrop of a
five-star hotel and the pirated “luxury” products neatly arranged within these kiosks are
fascinating. These night markets are not at all “underground,” visually and economically
speaking. In fact, all of this activity happens openly and aboveboard; nothing is
underground except our prejudgment. What interesting is that these five-star hotels
acknowledge that these night markets draw in the tourists and therefore turn a blind eye
to their illegal presence. Police raids are conducted on a regular basis, but informal
agreements, perhaps in the form of bribery, have been pre-arranged, so the vendors are
given notice before the arrival of the police. In the bigger picture, these night markets
collectively form a vital role in the island’s tourism industry that has led to its progressive
development.
and error, could it be that what is perceived as informal today could be considered formal
tomorrow? That formal systems can benefit from informality has long been argued. The
47
perception of informal settlements has changed from that of a colony of misery to a
potential model for affordable housing. Instead of viewing informal settlements as illegal,
informal settlements have been the starting point for transforming our approach to design
strategies from that of an imposed sequence of esthetic and functional choices made by
is more flexible and self-regulating. The genius of human nature is our ability to self-
higher-order systems and patterns. According to the laws of human evolution, we are not
To best explain this, just observe the traffic on a road and imagine cars as
individual particles. When one car slows down or comes to an immediate halt, it causes
a trail of cars behind, braking slowly or braking immediately to avoid crashing into one
another. We are like independent “cars,” making decisions individually to slow or brake,
thereby creating a higher order of systems and patterns within the framework of traffic—
in this case, society. This is essentially the theme of Adam Smith’s economic text The
Wealth of Nations, which refers to this phenomenon as the “invisible hand” guiding the
market. This scheme was not deliberately invented but emerged from a natural human
and informality as a continuum that could reframe discussions and ways of planning urban
development policies still divide cities into islands of prosperity and poverty. How
48
informality and formality are treated and often presented as an either-or problem must
be overcome to develop ideas that integrate the different qualities of informal and formal
urban and housing development models for cities in developing countries. It is a new
paradigm that can reflect the actual coexistence of formal and informal systems in spatial
and social terms and is also capable of explaining diversities with respect to functional,
our rapidly urbanizing world. Despite numerous attempts to upgrade slums worldwide,
inhabitants are exposed to numerous threats and vulnerabilities because of the extremely
dense population and lack of security, responsible and healthy living environment, and
access to the most basic facilities, such as clean water, sanitation, and health care.
Notably, all these needs are known as fundamental human rights and are included in the
There are many reasons for people to live in informal settlements, ranging from
lack of security, demography, and human rights to poverty and climate change. There
are usually both push factors and pull factors at work. Push factors are the reasons why
people leave an area, including lack of services, safety, high crime, crop failure, drought,
53
Acuto, Parnell and Seto, “Building A Global Urban Science.”
49
flooding, poverty, and war. Pull factors are the reasons for people to move to a particular
area: high employment, better income, political stability, less crime, good services, more
Low Hight
Table 6: Capacities matrix illustrates the interplay of generic and specific. Each quadrant illustrates one possible
migration outcome.
Reference: Niva, V., Taka, M., & Varis, O. 2019. Rural-Urban Migration and the Growth of Informal
Settlements: A Socio-Ecological System Conceptualization with Insights Through a "Water Lens". Retrieved
December 10, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123487
can find the idea from censuses or other policy arrangements. Several countries consider
only people without a roof above their heads as homeless, whether they are poor or legal
anyone who does not own a formal-sector dwelling is classed as homeless. Thus,
50
squatters who do not own the property on which they squat fall into this category,
however good a dwelling they have. Conversely, anyone owning a formal dwelling that is
now dilapidated or unsafe is not homeless because they own their own home. Similarly,
do not have legitimate tenure to the land they live in. Again, ironically, those who own
old houses too dilapidated and unsafe in which to live are not classed as homeless.54
usually results from a combination of these pushes and pull factors. Some people choose
to migrate, and some are forced to migrate. They can move either independently or en
masse. For example, people who relocate for economical or educational purposes will
travel independently and then join their families, whereas people who move for political
reasons may move together as a group with or without their families. Although not all
There are various aspects by which migration can be classified: reasons for
migration, migrant social status and education, duration of relocation, and geographical
their contact with the “majority” or “dominant” culture is perceived as voluntary. Migrants
may be categorized as immigrants and sojourners when the change in their location
results in voluntary contact, whereas refugees are deemed to change their location
involuntarily. Refugees often do not carry many possessions with them and do not have
a clear idea of where they may finally settle. Of every thousand people who live in the
world today, 0.035 are refugees. Without stable source of income, they often end up in
informal settlements.
54
Graham Tipple and Suzanne Speak, “Who Is Homeless In Developing Countries? Differentiating Between
Inadequately Housed And Homeless People,” International Development Planning Review 28, no. 1 (2006),
https://doi.org/10.3828/idpr.28.1.3.
51
In developing nations, these migrations have led to a rich diversity of cultures,
ethnicities, and races. Individuals who migrate experience many pressures, including the
loss of cultural traditions, religious customs, and social support systems. They also must
learn to adapt to a new environment through the adjustment of identity. The following
table summarizes the stages and characterization of urbanization and migration patterns.
Services Plus
Dominant Urban the Rise of
Commercial and Industrial and
Economic Industrial Information and
Administrative Services
Activities Community
Technology
Metropolises
International
Cities (Internal (International
Migration and Rural Areas and
and and National)
Migration from International
Migration Origin International and
the Area Migration (Due
Migration) and Neighborhoods
Surrounding the to World Wars)
Rural Areas within
City
Metropolises
Small and
Metropolises Intermediary
Migration and Cities and
Capital Cities Metropolises
Destination Intermediary Neighborhoods
Cities within
Metropolises
Expansion of Relocation of
Provision of Infrastructure Industrial
Major Planning Segregation and
Basic to Support Activities,
Challenges Fragmentation
Infrastructure Agglomeration Location of
of Economies Services
52
Table 7: Stages and Characterization of Urbanization and Migration in Cities
Reference: Murillo, Rernando. World Migration Report 2015. Image, 2015. https://www.iom.int/world-migration-
report-2015.
Although squatters and other residents of informal settlements are unlikely to have
complete security of tenure, they tend to have more security than homeless people. The
people in informal settlements are homeless. For example, tenants and sub-tenants living
in squatter and informal settlements are usually more insecure than owners.55 Many of
be on an upwards housing trajectory, which their shelters and the services provided to
improve over time. If the circumstances of the settlements make it possible for their
denizens to improve their lives, their housing must be included in the estimation of the
housing stock, albeit with a caveat for the need for improvement. Many occupants of
informal settlements are forcibly evicted and their homes removed, leaving them
genuinely homeless. More attention should be given to eliminate poor policies that raise
the numbers of people in the homeless categories and increase numbers of those
enjoying better security, servicing, physical conditions, and other benefits of housing in
urban areas.
55
Durand-Lasserve and Royston, Holding Their Ground.
53
4. INFORMAL SPACE AND MAKESHIFT TRANSFORMATION
Informal settlements have become a reality with which many governments must
cope, as they include a large proportion of the urban population, especially in developing
countries. The most significant policy response to informal settlements has been to
legalize informal land development, especially the practice of squatting. This response is
the clearest indication of the government's efforts to regulate informality on their territory.
buildings that are not authorized by legal terms or formal channels obtain such
recognition. This may happen through individuals taking the necessary steps to achieve
government’s moving to confer such recognition by its own initiative. In the last decades,
inhabitants of many consolidated informal communities have been compensated for the
countries, few policymakers understand thoroughly the nature and dynamics of informal
development processes.
areas in one area of the city to provide access to better living standards. These
conditions are unsafe and closed to vulnerable urban areas. The state’s responses to
54
urban informality range from upgrading and increasing the supply of urban housing to
neglect and demolition/eviction.56 Not all informal settlements are sustainable, but most
clearly are a permanent part of the urban economy and often incorporate significant
Forced eviction is generally coupled with demolition of the settlements and may
or may not involve compensation or resettlement. There are many reasons for forced
eviction, including presenting a cleaner image of the city, lowering the risk of natural
disasters such as flood pain or unstable hillsides, and clearing sites for new development.
One such reason may be used as cover for another, but forced eviction is often politically
unpalatable and attracts the attention of both local and global media.
outskirts without access to jobs. Such relocation, however, stimulates the development
of more informal settlements as residents move back closer to employment. Most of the
time, residents are either enticed or intimidated into moving or selling under conditions
controlling or dealing with the problems of the slum. Such single-minded tools have been
inadequate for the scale of the issues of substandard housing and related social ills such
as environmental and economic segregation and, in many cases, high levels of insecurity;
they only translate the problem to a new location. Some effects of failed slum clearance
program renewal include feelings of loss on the part of those who have been expelled
56
John F. C. Turner, Housing by People: Towards Autonomy in Building Environments (London: Marion
Boyars, 1976).
57
Geoffrey K. Payne, Making Common Ground (London: Intermediate Technology, 1999).
55
and grief for their neighborhoods. In other cases, such as Indore’s Habitat Improvement
project in India, the new amenities are so poorly designed that the circumstances are
even worse than before the upgrade occurred.58 Because of the failures of these types of
focuses on obtaining tenure rights as a critical instrument for developing housing in low-
Various responses to informal development have been developed since the late
1960s when Turner and others successfully highlighted the fact that self-help housing
was part of the solution to urban shelter provision. The demolition of slums, squatter
areas, and public housing programs gradually gave way to settlement upgrading, often
conducted in tandem with sites and service schemes. These approaches recognized the
project basis, and each project phase may take several years. The project model
suggested by Forbes Davidson and Geoffrey Payne groups tasks into five main stages:
The conventional approach was common in the 1970s. A special unit would first
agency for a specific project. This unit would be responsible for overall project
58
Gita Dewan Verma, “Indore's Habitat Improvement Project: Success Or Failure?” Habitat International,
24, no. 1 (2000), https://doi.org/10.1016/s0197-3975(99)00031-4.
59
Vinit Mukhija, “Enabling Slum Redevelopment In Mumbai: Policy Paradox In Practice,” Housing Studies
16, no. 6 (2001), https://doi.org/10.1080/02673030120090548.
60
Forbes Davidson and Geoffrey Payne, Urban Projects Manual, 2nd ed. (Paris: Liverpool University Press,
2000).
56
However, the level of participation was relatively low most of the time. Although
the community members are seen as the project’s target, they are not key
partners in the development process. In fact, the lead agencies and professionals
and services, yet fail to establish a local capacity for cost recovery, operations,
and maintenance.
2. Community-Based Approaches
The major issues in projects center upon four main topics: the nature of the target
population and, in particular, the most disadvantaged groups; the physical nature
of the project site and prevailing land tenure arrangements; the nature and level
communities to set the agenda for development will improve the project’s
relevance but carries some risks. Professional knowledge and expertise experience
are also required to ensure the related problems and other integrated manners.
57
On the other hand, although formalization improves land-market efficiency and
economic terms. This does not mean that formalization has few substantial benefits;
residents show that it is of great use, albeit in a different manner from what the theory
assumes. Rather, formalization helps to quickly consolidate their homes and thereby
of informal settlements have been largely ignored by policy makers and planners. Major
public and private investments which remain outside the formal economy are mobilized
through informal settlements. These settlements often take over public or private
property, transferring the cost to local municipalities for compensation and facilities.
Because of its sprawling pattern, the land, often developed with single-family housing in
a sporadic way, is underused. Informal settlements often impair the ability of the local
authority to control land use such as parks, unsafe brownfield sites, or land that may
have had other more productive uses. At the same time, informal housing, the single
largest asset for dwellers, is under permanent threat of destruction, particularly through
the agenda of policy makers and at the forefront of urban planners’ minds in many cities
lack of basic infrastructure; however, they ignore the significant intangible knowledge
58
that these settlements provide about resilience, resource efficiency, and community
values. In the recent past, more of us have started changing our stance toward informal
their importance, and now, accepting and working with them to include these areas in
mainstream governance. Architects and urban planners recognize their rational and
intelligent innovations and seek to fulfill their needs to incorporate them into formal
the use of scarce housing space and creative construction techniques for building.61 She
against obstacles and as an inspiration symbolizing the true grit of human necessity.
The dwellers of the informal city negotiate as outsiders with the system, improvise
lives every day. Being in this situation, they create a socially active and dynamic
into a transparent, inclusive, bottom-up, and open-ended process that can adapt to the
unforeseen initiatives of people engaged in building. The apparent direction for architects
a certain degree, foster architecture evolution toward informality. The propositions for
unpredictable rhythms to make choices in the multiplicity, groove, and shift of real space.
61
Perlman, Myth of Marginality.
59
It should not be based on a personal fantasy of order and omnipotence but rather on the
staging of discussions and collaborations between architects and people who strive to
build for themselves. It should no longer be aimed at stable configurations but at creating
must first enhance the immediate well-being of residents through minor interventions
and proposals. These initiatives must be tactical and should be executed by including
local communities in creating solutions that retain the central philosophy of informal
on self-reliance and ingenuity and not necessarily on political will. From an individual
spaces of differing scale somehow find a balance with the formal city. Beyond the informal
façade, spectacle of chaos and traces of everyday life continue to weave a rich fabric of
urban narratives.
The aims to improve the present status of informality are a highlighted opportunity
for architecture activities. The tasks for professional roles are reconsidered. Instead of
providing completed building solutions, architects nowadays are asked to work together
where certain types of global order or coordination emerge from local interactions
the rules followed by the process and its initial status may have been chosen or caused
60
by an agent. The resulting organization is totally autonomous and distributed over all the
components of the system. As a result, it is typically very durable and able to survive
stabilized through the definition of mutual interests, positions, and relations. Thus, direct
communication like face-to-face contacts transform into trust inside the organization.
This process usually relies on the concept of charisma, based on which communities
naturally choose their leaders. Bob Jessop provides a typical example for the explicit
refers to how disparate but interdependent social agencies are coordinated and/or
deployed as below.62
framework or an existing system, they can collectively articulate their needs and interests.
Following Korff and Rothfuss, the underlying concept of agora governance offers the
organization here evidences the existence of an open and complex system, characterized
through work, trade, neighborhood, kinship, and friendship, are established through
62
Bob Jessop and Ngai-Ling Sum, “Towards A Cultural International Political Economy: Poststructuralism
And The Italian School,” International Political Economy and Postructural Politics, 2006,
https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230800892_9.
63
Herman Casakin and Juval Portugali, The Design and Dynamics Of Cities as Self-Organized Systems,
https://www.scribd.com/document/273031901/The-design-and-dynamics-of-cities-as-self-organizing-systems.
61
organizations. Thus, localized problems requiring collective action—in this context, self-
Improving social cohesion enhances social control, making feasible the reduction of
external control. The self-organized society also enables shared support for economic and
social welfare for its members. If social creativity is the potential to establish new patterns
agency through a process that retains a socially cohesive collective within self-organized
groups.64
Despite the lack of proper spatial planning and organization, regulatory control,
shelter design how they meet their basic needs of living in a modern city economically.
The innovative solutions and skills of informal builders are highlighted for their potential
organization is represented as hope for overall social and spatial regeneration. They are
are fully illustrated by the following example on the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong.
By its peak in the 1990s, Kowloon Walled City housed 33,000 inhabitants within
6.5 acres of solid buildings.65 It was created in response to government and societal
ignorance regarding affordable housing provision and social inequality for the poor and
urban newcomers. Informality offered them the opportunity to use labor to maintain a
living. As it reflects a modern city, inhabitants not only have made a space for living but
64
Rüdiger Korff and Eberhard Rothfuß, “Urban Revolution as Catastrophe or Solution? Governance of
Megacities in the Global South,” DIE ERDE 140, no. 4 (2009),
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267776875_Urban_Revolution_as_Catastrophe_or_Solution_Governance
_of_Megacities_in_the_Gobal_South.
65
Sharon Lam, “Here's What Western Accounts of The Kowloon Walled City Don't Tell You,” Archdaily,
2016, https://www.archdaily.com/800698/heres-what-western-accounts-of-the-kowloon-walled-city-dont-tell-you.
62
also explore ways to diversify the use of this space for business. They learn to be
Figure 15: Walled City Dentist Window, 1989 (Left) and Walled City Mail Delivery, 1987 (Right)
Resource: Greg Girad
63
Informal settlements are organic in that they adapt to the needs of inhabitants.
have solved water supply problems, electricity accessibility, safe housing, and building
construction by themselves without the help of government authorities. They have found
alternative ways to get things to work. For example, to obtain a water supply, some have
hired private suppliers to pump water from wells or drilled wells themselves. Those who
are more comfortable doing so build water tanks on rooftops. In the worst case, some
may steal water from the formal water system. Electricity access is another challenge.
Electric cables can be carried only to lower floors in Kowloon Walled City because of the
maze of pipes and wires everywhere. The owners on the lower floors extended the cables
to the upper floors so that other inhabitants could have access to electricity. During the
later stages, inhabitants even set up electrical stations inside the slum to accommodate
two high-density cables for the overuse of electricity by 33,000 inhabitants. Thus, the
housing units in Kowloon Walled City were built on top of others through the inhabitants’
than a formal city by using fewer resources. In fact, many informal settlements serve as
recycling hubs where dwellers gather and sort undesirable waste such as plastics, glass,
and metals from across the city and sell them to scrap distributors for processing and
later reuse. The dwellers are naturally taught to be more independent and skillful by
transforming from rag-pickers and sorters into product makers to earn more money
rather than working for minimal wages in recycling workshops for owners who are not
dwellers. This is not only limited to recycling of waste such as plastic and metals but also
new pieces to be sold around the world. This ingenuity demonstrates residents’ ability to
64
raise their living standards through all possible means and to sustain themselves by
earning a living with dignity, including creating job opportunities for themselves without
Although the ongoing process appears chaotic and unorganized, the resulting elements
are coherent and concise. The entire process depends as much on the organization of the
understanding of design and construction, the process has a clear structure. Starting with
identification of the problems, design and redesign reaches a point of design optimization,
the final product ready to be applied. However, the design of informal settlements
and/or designer at a particular scale. This kind of bottom-up action triggers complex
dynamics whose effects we cannot fully predict or control, but it is not an implication of
chaos. Such upcoming evolutionary behaviors generate urban liveliness, economic vitality,
health, and livability for the residents of informal settlements. The people of informal
There is no doubt that informal dwellers are among the most inventive groups of
address the problems they encounter with limited resources. To make the place habitable
requires great commitment, hard work, and creative energy. Their potential for small-
scale innovations and unpredictable distribution all over the city territory appears
66
Michael Mehaffy, “Design Technologies For Self-Organizing Cities,” Meeting of the Minds, 2014,
https://meetingoftheminds.org/design-technologies-for-self-organizing-cities-7100.
65
essential to informal urban transformation on a massive scale. Surprisingly, while
authorities decline to the minimum of stability, informal practices evolve in stages from
the disequilibrium of initial systems, growth of claimed territories, and legislation toward
new building typologies and solidification as parasitizing forms. With a little imagination
and intelligence, physical structures can be used to develop specific forms of self-
organization based on their social structures and rules to cope with their daily life.
66
5. PRECEDENT STUDIES
quality and efficiency in informal settlements through case studies of different parameters
Each intervention applies according to many factors, and not all upgrading interventions
are suitable. The following precedent studies will briefly review the different upgrading
models in makeshift places and clarify the methods best applied for transforming the
67
Dina Mamdouh Nassar and Hanan Gamil Elsayed, "From Informal Settlements To Sustainable
Communities", Alexandria Engineering Journal 57, no. 4 (2018): 2367-2376, doi:10.1016/j.aej.2017.09.004.
67
5.1. On-Site Redevelopment: Kampung Improvement Program
with highly deteriorated and unsafe housing conditions. The ultimate goal is to replace
the old physical fabrics completely through gradual demolition, and in-situ replacement.
It respects residents' legal right of staying in the same location of the city, and the
dependency of their livelihood. Also, by the time of complete the upgrades, different
functions of public and private spaces and consolidates residents' relationship with the
city, and the availability of basic infrastructure and services can be installed.
68
Improvement Program (KIP), which lasted from 1969 to 1998.68 The nationwide program
aimed to provide basic infrastructure to poor neighborhoods in cities such as Jakarta and
Surabaya. It lauds as a success story by its funder, the World Bank, and often represent
Figure 18: KIP has created healthier urban environments by providing municipal services.
Source: AKDN. Image, 2021. https://www.akdn.org/architecture/project/kampung-improvement-programme.
achievement in the world. It’s success with upgrading kampung is driven by several
factors: visionary and zealous leadership; political will and commitment; sustainable,
68
World Bank, "Kampung Kebalen Improvement", Aga Khan Development Network, accessed 2 March
2021, https://www.akdn.org/architecture/project/kampung-kebalen-improvement.
69
long-term financial support; city-university and community cooperation that built
capacity and trust in local government.69 The following research review the approaches
Surabaya is the second-largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta and the capital of
the Indonesian province of East Java. It is a port city that mixes modern skyscrapers with
canals and buildings from its Dutch colonial past. As with most urban growth in the
developing country, the majority of the Indonesian cities have also grown with a process
69
Ashok Das and Robin King, Surabaya: The Legacy Of Participatory Upgrading Of Informal Settlements,
ebook (World Resources Institute, 2019), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
70
serviced housing area.70 This distinctive style of household is the only affordable housing
choice for long-term residents and newcomers seeking the benefits and services provided
Incoming migrants who could not find space in the original village, are squatting
on vacant or abandoned land in the city center and formed these kampung villages after
World War Two. Many of these migrants ended up living in sprawling kampungs and
working in the informal sector activities.72 These kampungs have been graduate built and
economic and urban growth, they transformed the rural village into urban kampungs by
the time.
Indonesian cities exhibit two development patterns, the formal and the informal.
During the colonial periods, the Dutch government exercised two different planning and
land tenure systems. The first is within the city boundary that Dutch adopted formal
planning and land regulation mainly based on a European system. The second type is
outside of the city or so-called kampung, where no formal planning, and the land tenure
The formal residential areas had been located within a city boundary, serviced with urban
houses of the colonial upper class are still present in the older parts of cities. They are
still being imitated today, but this type of settlement is degenerating due to incongruities
70
Nick Devas, "Ndonesia's Kampung Improvement Program: An Evaluative Case Study", Ekistics 48, no.
286 (1981): 19-36, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43620193.
71
Oscar Carracedo García-Villalba, Resilient Urban Regeneration In Informal Settlements In The Tropics,
1st ed. (Singapore: Spring, 2020).
72
Hasan Mustafa Djajadiningrat, "Sustainable Urban Development In The Kampung Improvement
Program: A Case Study Of Jakarta, Indonesia" (Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sheffield, 1994).
73
Hasan Mustafa Djajadiningrat, "Sustainable Urban Development In The Kampung Improvement
Program: A Case Study Of Jakarta, Indonesia" (Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sheffield, 1994).
71
in style, high building density, and the construction of boundary walls.74 The kampung
on the other hand, located exclusively beyond the city boundary, spreading from the
inner city to the edge, with limited or no urban infrastructure, and comprised primarily
maintained clear-cut development areas, separating the Europeans from these informal
settlements.
Since independence, this development pattern has continued. The formal planning
has been mostly carried out through government projects, and the kampungs have been
growing, developed by individuals. However, the government does not adopt a clear
division of development between the formal and the informal.75 As a result, urban growth
in Indonesia exhibits two different types of residential areas blended between the formal
and the informal.76 Most kampung areas are occupied by the lower and lowest-income
people and they have only limited resources with which to erect houses and to organize
their neighborhoods. As a result, a large number of dwellings in the kampungs are built
Surabaya today, is the second largest city after Jakarta, with nearly 3 million
inhabitants and large parts of the city are covered with kampung, providing housing
options especially for low-income households.77 It is estimated that more than 60% of
the city’s inhabitants live in these areas.78 The kampung has an average density of 800
people per hectare living in densely packed single-story wooden houses within networks
74
Siswono Yudohusodo, Rumah Untuk Seluruh Rakyat (Jakarta: Jakarta: INKOPPOL, Unit Percetakan
Bharakerta., 1991).
75
John Taylor and David Williams, Urban Planning Practice In Developing Countries (Kent: Elsevier
Science, 2014).
76
Werner Rutz, Cities And Towns In Indonesia (Berlin: Gebrüder Borntraeger, 1987).
77
"Surabaya Population 2021 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs)", Worldpopulationreview.Com, 2021,
https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/surabaya-population.
78
Alex Mutebi, "Southeast Asia. Civilizing The Margins: Southeast Asian Government Policies For The
Development Of Minorities. Edited By CHRISTOPHER R. DUNCAN. Ithaca And London: Cornell University Press,
2004. Pp. Vii, 278. Maps, Illustrations, Index.", Journal Of Southeast Asian Studies 37, no. 1 (2006): 159-161,
doi:10.1017/s0022463405490475.
72
of narrow alleys. 79 Flooding occurred during the rainy season. The city upgraded
within a six-month period.80 The public works program began as a physical infrastructure
program, like in Jakarta. However, soon it was realized that to be successful, significant
community involvement was needed due to the limited financial and technical resources
budget.81
The Indonesian made their own country a pluralistic and consist of a multi-ethnic
and a racial entity, with cultural heritage and socio manifestations. These entities are
being held together by political, economic, and integrity. Kampungs are often populated
by people with certain shared socio-cultural characteristics. Traditional kinship ties often
play an essential role in the economic survival of low-income urban families. This reflects
“carrying a burden using one's shoulder” in Javanese. 82 The idea of together and
community practice in Indonesia social life. This means that families and members of the
79
World Bank, "Kampung Kebalen Improvement", Aga Khan Development Network, accessed 2 March
2021, https://www.akdn.org/architecture/project/kampung-kebalen-improvement.
80
Impact Evaluation Report On Indonesia: Enhancing The Quality Of Life In Urban Indonesia: The Legacy
Of Kampung Improvement Programs, ebook (Washington D.C.: World Bank, 1995),
http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/927561468752367336/pdf/multi-page.pdf.
81
Oscar Carracedo García-Villalba, Resilient Urban Regeneration In Informal Settlements In The Tropics,
1st ed. (Singapore: Spring, 2020).
82
Hasan Mustafa Djajadiningrat, "Sustainable Urban Development In The Kampung Improvement
Program: A Case Study Of Jakarta, Indonesia" (Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sheffield, 1994).
73
Royong strengthening the bonds of the urban community. The spirit also applies to many
The KIP's social and community resilience dimension can be considered one of the
innovative strengths that have developed further in the program's updates. As defined
In Surabaya Kampung's case, close cooperation between the beneficiaries and the
municipality was sustained throughout the entire process, and at all levels of progression
process of designing and conceptualizing the project, and later its involvement in the
Characteristics shared by most kinds of housing used in kampung areas are over-
crowding, poor ventilation, and cramped conditions, which mean that diseases such as
tuberculosis, influenza, and meningitis may transmit from one person to another.
Household accidents are also common when six or more persons live in one room, and
there is a little chance of giving the occupants, especially children, protection from fires
or stoves. Furthermore, house sites, structures, and surroundings increase the risk of
bums, scalds, cuts, bites, and injuries in and around the house. Although most of
83
Kristen Magis, "Community Resilience: An Indicator Of Social Sustainability", Society & Natural
Resources 23, no. 5 (2010): 401-416, doi:10.1080/08941920903305674.
74
kampung are now in poor condition physically, they are not necessarily slum, but a
different appearance from the urban settlements in western cities. It is a community that
Figure 20: KIP Houses (Left) and the Street View. Surabaya, Indonesia.
Source: Ahmad Zaimul Haq (Left) and Aga Khan Award for Architecture (Right). Image, 2020.
KIP provides only such infrastructural facilities as footpaths, drainage, water supply,
electricity and so on, but does not supply dwelling units. Therefore, it is indispensable to
analyze the typology of kampung houses and discuss their transformation process to
The studied Kampung houses are located in Sawahan, which is located in the
center of Surabaya City. The study is the Kampung houses locate in Sawahan, which are
in the center of Surabaya City. Kampung Sawahan is a typical and fully-grown kampung
where one can find various house types. The population density of this Kampung is
estimated to be 300 to 400 hectares. The history of settlements in this area can trace
back to the Dutch colonial period, and these colonial houses can still find in some of the
blocks today. 84
84
Shuji Funo, Naohiko Yamamoto and Johan Silas, "Typology Of Kampung Houses And Their
Transformation Process: A Study On Urban Tissues Of An Indonesian City", Journal Of Asian Architecture And
Building Engineering, 2018, doi:10.3130/jaabe.1.2_193.
75
Figure 21: Site Map of Kampung Sawahan in Surabaya.
Source: Based on Mapbox Studio, Remade by Author 2021.
The standard type of kampung house does not construct in one go. In general, a
kampung house completes gradually by additions and alterations according to the needs.
Also, KIP sometimes requests to trim the house adjacent to the road in order to increase
the width of the road, which necessitates the alteration to the affected house. As a result,
buildings structure will change from temporary to permanent as time goes by.
According to Funo, Yamamoto and Silas, house types may identify according to
several characteristics, such as the features of kampung houses. Still, the primary cause
that regulates the physical formation of kampung houses is the building construction
system. Building construction systems mainly follow the constraints of the narrow site
and the access road. The typical kampung houses contain a narrow front with long and
depth to makes high-density living possible. The following figures use the number and
ridges of kampung houses to illustrate the typical floor plan and transformation process:
76
- A Type Gable House (Tsuma-iri) with One Ridge: One unit
77
Figure 22: Kampung House Types and Their Variations.
Source: Based on Funo, Yamamoto and Silas, "Typology Of Kampung Houses And Their Transformation Process: A
Study On Urban Tissues Of An Indonesian City." Remade by Author, 2021.
Further classification is desirable between the single story and the double or multi-
story houses, as well as those which are built with open courtyards. However, are rare in
Kampung houses have the common spatial units as described above. Basic spatial
units of the dwelling are as follows: M (Ruang Tamu): guest room or living room; D
(Ruang Tidur): bedroom; K (Uang Makan): dining room; P (Dapur): kitchen; N (Kamar
The transformation process from A-1 and A-2 to A-4 is most usual in the kampungs.
If the area of house lots has no room to carry extension at the back or the front, additions
are then made bar-wise at the right angle to the existing longitudinal sequence of rooms.
Inhabitants may expand in any direction when they have enough space in the lots. Also,
house owners tend to build another span when the grown-up child needs another house
to accommodate the new family or when the owner wants to build a rental house to make
more income. If there is no more space to expand the ground floor's dwelling area,
The approach was funded by local, provincial and central governments; World Bank loans
are channeled through the provincial government.85 This program distinguishes itself by
the community self-help emphasis, both in taking the initiative, planning, and
85
Johan Silas, "Government-Community Partnerships In Kampung Improvement Programmes In
Surabaya", Environment And Urbanization 4, no. 2 (1992): 33-41, doi:10.1177/095624789200400204.
78
implementation. In particular, the community was encouraged to construct access roads,
paths, and other specific infrastructure in the kampungs.86 Since 1976, KIP had increased
in scale and scope to reach the lower income kampung communities and involve as a
national program. Over 1.2 million people living in Surabaya have been affected by since
limited number of access roads; footpaths with side drains; a water supply network with
washing, bathing, and toilet facilities; solid waste management facilities, garbage carts,
According to Miller, the scope and content of the Surabaya government urban
upgrading small roads, footpaths, local drainages, water supply, community toilets,
water facilities, garbage disposal, and in some cases, primary schools, local health
2. Urban housing: Provide housing and housing finance for low and middle-income
groups.
4. Urban sanitation: Included drainage, human and solid waste disposal system.
The government was trying to gear the people towards building and developing
their own houses and settlements under its guidance to enhance inhabitant’s welfare.
86
John F. C Turner and Colin Ward, Housing By People (New York: Marion Boyars, 2017).
87
Johan Silas, KIP Program Perbaikan Kampung Di Surabaya 1969-1982, ebook (Surbaya, 1983).
88
John F. C Turner and Colin Ward, Housing By People (New York: Marion Boyars, 2017).
89
Michelle Ann Miller, "Decentralizing Indonesian City Spaces As New ‘Centers’", International Journal Of
Urban And Regional Research 37, no. 3 (2013): 834-848, doi:10.1111/j.1468-2427.2013.01209.x.
79
The significant implementation of the KIP program is to improve spatial connections with
the addition of drainage systems, the impact of flooding during rainy episodes has
reduced. The percentage of kampung affected by flooding decreased from 48.8 to 12.2%,
Figure 23: Kampung Improvement Program, To Do List Before and After Upgrade.
Source: Author, 2021.
paved access roads, bridges, and footpaths; water supply, sanitation, and drainage
canals; schools and health clinics. These improvements thread along existing rights-of-
way, with little disturbance to the existing housing. Although the program does not offer
direct housing assistance, the improved access, flood control, and increased economic
90
Johan Silas, KIP Program Perbaikan Kampung Di Surabaya 1969-1982, ebook (Surbaya, 1983).
80
activity within the kampungs have stimulated home improvement. There are several
- KIPs developed into full coverage because standards for improvement were set at
- The land was provided “by the people,” not “to the people.” The land issue did not
process of change in living conditions includes no displacement of the poor by the better
services; better implications of the urban system without wasting financial costs,
alternative housing option, equalized the benefits and program resources within areas,
and so on. After almost 50 years, the KIP is still considered one of the most impactful
Cambodia, Thailand and India91 to uplift the low-income sector of society and provide
them with better living conditions. However, a detailed look into decades of KIP projects
From the KIP experience, we learn that the mere implementation of physical
upgrading projects and measures does not necessarily promote economic development
91
Shobhakar Dhakal, Comprehensive Kampung Improvement As Model Of Community Participation:
Successful And Transferable Practices (Surabaya, Indonesia), ebook (Indonesia: Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies, 2003), https://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/comprehensive-kampung-improvement-model/en.
81
take cost recovery as a guideline and a framework to follow, rather than a constraint in
the upgrading process. Limitations for the sake of cost recovery should be minimized or
avoided. We cannot forget these projects' primary objective is placing for human and
meeting human needs; poverty alleviation is the core aim of pursuing global progress
and equality. Adaptation to the new population requirements and societal demands were
needed. The future approach may require strengthening the potential of community-
82
5.2. Incremental Adjustment: Aranya Community
This type of upgrading program has revealed that architects and planners are
needed to play a central role in developing substandard neighborhoods more than ever.
Architects and planners stand out in the earlier face of programming the community, in
which the communities are built with minimal infrastructure and designed for future
stakeholders should flourish over time. Priority interventions for national agencies may
usually be infrastructure and roads and include educational, health, and other community
83
alone. Donor agencies and NGOs target informal areas with socioeconomic programs such
The idea that informal settlements should not be seen as a problem, but rather as
a natural step toward forming. Over the years, architects have risen to the challenges
and have led projects whose influence resonates in today's practitioners' work. The one
initiative in India, B.V. Doshi's Aranya in Indore (1989), serves as an early example of
the incremental housing program. The project successfully brings the attention and
talents of a signature architect to bear on the problems of housing the poor and improving
Figure 25: Street View (Left) and Aerial View (Right) of Aranya Community Housing, Indore, India.
Source: Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Image, 2021. https://archnet.org/sites/870/media_contents/9616.
84
Figure 26: Indore City Extension.
Source: Based on Rizvi College of Architecture, Remade by Author, 2021.
The historic city of Indore has a thriving trading hub between Delhi and Deccan
since 16th Century. It has grown into an important industrial and commercial center since
Independence. The urban area of Indore city is 214 kilometers with Ananya being 85
approximately 6 kilometers from the city center of Indore. The site is suitable in terms of
85
linkages to the city, and to employment areas. There are large pockets of existing and
The Aranya township is flat with no major physical features, except a natural
rainwater channel that runs diagonally across the south-west corner. An accurate level
survey shows a fall of 9 meters across the site’s width of one kilometer, which gives a
network and hence influenced the overall spatial organization of the township.
Indore, a historic Indian city with a hybrid indigenous culture, has seen vestiges
of royalty, colonialism, and industrialization. Now with globalization, it has become the
economic and industrial center of Madhya Pradesh. The impact of economic liberalization
on the city's recurring process is working towards the current vision of being counted as
a smart city. Being the business and trading capital of the state, it boasts of a Special
Economic Zone near the Pithampur area, a developing IT sector. It acts as a nerve center
for cotton textiles, iron, steel, chemical, and machine industries. Today Indore is an
economically driven city, in many ways a representation of “impatient capital.” and many
Aranya township is a services project laid out in six sectors that converge on a
central spine, known as the Central Business District. The plan was informal, imitating
that of the slum settlements: the town center consists of four clusters of shopping,
92
Utpal Sharama and Bhaves Metha, Aranya Township, Indore: India An Experiment On Sustainable
Human Habitat, ebook (Ahmedabad, India: CEPT University, 2007).
86
residential, and office complexes, and at the end of the central spine, two mixed-use
clusters. Residential buildings that open onto a street comprise ten houses, each with a
rear courtyard for play and service. Open spaces and pedestrian pathways intersect and
connect the clusters to the central spine. Internal streets and squares are paved, and the
major roads and arteries that link the town center to other parts of Aranya are tarred.
most efficient, cost-effective, and low-maintenance technology for the utilities. Every 20
houses connect to one septic tank. Three reservoirs, each serving two sectors, were built
at the high points of each and interconnected to provide water for the entire area. The
electricity distributions are design overhead for the high and middle income groups, while
The site plan integrates a variety of income groups. The project focused on
providing options of plot sizes of ranging affordability, suitable for the environmentally
weaker sections (EWS), the low-income groups (LIG), the medium income groups (MIG),
and the high-income groups (HIG). The poorest groups are locating in the middle of each
sector; higher income plots arc along the periphery and the central spine of the
settlement. A hierarchy of payment schemes reflects the income levels of the various
groups. It makes the different available site and service options to accommodate such a
Balkrishna Doshi, illustrate the array of available options, from one-room shelters to more
spacious houses, and emphasize a sense of family and neighborhood while striving to
For most income groups, only one type of house plot is design to sell. The lower-
income groups were provided with various options, including a site and plinth, a service
87
core, and one room, depending on how much they could afford.93 Owners were free to
use any material for their house construction, and decoration, brick, stone, and cement
are available locally. This participatory process satisfies users' priorities of house form
Figure 28: House Variation. Users decide how and how much to build.
Source: Based on Architect, Remade by Author 2021.
The loan pays monthly based on the family's average income, and monthly
maintenance charges two rupees. The price is fixed for all plots owned by the lower-
income groups. Eighty houses designed by Doshi and the streets that define those houses
are noteworthy. Their owners have developed the remaining plots, built and embellished
in a personal manner that does not follow Doshi's models. Many original owners have
either sold their plots or are offering them for sale through a broker. The resale price of
a 35-square-meter plot is currently 700 dollars, ten times its original price.
Indore was experiencing a housing shortage in the early 1980s. Around 51,000
people were homeless or forced to live in illegal settlements. 94 Therefore, the Indore
93
Lailun Ekram, Aranya Low-Cost Housing, ebook (Indore, India, 1995).
94
Lohita Turlapati, "AID-Aranya Housing Project", Architectureindevelopment.Org, 2021,
https://www.architectureindevelopment.org/project.php?id=401.
88
Development Authority launched a housing project for 60,000 people that address the
problem while remaining affordable to urban poor.95 Previous efforts by the government
to provide low-cost urban housing in India aim at supplying ready-built units. However,
building a complete house took far too long, became extremely expensive for low-income
Aranya Township was planned as a site and services project lay out in six sectors
with converge on a central spine.96 A hierarchy of open spaces, including small front yard
to be shared by three to four families, larger green spaces for each of the settlement's
six sectors, and a central playground to serve the entire development, was one of Doshi's
key design features. The clusters are linked to the central spine by open spaces and
pedestrian paths. Each user has a variety of choices, ranging from one-room shelters to
spacious homes. The emphasis is made on a sense of family and neighborhood while
and resources.
The formal street network draws the vehicular traffic outward to the perimeter
road while pedestrian traffic on informal pathways and open space networks flows in the
95
Utpal Sharama and Bhaves Metha, Aranya Township, Indore: India An Experiment On Sustainable
Human Habitat, ebook (Ahmedabad, India: CEPT University, 2007).
96
Romi Khosla, Aranya Low-Cost Housing, ebook (Indore, India, 1995).
89
opposite direction achieving clear and safe segregation of slow and fast moving traffic.
Nonrectilinear alignment of the street with varying width, bends, and widening, provide
coincides with street hierarchy. Formal commercial outlets are along major arterial roads,
while informal shopping areas occur along narrow streets and open spaces throughout
the settlement.
The site's topography was an important determinant in planning roads and other
service networks to maximize the use of gravity flow and minimize cut and fill with the
land. Introduction of open slot around service core combines twice as much toilet per
maintenance hole and cuts downpipe length to half, achieving economic efficiency without
affecting its performance.97 The service slot has been integrated as a design element,
helping break the continuous built mass and becoming a useful play area for children with
A foster community feel and mutual interdependence various income groups have
been combined and arranged in concentric rings of plots. Each dwelling has its own
compound and territory which encourage social interaction and supports a way of life of
the user group. A clear preference also shows in smaller open spaces that incorporate
accommodating these activities, the spaces also provide identity to help defining areas.
The nature and number of open spaces required at various levels were systematically
At the same time, the township blend within the urban fabric of Indore with a
unique identity of its own, which promote social and economic activities in the area. The
planning and design principles adopted generate a distinctive character for the settlement
97
"Aranya" Low Coast House, Indore.
90
and reinforce the identity in its built form. This township model set a standard of balanced
and harmonious habitat and has emulated other organizations engaged in the field of
low-cost housing.
Figure 30: Service Plot (Left) and Streets with Hierarchy (Right).
The ideological basis for planning Aranya has been the followings: (1) Vitality,
91
built form to impart identity and inculcate a sense of belonging amongst the inhabitants.
(3) Efficiency, to realize development that optimizes natural, material as well as human
resources to the advantage of the user group. (4) Flexibility, to evolve framework that
absorbs with ease the progressive change and growth as a part of natural development
process. (5) Feasibility, to ensure development within given legal, fiscal and organization
milieu.
Figure 32: Aranya, A Way of Life: Cluster, Streets, Bazaars, Images, and People.
Source: VSF, March 1990.
The Aranya project is based on the good intentions in which the innocence of the
resettlement project were simply architecture problems capable of being overcome with
good design. The river of poverty in India erodes such good intentions which do not
safeguard the innovation with devices that take the project through one decade.
Improving the human conditions in the slum requires long term professional stamina. It
is rather difficult to sustain this effort in the heat and dust of a tree less 200-acre building
Some of the more recent innovative housing construction approaches are smaller
in scale, presumably to avoid political interference. Doshi's designs have been taken a
step further by two recent models of incremental housing, one by Alejandro Aravena's
92
Chilean firm Elemental and the other by an international team of architects led by
Stockholm-based Filipe Balestra and Sara G'ransson. The houses come with minimum
programmed space, allowing renters to expand in the future. This emulates the slow,
organic construction process of families that do not have access to loans or mortgages.
While Elemental's units are being used in orderly-looking government housing projects
throughout Latin America, Balestra and Göransson's plan has been implemented in dense
areas of Mumbai and Pune, India, in collaboration with the local NGO, and Mahila Milan,
93
5.3. Servicing Approach: Occupy Madison Village
The initial thoughts of servicing approach are providing makeshift places at least
minimum level of human living conditions, including upgrading public services and
infrastructure. Such initiatives may come from ministries, donor agencies, the private
sector, or large NGOs. The physical upgrading is always needed to be satisfied first. Socio-
economic development activities can then proceed afterward through local and national
programs.
94
Figure 34: American Tiny House Villages
Source: Author, 2021
organizations, and community organizers around the country because of their low-cost
and self-sustaining features. Working alone or in partnerships, these groups are hatching
ideas on new ways to use the small, inexpensive, mobile structures as part of a larger,
as a case study of tiny house villages dealing with servicing approach makeshift places.
The goal of Occupy Madison is to create safe, stable housing to those who need it most
and to bridge the social gaps that isolate those experiencing homelessness from the
95
Figure 13 shows five established and functioning American tiny house villages for
the homeless are far from isomorphic in nature. Tiny house villagers take pride in how
unique their settlements are from any other, in great opposition to the monotonous,
monolithic architecture and governance structure of many municipal housing projects for
low-income residents.
The Occupy Madison Village, Wisconsin, is the first tiny house village to use the
stewardship property tenure for permanent housing for homeless people. Occupy Madison,
Inc.98 (OMI) is a non-profit organization established by formerly homeless and housed people
who were part of the Occupy Madison movement. Initially, the unincorporated association of
98
Lisa Alexander, Community In Property: Lessons From Tiny House Villages, ebook (Texas: A&M
University School of Law, 2019).
96
homeless and housed volunteers started a tent city for homeless people within Madison,
Wisconsin. When the City of Madison shut down the initial encampment, the group shifted
OMI identified land on which a former gas station and auto-body shop were run as a
possible site. They money through private donations to purchase the site, and the City of
Madison’s Planning Commission zoned the site as a planned unit development (PDU).99 The
village finally settled down at 304 N Third St, a three-unit 17,492 square feet parcel of land
in Madison’s Emerson East neighborhood. OMI purchased the land in 2012 for $110,000. To
add to their $531 per month mortgage and $200 in monthly utility expenses, they made a
total of $160,000 worth of renovations to comply with zoning regulations, building codes and,
ADA standards.100 They used the existing structure as a workshop to build tiny homes. The
central woodworking shop, which used to be an old auto-repair shop, contains running water,
The ultimate goal of Occupy Madison is to create safe, stable housing for those who
need it most and to bridge the social gaps that isolate those experiencing homelessness from
the resources and support of the broader community. There are currently at least nine people
in the village, but the non-profit community hopes to expand to accommodate up to eleven
people on the site. OMI owns the land and the PDU upon which OM Village sits. OMI also owns
each tiny house created by or located in OM Village. 102 Each tiny home is approximately
ninety-eight square feet and contains a master bedroom with storage space. The homes have
electricity and insulation but no running water. Each tiny home costs roughly $5,000 to
99
Lisa Alexander, Community In Property: Lessons From Tiny House Villages, ebook (Texas: A&M
University School of Law, 2019).
100
The city of Madison, WI dictates that minimum inhabitable unit size be no less than 150 sq. feet, less
the kitchen, bathroom, and all closets. At 98 sq. feet the tiny homes are built on raised beds and classified as
trailers, for which there is no minimum size. Wheels on the bottom of the trailer beds also facilitate unit mobility.
101
Catherine Mingoya, "Building Together. Tiny House Villages For The Homeless: A Comparative Case
Study" (Master in City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015).
102
Occupy Madison Tiny Homes Village Looks To Expand, ebook, 2017,
https://madison.com/ct/news/local/city-life/occupy-madison-tiny-homes-village-looks-to-
expand/Article_76697ab3-e175-59bb-8e59-dda685c7b684.html.
97
construct. OM Village operates exclusively on private donations through crowdfunding,
OM Village is in Madison, the capital city of Wisconsin. Madison is well known for
its progressive political scene, with a robust left-leaning community that is vocal in
typically divisive issues, such as public employee unions, LGBTQ rights, gun laws, racial
matters, military action, and the separation of church and state. OM Village nestled
between a light industrial district and a neighborhood of single-family homes where the
are white, with a low senior population at a mere 10%.104 However, despite Madison’s
officials regarding where and by whom, homeless services should be provided. 105
The OM Village is a primarily white community filled with yellow and powder blue,
two-story, single-family homes. The village site once housed a gas station and then an
auto repair shop that fell into disrepair. The fenced exterior residential area included nine
99 square foot houses centered on a shared courtyard with a communal area for
socializing and gardening. The common interior amenities include a kitchen space
103
Shelley Mesch, "Occupy Madison's Tiny House Village Seeks Funds To Expand Its Community With
Fundraising Auction", Wisconsin State Journal, 2017, https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/occupy-madison-s-tiny-
house-village-seeks-funds-to-expand/article_a45e29d6-900a-57dc-946e-a70ff634f7cf.html.
104
"Dane County, WI", Data USA, 2021, https://datausa.io/profile/geo/dane-county-wi.
105
Torrie Mueller, Homeless Service System Data For Dane County (Dane County: Homeless Services
Consortium of Dane County, 2016), https://trhome.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/COMPLETE-October-2015-to-
September-2016-Annual-Report-002.pdf.
98
consisting of a hot plate and microwave, three shared bathrooms, a woodwork shop with
98 14' 4'8"
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51
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S7
UDC - Final Design: 06-04-14 UDC - Final Design: 06-04-14
Figure 36: OM Village Site Plan (Left) and Floor Plan (Right).
Source: Green Design Studio, 2021.
Figure 37: Tiny Houses in the Courtyard (Left). The Tiny Home is Just Right for One Person (Right).
Source: Wisconsin State Journal, 2019.
The homes face the main office, creating a small courtyard filled with raised
flowerbeds. Each house is unique with a personalized exterior and different colors painted;
personal items such as potted plants, bicycles, and recycling containers are placed
106
"Occupy Madison, Tiny Houses And More!", OM Village, accessed 10 February 2021,
https://occupymadisoninc.com.
99
outside of the front porch. Behind the houses stands a tall, decorated wooden fence
adorned with cut wooden figures of fleeing prisoners and classic cartoon characters. Only
the upper third of the bright homes are visible from the street, lending privacy and
While OM Village residents can privately manage their spaces and have rooms in
which to keep their possessions, living quarters are so tight that conflict and poor
behavior become public issues. The courtyard shared space, and homes are all so close
The “Tiny House Contract” and the “OM Community Agreement” create the status
and rights of “stewardship,” which works on a model of “sweat equity.” Future residents,
or “stewards,” must put 32 hours of work into the property through physical or clerical
labor to move in.107 Only homeless people or people facing housing insecurity can become
stewards of a tiny home in the village. Anyone who owns or has rights to another
residence cannot become a steward. A homeless person can only become a steward if
they have amassed 500 sweat-equity work credits, but once a person attains 160 sweat
equity hours, they will be on the list of applicants for a tiny home. Once residents “paid-
off” their homes, they must still contribute 10-hours per week to the maintenance of the
village in a little under a full year. The steward’s payoff obligation is personal, and a
steward cannot substitute money or sweat-equity credits from others to fulfill this
107
A Tiny Contract For Tiny House, ebook (Madison, Wisconsin: Occupy Madison Inc, 2021),
https://occupymadisoninc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/a-tiny-contract-for-a-tiny-house.pdf.
108
Catherine Mingoya, "Building Together. Tiny House Villages For The Homeless: A Comparative Case
Study" (Master in City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015).
100
A steward can acquire sweat equity credits by providing labor to build their tiny
home, build the tiny houses of other prospective residents, or from labor that benefits
the general common interest community. Stewards are required to use sweat equity to
obtain their home, but they are also required to use their sweat equity hours to help build
others' homes and improve other parts of the village. Stewardship tenure in OMI is
permanent once you pass a six-month probationary period unless you violate the
Stewards must also become general members of OMI. OMI requires general
members to attend a minimum of two general body meetings and provide services to the
organization or the tiny house village. OM Village has an extensive organization and plan
that offers many opportunities for stewards to serve the village. Stewards can run to
become part of the board of directors or participate in one of three workgroups: (1) OM
Build, the woodworking shop where the homeless and housed volunteers construct the
tiny homes. (2) OM Village Store, where wood products and jewelry made on site are
sold, and (3) OM Grow, the agricultural and gardening effort includes beekeeping and
backgrounds vital to the village’s success. Non-resident board members shoulder the
facilitating partnerships within the board and within the city. A lack of direct services at
109
A Tiny Contract For Tiny House, ebook (Madison, Wisconsin: Occupy Madison Inc, 2021),
https://occupymadisoninc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/a-tiny-contract-for-a-tiny-house.pdf.
110
Lisa Alexander, Community In Property: Lessons From Tiny House Villages, ebook (Texas: A&M
University School of Law, 2019).
101
the site allows villagers to spend their time improving necessary structural and common-
space improvements but does little to encourage or provide direct job training or off-site
employment.
The unpaid domestic and structural labor contributed by the villagers should not
underestimate in its value. Still, one should also note the limits of entirely throwing
oneself into a single project. Villagers have a voice but are not as intimately familiar with
the village's financial and legal details as other members may be. The board of directors
responsibilities outside of their capacity or experience level. A composite panel allows for
increased accountability: embezzlement is much easier if your neighbor minds the coffers
and much harder if outside entities double-check the books. Additionally, integrating skills
into the board from a well-established, local, professional class provides unique and
diverse capacity, allowing the village to take on a range of complicated projects from
legal battles to campaigns. Overall, the social relationships between many of the board
members and residents are healthy and mutual. However, nonresident board members
are not always aware of or willing to explore the differences in power they hold due to
Village.
Other interesting fact about OM village is they always sees its independence as a
key to maintain the dignity and empowerment that arises from a self-government
community. They tend to keep their distance from the government to avoid following
111
Catherine Mingoya, "Building Together. Tiny House Villages For The Homeless: A Comparative Case
Study" (Master in City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015).
102
stringent regulations that may force the village to stray from their vision of a permanent,
own decisions and gain back strength and confidence through helping themselves and
each other. The village's day-to-day operations are attended to by whichever resident is
interested in or feels the need to maintain shared facilities. At the same time, this system
generally works well does leads to an unequal distribution of labor. More complex tasks,
such as paying the mortgage, collecting donations, and ensuring compliance with city
the option of on-site medical care or counseling. OM Village does not have social service
provision as part of its model or its budget. However, if this reductionist goal, to provide
housing, were the limit of OMV’s perceptions and intentions, the system would be
nonfunctional. To build and offer to the house at all is founded on a series of ideal and
methods. OMV has a series of competing visions and frameworks, which impact
everything from their financing to their conflict resolution strategies. Each board
member's individuality paired with the village’s consensus-building model means lots of
face time and lots of conversation. Occasionally, more complex topics are put off until
the group has the time and emotional bandwidth to find a solution.
A key element of Occupy Madison’s success has been its ability to keep both
homeless with comparative political, social, and financial privilege involved in the village's
development. The mixed composition of the Occupy Madison Board, which includes
103
residents and non-residents, imbues the village with the technical capacity and power
legitimacy to the outside world that the homeless alone cannot establish. Without
Occupy Madison would have faced much more significant opposition. Furthermore, board
members' distance from the village's day-to-day allows them to have a more objective
eye towards the relationships and conflicts to better structure and define the village’s
existence.
Figure 38: Ocuppy Madison Village, To Do List Before and After Upgrade.
Source, Author, 2021.
visually appealing and well-constructed. For example, Quixote Village in Washington, has
undergone a stringent legislative process through the municipality and has invested more
than $18,000 per unit to get the buildings up to standards. Far from the $3,000-$8,000
needed to build a basic tiny house, and less environmentally friendly.112 On the other
112
Catherine Mingoya, "Building Together. Tiny House Villages For The Homeless: A Comparative Case
Study" (Master in City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015).
104
hand, Occupy Madison was able to build high-quality homes through the construction
donated, and purchased materials have cost about $3,000 each unit without losing
aesthetics, safety or warmth. It may slow down the building process, but with better
quality and less likely to suffer from mold and mildew effects and survive in the harsh
winter. Although this will keep homeless people on the streets longer, they will enter a
residents, now has a harmonious relationship with them and has turned a blighted
property into an attractive and progressive place for social good. The attractive
construction and design of the tiny house village provide an endearing structural
centerpiece and the potential to intentionally integrate the wider community. The
community gardens in the villages’ courtyards is a shared space use for neighborhood
meetings, and organize social events on the village property. These all offer a great
opportunity to bring higher-income residents into positive contact with those who have
experienced homelessness. In addition, gives the neighborhood the inside access needed
to become comfortable with the village's presence and develop empathy towards the
villagers while still preserving resident privacy. Residents and non-residents may interact
to break the social bonds and moving out from deep poverty.
Furthermore, municipalities and private entities have access to some plots of land
that are currently underutilized. The rolling lawns of churches, public housing
developments, and even municipal parallel parking spaces can provide enough land for
tiny homes to develop. Even though purchasing a lot to build a traditional house may
cost a lot in land-poor cities, tiny houses are small enough to fit into parking spots, which
may be easier than purchase traditional plots. Alleyways, municipal easements, and
105
abandoned lots all provide the opportunity to build high-quality, inexpensive, mobile
housing for the homeless. If the public procedures are well organized, and the
architecture is aesthetically pleasing, the public may be more likely to accept the
construction of tiny houses in their community. Participating in social justice issues and
106
5.4. Evacuation and Relocation: Chennai Resettlement
Evictions must only be used as after all feasible alternatives explore already.
Evacuation of areas and buildings are suitable for where there is an imminent danger to
lives. This intervention is the most drastic one. It entails not only a complete demolition
but also the relocation of residents. They often move into new social housing
developments at the fringes of the city or in new cities. This mode mainly applies to slums
in prime locations targeted for redevelopment with a commercial interest to sell part of
The Perumbakkam resettlement site is the most recent of three colonies built by
Tamil Nadu over nearly two decades to accommodate slum dwellers and those affected
107
by the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the 2015 Chennai floods. As slums demolish to
make way for roads and flyovers, the municipal relocates more than 52,000 families to
the outskirts of Chennai. Perumbakkam is the biggest with almost 24,000 units.113
compensation. Their new homes contain problems from leaky pipes and faulty electrical
fixtures to a lack of public transport, schools, and hospitals, but the city officials say there
was no option but to evict them and acknowledge shortcomings in the new sites.114
Starting from the 1990s, the concept of “ecological value” began to figure in
Chennai official planning documents and increasingly to overlap with commercial value.
More attention to flood alleviation, harvesting, and rainwater conservation through water
body reclamation and restoration began to articulate. Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply
and Sewerage Board also note planning in Chennai’s Second Master Plan (2007), both
program. These policies also see the new master plan as opportunities to clear the poor
Since 2000, the Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) has launch over 50,000
113
Kannagi Nagar Pothu Nalla Sangam, From Deluge To Displacement: The Impact Of Post-Flood Evictions
And Resettlement In Chennai (New Delhi: Housing and Land Rights Network, 2017).
114
Rina Chandran, "Chennai Slum Dwellers Pushed To City Fringes Face Leaking Pipes, Lost
Jobs", Reuters, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/india-landrights-slums-idINKBN14T1IX.
115
Karen Coelho and Nithya Raman, Salvaging And Scapegoating: Slum Evictions On Chennai's
Waterways, ebook, 2010,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265625289_Salvaging_and_Scapegoating_Slum_Evictions_on_Chennai's
_Waterways.
108
many of these housing units were still empty, awaiting eviction of slum dwellers from the
city.116
Discussions with communities reveal that the water bodies surround the site keep
Perumbakkam flooded. The area where the site locates used to be where excess water
from the nearby lakes drained during monsoons. The residents pointed out that the
purpose of resettlement is restoring a water body and preventing flooding and damage,
but the spot they shifted to is just equally ecologically sensitive. The state, however, has
only targeted homes and small enterprises and shops of the urban poor and not cleared
large commercial establishments and water bodies. This bringing into question the
116
Garima Jain, Chandni Singh and Teja Malladi, Rethinking Post-Disaster Relocation In Urban India,
ebook (India: Brieding, 2017), http://pubs.iied.org/17430IIED.
109
5.4.2. Cultural and Social Context
Figure 41: Repartition of Slum Population in Chennai (Left), and Slum Location in Chennai (Right).
Source: Census of India, Remade by Author, 2021.
Chennai is the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, formerly known as Madras.
It is the fourth largest city in India and one of south India's largest cultural, economic,
and educational centers.117 The majority of the Chennai population is Tamilian, and Tamil
is the primary language spoken, even if English is widely using in business and education.
The presence of industries in Chennai, with a broad industrial base in the automobile,
services industries, has attracted a large number of migrants from other parts of Tamil
Nadu and the rest of the country, and also the increasing number of makeshift places.118
The growth and economic development of Chennai and the growth of slums have
ignored the need for urban social spaces of excellent and adequate quality within the
urban fabric. The right to live, such as built and open, good environment, quality air,
117
"Chennai District", Government Of Tamil Nadu, 2021, https://chennai.nic.in/.
118
Karine Hochart, Perspective Of Slums And Resettlement Policies In India, The Case Of Kannagi Nagar
Resettlement Colony, Chennai, ebook, 2014.
110
safety and security, are all the fundamental provisions for a people, including people who
live in slums. The neglect of the public realm in Chennai promoted healthy social
groupings and development. Slums in the city are indeed a manifestation of such
Referred to locally as cheri or kuppam, the Chennai slums usually consists of self-
built huts, made of mud wall and thatched roof. These constructions reflect the traditional
habitat found in the villages of Tamil Nadu. “The tamil word kuppam itself, meaning a
village initially, has been given a pejorative direction and is nowadays commonly used to
designate a slum.”119
A study on Chennai slums realized in 1966 revealed that 79% of the slum houses
were huts made of cheap materials: thatched roof and mud walls or poles and kerosene
tins and canisters beaten flat nailed across. The places constitute only one dark room,
and the roof was from 4 to 10 ft in height, meaning that the people couldn’t stand erect
but had to crawl.120 According to a 2008 report, 67% of the households in slums live in
one-room tenements. One characteristic feature of the kutcha house is the temporary
aspect and renewal of the thatch. Over time, the type of the house tends to evolve in a
permanent structure. According to the 2001 census, around 65% of the houses alone in
slums are pucca houses, while semi-permanent and temporary dwellings take an equal
The followings are three types of houses commonly identified India, according to
119
A. Srivathsan, "An Example Of How Not To Design", The Hindu, 2014,
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-columns/An-example-of-how-not-to-
design/article12059020.ece.
120
Nambiar, Slums Of Madras City.
121
Chandramouli, "Slums In Chennai: A Profile."
111
- Katcha House: Traditional house made of mud or dried brick used for walls and/or
dry-stone masonry. The roof is usually built with thatch leaves. 80% of the katcha
houses have timber frame (columns and beams). If both walls and roof are made
- Semi-Pucca House: Houses without reinforce frame, columns, beams, but good
masonry work with cement mortar and reinforce cement concrete or corrugated
- Pucca House: Consolidated house made up of cement, bricks, wood, iron rods and
Figure 42: The Example of Katcha House (Left), Semi Pucca (Middle), and Pucca House (Right).
Source: The Perfect Slum.
The slum development in the Chennai area can date back to the beginning of the
20th century, before Independence in 1947. Until the 1960s, the location of slums still
mostly confined to areas of employment opportunities. Therefore, most of the slums were
found located near industrial zones. 122 Since the squatters take to lands of least
resistance, the peripheral areas were attracting new slums, which continued until 1971
122
Vedamuthu Ranee, "Urban Housing Project: Vaikundapuram, Kuyavar House, Madras Design Project"
(Master of Architecture, Anna University, 1988).
112
In 1970, only one-fifth of the slums of the city located on the seashore and banks
of watercourses. However, the lack of further industrial growth during 1971-1981 and
the rapid development of South Madras, through the acquisition of land by the Tamil
Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) and other institutions gave a flip to the growth of slums in
South Madras.123 Consequently, low-lying lands, river margins, road margins, and some
of the lands along railway lines close to transportation corridors were areas sought by
the squatters.124
These open defecation areas are lack drainage, garbage collection, widespread,
and environmental awareness. Illegal access to electricity for many households frequently
results in fire accidents, sometimes fatal to most people and their shelters in the slums.
Primary education and public healthcare are free. Unfortunately, many public schools are
government hospitals do not guarantee professional medical treatment. They are also
crowded, and the poorest sometimes have to wait for long hours to receive medical care.
Slum-dwellers evicted from the Adyar and Cooum rivers banks in Chennai are
of Chennai in the Chengalpattu district. TNSCB has initiated the Perumbakkam Housing
Scheme to resettle residents from Chennai District to Kanchipuram District. One of the
locations within the Perumbakkam relocation site is also named Ezhil Nagar.125
123
Karine Hochart, Perspective Of Slums And Resettlement Policies In India, The Case Of Kannagi Nagar
Resettlement Colony, Chennai, ebook, 2014.
124
Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky and Frédéric Landy, Megacity Slums, Social Exclusion, Space And
Urban Policies In Brazil And India, 1st ed. (London: Imperial Collega Press, 2014).
125
Shorthand Abraham, "Slum Resettlement And Rehabilitation", Shorthand, 2021,
https://social.shorthand.com/thekorahabraham/j2tvbD1fYi/slum-resettlement-and-rehabilitation.
113
Figure 43: Location of Tamilnadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) Tenements in Perumbakkam.
The Government of Tamil Nadu provided free houses for those affected by the
2004 tsunami and the 2015 floods.126 Although the government provided these houses
free of cost, TNSCB has not issued sale deeds for the tenements. Instead, the disaster-
affected families have only issue allotment orders that do not provide them with tenure
security.
TNSCB has not taken any efforts to ensure housing accessibility and provide a
terms of toilets and other facilities, is not disability-friendly; neither does it accommodate
older persons' needs. The houses constructed in Perumbakkam have poor lighting and
ventilation. Even during the day, houses and corridors are dark. The open-to-sky spaces
were introduced in the second design faces to improve the ventilation and lighting, but
126
Kannagi Nagar Pothu Nalla Sangam, From Deluge To Displacement: The Impact Of Post-Flood Evictions
And Resettlement In Chennai (New Delhi: Housing and Land Rights Network, 2017).
114
there has been no significant improvement. Rains, flooding and broken sewage system
are also issues. Residents of Perumbakkam see varying degrees of floods in every rainy
season. The water stagnation from rains mixing with sewage from damaged pipes, which
Figure 44: Aerial View of Perumbakkam Tenements (Left), and Lack of Natural Lighting (Right).
Source: TNSCB (Left) and Laasya Shekhar (Right).
According to The National Building Code of India (NBC), a housing project's density
shall not exceed 150 dwelling units per hectare of land. Hence, the Perumbakkam project
sited over 81.2 hectares can house only 12,180 dwelling units. However, 23,864 dwelling
units were approved to construct at the site, with a density of 294 dwelling units per
hectare.128 The number of lifts is inadequate, and staircases too narrow for the residents
however, neither of these tenements existing in the colony meets the Fire and Life Safety
provisions of the National Building Code of India (2005). In type A tenements, which have
192 units per building and a total of 32 blocks; and type B, with 96 units per block in 156
blocks, were all found to have inadequate width of exit on the ground floor, insufficient
127
Aruna Natarajan, PM Modi Just Promised Perumbakkam 1000+ New Houses. Who Will Solve The Woes
Of The Existing Ones?, Light House Project In Perumbakkam (Chennai, India: Citizen Matters, 2021),
https://chennai.citizenmatters.in/chennai-perumbakkam-resettlement-light-house-project-23160.
128
"Rapid Urbanization And It’S Challenges", The New School, 2018, https://medium.com/urban-history-
lab-fall-2016/rapid-urbanization-and-its-challenges-9a44da46a827.
115
width of exit on the stairway and no emergency escape routes other than standard
stairways for all residents.129 The minimal space between the various blocks of housing
development creates a series of problems in terms of the tenements' safety and livability.
The 1971 Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Act regulated the slum upgrading in Madras:
slum dwellers who had been living in Madras before 1971 were in principle granted
against eviction, they would eventually be given the ownership deed of their plot, and
the basic infrastructure of the slum would be installed or improved. However, slum
be relocated to other sites or tenements.130 TNSCB aimed to clear the city of slums fully,
prevent new slums from taking shape, and provide basic amenities for slum-dwellers to
and reconstruction schemes because of the lack of adequate open space in the urban
areas for planned housing initiatives. It also states that in the event of in situ
development and situ reconstruction, the TNSCB cannot claim the houses at alternative
locations as holistic rehabilitation because these sites lack space to establish public and
social infrastructure.
The city development agencies treat slums as an eyesore and relocate them
around 30km from the city, where the neighborhoods do not exist yet. The slum dwellers
have no choice but to move out of the center of economic activity that has attracted the
129
Aruna Natarajan, PM Modi Just Promised Perumbakkam 1000+ New Houses. Who Will Solve The Woes
Of The Existing Ones?, Light House Project In Perumbakkam (Chennai, India: Citizen Matters, 2021),
https://chennai.citizenmatters.in/chennai-perumbakkam-resettlement-light-house-project-23160.
130
Véronique Dupont and R. Dhanalakshmi, Settlement Field Report In Chennai, India (EADI, 2013).
116
population, promising better living conditions, over wastelands (undocumented land)/
watersheds/ drainage catchment areas. These locations, in fact, usually lack any civic
amenities such as water supply, sewage and waste management, connectivity to the
urban centers through a public transportation facility, opportunities for economic growth
The massive housing plans of the TNSCB at alternative locations are Perumbakkam.
For the estimated number of 7600 families in Perumbakkam, there is only one Public
Distribution System (PDS) center, and these too often report a scarcity of provisions.
Each family is entitled to 30 kg of rice per month, but they never received it even once
Furthermore, the flood-affected families have to pay Rs 750 per month for their
allotment order issued to each family, which states that Rs 750, Rs 700 is the
maintenance cost. However, more than half of the families in Perumbakkam have an
income below Rs 3000 a month.131 The payment of monthly installments for their homes
Slums do not exist for no reason. There is a need to assess why the slums have
come up in the locations and context. They have sprouted over time, at a particular place
and context, owing to the promise of income generation for the unskilled labor force and
the subsequent use of this income to sustain themselves by the consumption of amenities
that the urban centers of today require of us, to lead a comfortable life.
131
Kannagi Nagar Pothu Nalla Sangam, From Deluge To Displacement: The Impact Of Post-Flood Evictions
And Resettlement In Chennai (New Delhi: Housing and Land Rights Network, 2017).
117
5.4.5. Results and Recommendations
This case study highlighted various reasons for the resettlement project's failure, from
the location to the planning and housing design of the site. Unless the implementation is
genuinely inclusive and approaches integrally, slum clearance policies will remain limited to
eradicating housing poverty symptoms in the most visible urban spaces without reducing
urban poverty.
One reason for the failure of the project is the recognition of slums by planning
authorities, in particular their attitude toward the inhabitants. They perceived this slum
“Why should we spend time and money for these poor people?” are asking by lacking a
participatory approach and time spend on studies. Besides lack of feedback from the
resettlement project, absence of inquiry on the implemented project, and blame of the
beneficiaries in case of dissatisfaction refer to the idea that “people should be satisfied with
the project because it is free provided.” Finally, lack of follow-up the study and the diversity
of agencies responsible for some parts of the project lead to a denial of government
responsibility.
118
The existing problems in these tenements have been well-documented but remain
unaddressed. Residents have protested and petitioned authorities at every level to get some
of the facilities repaired and have new ones in place. At this juncture, the addition of more
houses could only make the situation worse for those who already live here and the new
- Effective stormwater drains to ensure that the water does not stagnate in the site
- Some designing to ensure that during rains the water does not stagnate in the
- Technical designs to ensure that the houses are disaster resilient and can implement
- Emergency exits are required for evacuation during earthquakes or fire accidents.
119
6. IMPROVING THE IMPERFECT
the lessons learned from the study of previous case studies and the literature review on
the built form and environment of informal settlements. It is obvious that the large-scale
global issues of urban informality and the world's social-political context maintain a high
level of inequality. The future without informal settlements in the housing market is not
Today most of the informal urban development encroaches on-site without a legal
populations while at the same time providing a solution to the social and physical
national pedagogies have been released, it remains unclear the extent to which these so-
called “best practices” are adequate or possible for the unique challenges faced by
what kind of improvements are legitimately helpful? What are the changes that can make
by design?
architecture, and the characteristics of self-help urban poor communities. The sections,
for the guidelines, served as an ideal configuration to bring all stakeholders from various
public officials, and NGO staff, to work together. The design solutions still require all local
expertise involved depend on the actual site content. For demonstration, the vignettes
120
6.1. Stakeholders
a stakeholder. Each project has its own unique set of stakeholders. A great project
manager should appreciate all types and interest of stakeholders to enable greatest
and to build long-lasting relationships among them. The core of stakeholder theory is the
normative approach, which means that organizations should understand the validity of
supportive framework. The only obligation for stakeholders is to create as much value as
possible through the assessment of the situation and balance the demands to meet
success.
perceptions of the value created by the project and their relationship with the team. Poor
will limited development practice. Thus, delivering value requires managing the
relationship of the project and ensuring that all participants have perceptions of what is
being delivered, when and how. 132 The needs of all stakeholders should be assessed
during the execution of the project; in order to achieve a satisfactory and realistic solution
to the problem being discussed. Although the interest of stakeholders is to work together,
organizations should find out if their goals are moving in the same direction. It is therefore
essential for us to carries out a stakeholder analysis to list, classify and assess the
132
Lynda Bourne and Derek H.T. Walker, "Project Relationship Management And The Stakeholder
Circle™", International Journal Of Managing Projects In Business 1, no. 1 (2008): 125-130,
doi:10.1108/17538370810846450.
121
influence of each stakeholder. The following table identify two types of stakeholders that
Primary Stakeholders
Local Elected
The elected representatives by the public voting process.
Representatives
Secondary Stakeholders
There are several ways to understand the term participation. For example,
122
Process is to complete the capacity of individuals to improve on their living environment
and facilitate social progress in line with the advantages or disadvantages of marginalized
arbitrary in the whole program. It uses to gain acknowledgment for an already assembled
package rather than to achieve expected outcomes.134 On the other hand, Participation
conclusion of their efforts and are motivated to entrust their thought and energy to the
based participatory orthodoxy that fails to discuss inter-linkages in social reality, such as
individual and institutional, both horizontal and vertical, and the distribution of authority,
transform into an exercise based on toolboxes of protocols and strategies, the risk of
simplified solutions that disregard of different social groups becomes a reality.136 In order
complexities of informal dwellers’ live is important. Failures are often noted to be foreseen
during the promotion of the enrollment. For example, the term community is often
133
Frances Cleaver, "Paradoxes Of Participation: Questioning Participatory Approaches To
Development", Journal Of International Development 11, no. 4 (1999): 597-612, doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-
1328(199906)11:4<597::aid-jid610>3.0.co;2-q.
134
Lucius Botes and Dingie Rensburg, "Community Participation In Development: Nine Plagues And
Twelve Commandments", Community Development Journal 35, no. 1 (2000): 41-58, doi:10.1093/cdj/35.1.41.
135
Sujit Kumar Sikder et al., "Stakeholders Participation For Urban Climate Resilience: A Case Of Informal
Settlements Regularization In Khulna City, Bangladesh", Journal Of Urban And Regional Analysis 7, no. 1 (2020),
doi:10.37043/jura.2015.7.1.1.
136
Frances Cleaver, "Paradoxes Of Participation: Questioning Participatory Approaches To
Development", Journal Of International Development 11, no. 4 (1999): 597-612, doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-
1328(199906)11:4<597::aid-jid610>3.0.co;2-q.
123
barriers; yet, it is equally necessary not to describe it as a heterogeneous social system
perceptions of the informal community will lead to many conflicts between residents when
project in the informal settlements, the following paragraphs will be further discussing
three primary stakeholders including renters and squatters, landowners, community, and
local authority. The positive and significant predictive impacts on community engagement
As tenure security is accessible to the landlords, they may use land ownership as
a way for the development and improvement of living conditions. However, in terms of
majority of absentee landlords have built housing of low quality and have not provided
essential services. Landlords should be instrumental in providing basic service, and the
related ministries should collaborate with local governments in implementing the policies
with all stakeholders. The relationship between landlords and tenants is also critical, as
6.1.2. Landowners
landowner and the informal occupancy. If the landowners are private individual or groups,
they often consider the residents of informal settlers as temporary squatting. Therefore,
124
they do not maintain any database and they have no legal provision or interest to work
in the favor of informal settlers. On the contrary, they initiate eviction measures to clear
their land from illegal occupancy and want to lease the land for commercial or agricultural
purposes. They have the possibility to share or lease their additional vacant land with the
settlers or development agencies. However, if the government or public agency owns the
lands, their attitudes to informal settlements may range from opposition and eviction to
6.1.3. Community
Community participation has been promoted in all kinds of urban policy over the
last few decades. However, in most situations, it has not been able to permeate all types
engagement due to the failures housing policy from government. Their involvement could
be more noteworthy if they advocated from the bottom up than if it is appointed from
There are a lot of external and internal problems facing community participation.
informal settlements likely to be driven from top to down, while internal challenges are
the main thematic topics for assessing the involvement of informal residents. The
differences here is not between formality and informality but rather a distinction within
informality.
social, cultural, religious, political interests, and backgrounds, and all livelihood activities
need to be fulfilled. Their perceptions of community actions and the common goods differ
in hand with their role in the community. New inhabitants in informal settlements may
125
live with old-timers, owners with tenants, employed with the unemployed, legal workers
education levels, characteristics, etc. It reports that the informal settlements are often
less likely to participate due to their divisions of language, tenure, income, gender, age
or politics, than in less diverse communities, however, if the residents have the chance
to input their decision-making process together, they tend to be more supportive of the
integrative, and a means of the preservation of rights. Also, local residents probably have
a better knowledge about the assets and needs of the community. Finally, public
organizations (CBOs) to help build assets. These organizations offer several advantages
for carrying out place-based programs as they have extensive contacts and information
about the neighborhood.138 Every stakeholder should notice that these are control by the
local residents.139
Public engagement enables communities to resolve conflict and allows for different
perspectives to be heard. This way promotes people to learn and help themselves.
Communities will assess their situation, organize themselves as a powerful group, work
137
Lucius Botes and Dingie Rensburg, "Community Participation In Development: Nine Plagues And
Twelve Commandments", Community Development Journal 35, no. 1 (2000): 41-58, doi:10.1093/cdj/35.1.41.
138
Gary P Green and Anna Haines, Asset Building And Community Development, 2nd ed. (Los Angeles:
Sage Publications, 2008).
139
David I Cleland and Lewis R Ireland, Project Management, 5th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007).
126
creatively towards changing society, and build up a new world. These increased capacities
on the state and lead to a bottom-up approach. This is essential for project
capacity building, which enables the community to be more effective and efficient in
increasing capability of the community to fulfill their own needs and maintain the benefit
of the project also contributes to eradicating poverty and hunger in the long-term.
and enabling strategies. Mansuri and Rao show that community participation leads to
development projects are more responsive to the needs of the poor, easier delivery of
public goods and services, better maintenance of community assets, and a more informed
and involved citizenry. 141 Perhaps most significantly, the opportunities to develop
informal settlements align with their incorporation into formal planning and organizational
processes. The governments and authorities are responsible for providing and supporting
basic needs and safe livelihoods to their citizens, whether they are formal or informal
urban inhabitants. If our cities are to remain engines of development and improvement,
they must find a way that makes such development sustainable and equal for everyone.
The local representatives play an important role due to the persistence interests
of their local political. The municipal councilor retains up-to-date records on informal
140
Ismail Davids, Kealeboga Maphunye and F Theron, Participatory Development In South Africa, 2nd ed.
(Pretoria: Van Schaik, 2012).
141
Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao, "Community Based (And Driven) Development: A Critical
Review", SSRN Electronic Journal, 2004, doi:10.2139/ssrn.501663.
127
settlements, build infrastructure with personal budgetary allocations, and protests
against forced evictions. The local leaders have the ability to smoothen the way forward
due to the system of local power and better linkage with main public-private sector actors.
Settlers are often involved with political associations and are also active in land
sector agency was confronted with serious difficulties at earlier stages in convincing the
settlers to take part in regularization initiatives. The settlers, however, feel under
pressure and lack of confidence due to tenure insecurity and frequent threats of eviction.
Much of the informal settlements are highly dependent on local government officials for
The government plays a vital role in financing, initiating, executing and managing
which regulate economic, resources, job opportunities, and services. NGOs than carry
There is need for the governments to create and participate in informal sharing
programs. Ideally, the local governments need to demand CBOs and NGOs accountability
This policy framework provides local authorities with an incentive to take the lead
encourage a shift from individuals and household to collective, community action. These
innovations are likely to be a significant success, alongside enable a more influential role
128
In the delivery of public projects, both politicians and bureaucrats regard as
critically important agents. Politicians are elected by citizens to decide public policy,
implement these policies. When facing high levels of political competition in their
winning public projects. As a result, they may seek to overcome barriers such as
bureaucrats’, inertia or corruption. Current research shows that democratic rivalry will
enhance public service execution. Typically, politicians do not under-take public projects
The decision-making at the community-level may falls into the hands of a small
and self-perpetuating clique, which act in its interests with disregard for the wider
community. If this case, the disabled, poorest, in-debt, or similarly disregarded informal
dwellers benefit the least. The most vulnerable groups are internally excluded from
amplifying their voice to the public and making their choice. The so-called community
leaders are often internally blocking the intervening agency to prevent a social status loss
or gain more support from the bottom. Thus, informal dwellers are becoming reluctant
projects in a particular informal settlement just before an election will take advantage of
the communities and entice them to vote for their representatives. Unfortunately, the
politicians’ promises are rarely fulfilled and often leave informal dwellers without any
choice but to do what they say, which drags down the expectation from people living in
142
Lakshmi Iyer and Anandi Mani, "Traveling Agents: Political Change And Bureaucratic Turnover In
India", Review Of Economics And Statistics 94, no. 3 (2012): 723-739, doi:10.1162/rest_a_00183.
129
makeshift places. Informal dwellers’ memories count, and, as mentioned before, their
willingness for participation is always conditioned. Process without outcomes leaves the
community convinced that the promised improvement would never happen, but wastes
Government has a role in ensuring the success of the public projects in terms of
developers. Pugh argues that the failure of the capability of government will affect the
success of housing sector development.143 Resolving the problems from the dwellers of
informal settlements should be seen as imperative for the future since they are likely to
constitute the next few decades' primary human habitats. Many informal inhabitants live
in substandard conditions, but they have experiences, aspirations, and a great creative
prejudices and depreciatory attitudes. Developing their engagement on social and cultural
patterns through community participation holds many promises for themselves and the
143
Cedric Pugh, "The Theory And Practice Of Housing Sector Development For Developing Countries,
1950-99", Housing Studies 16, no. 4 (2001): 399-423, doi:10.1080/02673030120066527.
130
6.2. Conceptual Framework
Portela proposes a typology of planned urban patterns in the first stage of consolidation
of informal settlements. The major implication is that these settlements will progressively
produce housing areas with similar spatial characteristics to those of proposed low-
income developments for comparable income groups.144 Christian Werthmann also offers
work on Sao Paulo and Medellin.145 He explores ways in which municipalities can create
models for communities that predict the intersection of urban informality and
environmental risk, introducing projects that will discourage urbanization in these regions.
zones, interstitial spaces of infrastructure, and sites without clear ownership. We may
produce predictive maps of potential informality using these indicators and categorize the
The basic element to be used within this set of models is the 12 by 12 foot cube.
This generative module accommodates 1-2 people, which, when combined, form larger
structures. For ADA and family users, two units combine together into one with restrooms
or stairs in the middle. This project has all the characteristics of a boundless, cost-
effective system. It offers one possible answer to the chronic problem of vulnerable
144
María del Carmen Portela, "Settlement Patterns In Unplanned Areas: Case Study San José De Chirica,
Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela" (Degree of Master of Architecture, McGill University, 1992).
145
Peter Hofmann, Hannes Taubenbock and Christian Werthmann, "Monitoring And Modelling Of Informal
Settlements - A Review On Recent Developments And Challenges", 2015 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event
(JURSE), 2015, doi:10.1109/jurse.2015.7120513.
131
groups and the rapid growth population in both developed and developing cities
Figure 46: Organization of Basic Units. Units for 1-2 People (Left), and Units for Families and ADA (Right).
These construction guidelines offer only a canvas, a spatial system and functional
The flexible properties of the basic unit allows communities and planners to explore
alternative sites within the city. It can be used to extend the capacity of existing refuge
vertically, or build upon a vacant urban block. The design also promotes opportunities for
social integration in urban and suburban locations. This structure suggests the creation
132
of public and community buildings, accommodating newcomers, established immigrants,
Besides residential housing, the flexible tectonics of these basic units allow
gymnasiums, warehouses, or factories. In the event of a natural disaster, this unit can
be quickly installed inside the structure to provide safe and private temporary shelters
for victims. Used as shared offices is recommended in megacities, too. With increasing
land scarcity and high rental prices in the urban centers, these modules can divide space
more precisely and provide more affordable choices for micro-business individuals.
reduce cost.
Fieldwork and research yield severed important building typologies that help better
plan habitable environments for vulnerable communities. The following forms and
133
diverse context and situations by addressing safety, security, and identify, with the
and occupied based on the need of inhabitants. Plot typologies are adaptable: programs
on each plot can match, combine, or function independently; the system accumulates
the functions and programs of these plots, architects and planners can tailor unit
configurations and site plans to meet the physical, social, and economic need of the
community.
134
6.2.4. Planning Scenarios
scenarios are designed for different purposes and functions to meet the needs of the
targeted site quickly. For example, plots in the heart of the block can build shared gardens
and parks that make the city more attractive and advance social well-being. Outdoor
sports areas can connect community residents with city recreation departments or
schools. The composition of residential units also helps ensure the best fit for the
- Scenario 1: Park
The medium density, park-type scenario presents central park space surrounded
by individual housing aligned with the street. Landscaped green space is open and
135
- Scenario 2: Increasing Housing
This scenario explores higher densities where the city has a larger demand for
housing. The heart of the block offers a landscaped sidewalk serving collative unit.
This configuration is suitable the middle of the city, where the population is
growing and does not have much space for landscape. The qualitative sale of this
- Scenario 3: Mixed-use
providing job opportunities and social support. The plan features mixed-use office
- Scenario 4: Parking
This scenario proposes parking lots within landscaped sidewalks on the outskirts
of the site. The plan integrates public parking of potential benefit to the city.
The multi-use scenario features a community sports complex and small multi-use
- Scenario 6: Multi-function
This multi-use scenario is almost entirely dedicated to all user groups, including
school, major facilities, and government office. The housing plot is surrounded by
landscaping and trees that help define and soften new public space.
136
6.3. Vignette: Kaka’ako Transition Village
Hawaii, the paradise state—renowned for its gorgeous scenery, aloha spirit,
stunning beaches, and fusion of East and West that earus the state rating as a top
than the global average), yet is also a nationally known hub of homelessness. 146
According to the State of Hawaii’s annual O’ahu Point in Time (PIT) Count (2020) of
homelessness, 4,478 people suffered homelessness on O’ahu on the night of January 22,
146
Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, Hawaii Data Profiles (Honolulu: The Hawaii
State Data Center, 2018).
137
2020. Forty-seven percent (2,102) were sheltered, and 53percent (2,346) were living on
the streets or in other places not meant for human habitation.147 Hawaii provides the
References: O‘ahu's Continuum of Care, 2020 O‘Ahu Point In Time Count (Honolulu: U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, 2020).
People who experience homelessness are not distinct and separate from the rest
of the population. In fact, the line between being housed and unhoused is quite fluid.
Sometimes events come up in life that cannot be planned, such as illness, the death of a
primary income earner, divorce, disability, or the loss of a job. The pathways into and
out of homelessness are neither linear nor uniform, and many are involuntary.
147
O‘ahu's Continuum of Care, 2020 O‘Ahu Point In Time Count (Honolulu: U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, 2020).
148
Chronically homeless refers to individuals, often with disabling conditions, who are currently homeless
and have been homeless for over a year or have at least spent more than 12 months cumulative nights in a shelter
or place not fit for human habitat in the past 3 years.
149
Persons who have been counted in PIT Counts 2017, 2018, or 2019.
138
HIV/ AIDS 1% (41)
Over 60 Years Old 12% (460)
Survivor of Domestic Violence 13% (501)
Fleeing from Domestic Violence 4% (155)
and clothes, sleeping in doorways, and moving around aimlessly: although city
government passed a law ridding sidewalks, streets, and parks of homeless persons—
and although these alternatives carry informal criminal penalties in Waikiki, the tourist
district, and Chinatown—informal settlement and homeless outposts can still be found in
Kakaako Gateway Park consists of two open grass fields situated between Kakaako
Waterfront Park and Ala Moana Boulevard. Cooke Street binds the fields to the west (Ewa)
and Ohe Street to the east (Diamond Head). Ilalo Street bisects the fields. The most
consistent users of this area have been homeless people, ensconced in transient
139
encampments around the edges of the Kaka’ako Mauka Gateway Park. This community
choose to inhabit the borders of the park, not its central area. This compromises the
comfort and incommodes pedestrians walking by. The HCDA has been trying to clear this
and all encampments; it expends considerable resources to keep the transient population
from camping in the parks. For example, Waikiki Health's “Next Step” shelter is open
along Keawe Street. The site selected here is makai of the encampment, an open field
Waikiki Health’s Next Step shelters are accessible through the gate to the Re-Use
Hawaii parking lot at the end of Keawe Street, near the UH School of Medicine. The front
door to the shelter locates on the Ewa side of the property. The shelter is inside a
140
warehouse building, with cardboard cubicles covered by a thin layer of cotton “roof.”
Although the purpose of this shelter is a derivative of a concept known as “Housing First,”
which prioritizes moving homeless people straight from the streets into permanent and
supportive housing, there is no privacy or dignity for families living in this environment.
In addition to a long waiting list, “Next Ste” also charges a $60 to $90 program fee for
The following diagrammatic scenario demonstrate how Kaka’ako Makai Gateway Park
The key to creating a successful design system is to move in small steps that
demonstrate values and motivate institutional change. Thus, instead of offering a fully
developed design, this proposal begins with dots and grids, which provide a fast and easy
way to view and organize the site plan and engage stakeholders. Each dot represents a
141
spatial functional; each grid represents 12 by 30 feet. The following diagrams show how
dots and grids describe the distribution of program element for small communities. The
larger block employs planning scenarios described in the previous chapter. Both
Figure 54: Kaka’ako Transition Village. Activity Plan (Left) and Site Plan (Right).
Source: Author, 2021.
community interaction. Mixed-use programming and shared facilities along the edge of
the site increase what Jane Jacobs famously called “eyes on the street”: people’s “eyes”
get stronger when they engage a range of activities on the street. Shops and offices
space wideness its perimeter of security and inspires social cohesion. Even though it is a
142
homeless transition village, a very well-used street can make the adjacent community
felt safer to walking by daily. The site configuration features example outdoor sports
grounds, parks, and gathering spaces. The greater the activity in the area, the greater
its vibrancy.
Community parks and open spaces offer a well-established, effective means for
creating community. People have been gathering in public spaces for centuries. While
design cannot force people to connect, it can optimize circulation, remove barriers, and
create healthy meeting places. The location of residential units increases the social
character of public space and makes more convenient for people to get to know each
other. The composition of open space attracts citizens of all ages and diverse interest.
Intergenerational living helps engender social cohesion among different groups and
promote community formation. The spatial organization of the site sparks chance
143
encounters, encourage communication, promotes interaction, and positive identity. As
planners, we can take a more active role in providing healthy settings for social dialogue
and growth.
6.3.2. Implementation
spaces that serve communities are primarily central to the dynamics of city life. People
perceive the quality of their physical and social environment in part based on how nearby
public spaces come to life; and the quality of the surrounding environment helps shape
how people use them. If they are accessible, attractive, clean, and safe, they inspire
144
more uses and activities; however, if public spaces are abandoned or neglected, people
The inhabitants of makeshift settlements most likely seek to maximize their safety
and security. Living close to relatives, maintaining social networks with other districts,
working together in the family business, and sharing the suffering and indignity of
many cases initiate dangers that threaten their existence. What they value most is:
steady employment; secure tenure rights, home ownership; access to resources; and
continuous relationships and associations with their relatives and the places they come
from. Thus, among all upgrading systems, on-site redevelopment is always the priority,
especially where cultural factors are concerned. The land itself strengthens the efficiency
145
of open-ended, intermediate formal systems. Migrants from rural areas carry rural
lifestyle with them to the city, which shapes adaptation to the contemporary urban
context.
The following table presents a number of common themes that appear to arise in
Do Don’t
Encourage initiative of slum dwellers and Ignore the specific needs and contributions
recognize the roles of all. of vulnerable groups.
Design and negotiate relocation plan only Invest public resources in massive social
when absolutely necessary. housing schemes.
Develop new urban areas by making land Provide unaffordable infrastructure and
and trunk infrastructure available. services.
146
Source: The Challenge Of Slums. Ebook. London and Sterling, VA: United Nation Human Settlement Programme,
2003.
6.4. Conclusion
Figure 58: Kaka’ako Transition Village, To Do List Before and After Upgrade.
Source, Author, 2021.
Makeshift places are like people, affected by their surrounding environments. They
embody political awareness, everyday life, social interaction and identity, and cultural
exchange. These places gain vitality from their inhabitants, the same as the cities.
The social realm and its issues are always complicated. This diagrammatic scenario
aims to use companionate design help build a more cohesive society. Kaka'ako Transition
residential and mixed-use environments suitable for every stage of life. Gathering spaces,
parks, stores, offices, shared recreational facilities, and other essential urban amenities
offers those lacking housing a beneficial and supportive milieu designed for everyone—
147
CONCLUSION
place to place, this study aims to better understanding the urban design and architecture
unpacking the meaning of the term and its overall potential as an alternative method of
creating urban form. I have distilled this research into an applicable lexicon of informal
terms, which in turn drives a framework of informal process and architectural grammars.
I use diagrams and definitions to mark the first step in trying to articulate how informality
may potentially define a new type of architecture. Chapters 4 and 5 introduce basic issues
a catalogue of precedents by architect who have attempted to apply lessons derived from
informal settlements within their own culture and urban context, personal experience
heuristically apply these process and shape grammars to the Kaka’ako Gateway Park,
diversity, and inclusion. They embody innovative architectural, social, cultural, and
economic patterns that cannot be found elsewhere. They deserve critical analysis and
offer architecture and urban design they are more than merely being passive beneficiaries
of aids. Architects should learn how to engage and listen to the inhabitants of informal
communities. Exchanging information and building trust is a highly important part of the
148
While connecting closely with makeshift communities and collaborating with them
on small-scale solutions, architects can also challenge the failure of large-scale models
and top-down institutions. Architecture is the key from generating process that connects
environment, architects must first read the situation and think about the ways political
engagement, architectural ideas, planning strategies, urban practices, and cultural values
as spatial agency. The architect’s job is not all about solving problems, but sometimes
also about posing problems, so that all involved actors can fully develop their capacity to
mediator between the people living in informal settlements and the institutions that are
making the conditions for informality in the first place. Architects can help balance all the
cultural.
In conclusion, this research addresses the translation between formal and informal
frameworks. The idea is to generate new forms of sociability and community formation
by giving people the support, tools, and resources to drive their ideas and control their
urban habitat. My aim has been to create broader pictures and a more flexible tools for
understanding and engaging makeshift places. At the beginning of this paper, I saw these
commit myself understanding them. Makeshift places are vital socio-political territories.
I hope more people will pay attention to the city's natural processes; view informality as
urbanism; and work together to improve trust, mutual support, and care for the future
149
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