Guiding questions

1. What are squatter settlements, and where are they located?

2. What are the problems associated with them?

3. Are they a symbol of failure of good planning and leadership - is it always a negative entity?

What are squatter settlements?

A group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area who lack one or more of the following:

1. Durable housing of a permanent nature

2. Sufficient living space

3. Easy access to safe water in sufficient amounts

4. Access to adequate sanitation in the form of a private or public toilet

5. Legal rights to housing

- UN Habitat Definition

Where are squatters located?

Overview of problems

Env

Urban overspills

Vulnerabilities magnified by

slum’s interaction with nat & mn

hazard

Social & Wellbeing

Public Health

Gender

Access to Education

Economic

Employment

Formal – Informal

Political

Securing legal

housing rights

Corporation - Slum

Environment

Urban Overspills

Loss in arable land

Man encroaching into nature

Interaction with Natural & Manmade hazard

Floods, Bad Geology

Fire, Toxic Waste

Slums of Hanoi

Urban Overspill in Hanoi – Loss in agriculture

Annual urban growth of 6% -> 41% of urban population live in slums – 9 million Vietnamese

Rapid land use change reduction in arable land in peripheral areas of Hanoi (1/3 converted into built-up areas)

Peri-urban agriculture contaminated by toxics found in human and animal manure.

Urban Overspill – whose encroachment

Man encroaching into nature spaces ‘Invasion’ into ecological sanctuaries Tensions in Man – Nature relationship Nature’s response

Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Bombay

Environment

Urban Overspills

Loss in arable land

Man encroaching into nature

Natural & Manmade hazards

Floods, Bad Geology

Fire, Toxic Waste

Presence of slums aggravates natural and manmade hazards

Manmade hazards

Tudor Shaft, Johannesburg Previously, gold mining activities creates mining waste (uranium rocks) radioactive tailings Radioactivity level x32times more than limit allowed Enters groundwater and river system Establishment of squatter settlements

Natural -

Bad Geology

‘Caracas Valley’, Venezula

Natural factors:

Unstable hillsides, seismically active valley

Establishment of informal settlements (human

activities) -> greater surface pressure

Destabilization of hill Increase in major landslides

and slope failures

Natural – Flooding

Flooding in Slums of Manila

Natural factors: Increase in frequency of tropical storms. Philippines located at the Typhoon Belt + Pacific Ring of Fire + Interaction with squatters: Garbage clogged waterways. Crammed alleyways. = ?

Social & Wellbeing

Public Health

Contamination of resources

Spread of Infectious diseases

Clean sanitation

Access to education

Contamination of potable water supply

Situation + Response Kibera Slums, Nairobi

PRIVATISATION OF WATER

Privatization of water

Spread of vector borne & infectious diseases

Diseases affecting squatter settlements

1. Water-borne diseases - contamination of water supply with raw sewage

2. Vector-borne infectious diseases -- living environment & carried by hosts

Implications on gender equality

Lack of toilets & privacy ?

Sanitation facilities in India

Lacking infunctionalcommon toilet

lacking in toiletsfor girls

presence offunctional femaletoilets

Link between sanitation facilities and school drop outs

Lack of sanitation facilities -> inconvenience & embarrassment

+

Religious Taboos social stigmas

A taboo is defined as that which is “always seen as symbolically dangerous or otherwise defiling” (Delaney 1976:4)

Importance of providing better sanitation facilities

Bridging the education gap • Economic benefits: increase in GDP,

higher labour force participation • Social benefits: gender equality, good

family planning

Informal slum economy

• “Self-created special economic zone (SEZ)

for the poor” • Exists outside government oversight, help

or encouragement

• “Every slum has its businesses. Every kind of business is there in the slums.”

–Mr Mobin, Dharavi Millionaire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im0tHRs9Bng

Dharavi, Mumbai

90% employment rates, 1 million people Lower crime rates than wealthier, less dense areas Annual economic output of $500 million

Dharavi Redevelopment Plan –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7y9WoGwJJI

Conference of the Parties

starring

Rakesh, 24 Leather Worker

US$65/month + US$11/month Shares 2 rooms with 5 others

Arockia, 18 College student

Family income $196/month Lives with 8 family members

over 2 floors

Vimla, 27 Domestic maid, Flower band

maker Has 4 children

$22/month Hut by railway tracks with no

toilet or water

Esakkiamal, 40 Housewife

Has 3 sons all of whom are studying

Lives on 1 floor, rents out the other for $11/month

Janjibhai, 45 Pottery worker

$260/month, no $ during monsoon Stays with family of 5

Selvaraj, 46

Aircraft engineer for Jet Airways $260/month

Lives in 1 room with wife & son

https://todaysmeet.com/DharaviSlum