Housing & Informality

Regularising Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi: A Missed Opportunity to Improve Gendered Access to Land?

By |2021-04-01T10:33:29+02:00April 1st 2021|

Delhi’s recent regularisation scheme PM-UDAY promises to improve tenure security of about 5 million residents – a highly ambitious task considering the gendered implications of land tenure security in India. Can the scheme deliver on its potential and strengthen women’s land ownership? By Sonal Sharma, Smriti Singh and Sukrit Nagpal from SEWA Bharat

Regularising Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi: Well-Intended but Not Enough

By |2021-03-30T14:09:34+02:00March 30th 2021|

A recent regularisation scheme promises to improve the tenure security of about 5 million Delhi residents. But how inclusive is the scheme and does it keep pace with the realities on the ground? Sukrit Nagpal, Smriti Singh and Sonal Sharma from SEWA Bharat take a critical look.

Learning from Latin America’s Informal Settlements and Urban Policies

By |2021-03-18T11:23:13+01:00March 18th 2021|

Informal housing is a common phenomenon in Latin America, and governmental regulations are designed to counteract it. However, some of them have had the opposite effect. Cynthia Goytia on its underlying dynamics and a necessary shift in urban policies.

Evaluating the Slum Redevelopment Project of Borei Keila

By |2021-11-05T12:35:18+01:00March 9th 2021|

Borei Keila stands out as a unique experiment in land sharing and social housing in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh. Dr. Paul Rabé provides insights into its origins, the pitfalls in its realisation, and the lessons to be learned.

Maximising the Impact of Urban Development in Cairo’s Informal Settlements

By |2021-11-04T16:19:25+01:00February 16th 2021|

International development efforts must be designed with long-term impacts in mind. Dr Hassan Elmouelhi provides insights into the Egyptian context and asks an all-important question: Is international development overlooking critical opportunities? 

Upgrading Precarious Neighbourhoods is Key for Post-Pandemic Recovery

By |2021-09-30T14:50:22+02:00February 2nd 2021|

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the planet to ‘stay at home’ and ‘wash hands’. But in Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 100 million inhabitants lack adequate housing and sanitation. Could upgrading precarious neighbourhoods hold the key for post-pandemic recovery? By Anacláudia Rossbach et al

Contestations over Informal Settlements: Which Way Forward? An Interview

By |2021-02-22T13:00:56+01:00October 22nd 2020|

Ethiopia is experiencing unprecedented population growth. Despite large government housing programs, there are more and more informal settlements in the country, and cases of forceful displacement and evictions are on the rise. In the virtual event “Ways forward for informal settlements”, Tania Berger from Danube University Krems discusses options for inclusive urbanisation with an international panel.

India’s Housing Crisis: A Gender Perspective

By |2020-10-08T16:07:46+02:00October 8th 2020|

With 17 per cent of India's urban population living in informal settlements, affordable housing has become a pressing issue. It is imperative, writes Swapnil Saxena, that any housing scheme recognises the particular vulnerabilities women experience in urban settings and focusses on women’s rights.

It’s Time to Change the Housing Conversation

By |2020-10-06T09:29:06+02:00October 6th 2020|

Safe, affordable housing is not an end in itself but should be interwoven with other interventions to improve access to related services and benefits. As the pandemic exacerbates shortcomings in housing programmes around the world, Vidhee Garg on the need to re-think housing and to look beyond its purely quantitative aspects.

Mapping Makoko: A Community Stating its Right to Exist

By |2022-07-18T11:43:58+02:00September 24th 2020|

Makoko, one of Lagos' largest slums, used to be a blank spot on the map for most of its history. This has been changing with a community-based digital mapping project that enables the residents to articulate their rights.

COVID-19: How Prepared is Urban India?

By |2020-06-24T14:42:21+02:00June 24th 2020|

The current pandemic is a serious challenge for Indian cities. But Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Simi Mehta and Arjun Kumar argue the outbreak of contagious diseases is less of a natural disaster – and maybe more of a man-made one. Of inequalities, poor infrastructures and the way forward.

Urban Mining in Ghana

By |2020-04-23T08:25:37+02:00April 23rd 2020|

Analyses of Ghana's e-waste import tend to focus on the dangerous effects of its informal processing. Richard Grant and Martin Oteng-Ababio employ the concept of urban mining to take a more differentiating look at a thriving informal economy.

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