From Fear to Resilience: Urban Informal Settlements in the Global South

Across the Global South, families like Asma Banu’s live under eviction threats while powering cities. Her story demands dignity, secure tenure and basic services for all. By Muaz Hussain

Living in fear has become a constant for many urban residents. “At night, I worry we might wake up to an eviction notice, just like before. Where would we go? We have nowhere else,” says Asma Banu, a 35-year-old housewife who has spent her entire life in an informal settlement in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

Her story is a window into the struggles faced by millions living on the edges of cities across the Global South. In neighbourhoods like hers, poverty, neglect, and uncertainty are part of everyday life. Residents face repeated evictions, service interruptions, and economic hardship.

Asma was brought to Chattogram as a young girl by her mother and sister, who were searching for work. After her marriage, she moved in with her husband’s family, migrants from Dinajpur who had long settled in the area. Her husband, formerly a garment worker, now earns a living as a daily labourer, a change forced by circumstances rather than choice.

Despite these hardships, Asma remains committed to her children’s education. Her daughter could only study until Class Eight before getting married, while her sons continued at a local government school. Even basic medical care is sometimes out of reach, and at times the family relies on neighbours for food. “When my husband fell ill and couldn’t work, we survived on whatever our neighbours could give us. I still shudder thinking about those days,” she recalls.

One of the most persistent challenges has been the constant threat of eviction. Over the years, residents have been displaced multiple times. Some have lived temporarily on school grounds or rebuilt their homes after being evicted. Constructing even a single-room house today costs 35–40 thousand taka (BDT), far beyond the reach of most wage earners.

A Global Story

Asma’s experiences mirror those of informal settlers worldwide. In Kibera, Nairobi, over 250,000 people live without secure tenure, electricity, or proper sanitation¹. Dharavi, Mumbai, home to nearly one million residents, sustains complex informal economies while constantly facing eviction². Cape Town’s informal settlements reflect exclusion rooted in apartheid-era spatial policies³.

In all these cities, informal workers, construction labourers, cleaners, transport workers, and others form the backbone of urban economies, yet their rights and contributions are rarely recognized⁴.

Urban Exclusion and Sustainable Cities

The struggles of informal settlers are closely tied to Sustainable Development Goal 11: inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities. Rapid urbanisation often marginalises the working poor, pushing them to the city periphery and denying them access to affordable housing and basic services. UN-Habitat estimates that over one billion people live in slums or informal settlements worldwide, a number that continues to rise.

This is not simply a housing problem; it is a crisis of rights, dignity, and citizenship. Many residents lack legal recognition, limiting their access to utilities, healthcare, emergency services, and legal protections. Their contributions to the urban economy often go unnoticed, while their homes are treated as illegal.

Policy, Power, and the Right to the City

Urban policies frequently treat informal settlements as temporary nuisances rather than permanent communities. Evictions are often justified as “development” or “beautification,” benefiting powerful real estate interests. Adequate relocation or compensation is rarely provided in cities like Mumbai, Nairobi, and Dhaka/Chattogram.

Yet some initiatives show promise. Thailand’s Baan Mankong participatory slum-upgrade program, community mapping in the Philippines, and Brazil’s legal recognition of tenure demonstrate how inclusive governance can transform informal settlements into organised urban spaces. Upholding the principle of “the right to the city” ensures that all residents, regardless of income or legal status, can live, work, and shape urban life.

Moving Toward Inclusive Cities

• Legal recognition: Governments should establish frameworks to provide tenure security and support community-led land documentation.
• Community participation: Residents must have a voice in decisions affecting their neighbourhoods.
• Access to services: Water, sanitation, electricity, and healthcare should be guaranteed to all, regardless of legal status.
• Funding approaches: Development institutions should prioritise community-driven upgrades rather than top-down evictions.
• Regional collaboration: Countries in the Global South can exchange lessons and best practices for dignity-based settlement management.

Asma Banu’s story reflects a wider reality. From Chattogram to Cape Town, informal settlers live amid uncertainty and exclusion. Recognising them as full urban citizens, with rights, voices, and agency, is not just a moral obligation—it is essential for building sustainable and equitable cities.