Sustainable housing

Building houses is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of slum upgrading. Many people living in slums mention it as one of their priorities. Proper housing is important; it means more than a roof over one’s head. For example, many families in slums live in one-room houses with a lack of space and privacy for adults and youth. This has a negative impact on stress levels and can increase aggressive behaviour including domestic violence.

Cape Town

Though some people in Philippi live in stone houses, three quarters of the dwellings are informal: these are backyard shacks built as an extension of a house, or stand-alone shacks. Many parts of Philippi are characterised by severe drainage problems and severe flooding during winter is a regular occurrence for many in the area. In the suburbs of Philippi mobility is high; every month numerous families move in and out of the area. The City Council is unable to handle the ever-increasing demand for housing and infrastructure. There is a lack of any appropriate land use management system with the informal settlements of Philippi. This is compounded with inadequate arrangements regarding land tenure. Land is scarce and expensive, making housing for the poor next to unaffordable. Interest is as high as 15 percent and government loans are cumbersome to get.

San Salvador

In San Salvador there are three main problems related to housing:

• Marginal communities are densely populated and haphazardly developed areas with poor infrastructure. Houses are of poor quality; some of them basically shacks built of scrap materials.
• Illegal sub-divisions are plots without official deed titles. The owners purchased their plots in good faith, but didn’t manage to obtain correct documentation trough proper procedures.
• Mesones are formal housing units, which are overcrowded because of multi families living together. Structures are in bad shape because of disrepair.

As in most countries, poor urban areas are not planned well in El Salvador, and building is not subject to control. Sometimes with tragic results; during the 2001 earthquakes, landslides destroyed many houses and killed inhabitants. One of the challenges in the slums is finding new cheap technologies that are earthquake and typhoon proof.

Kisumu

In the Kisumu slums housing is appalling. Many people live in cabins made of mud. Others live in shacks they built themselves with whatever materials are available. Tin roofing – terribly hot in summer and cold in winter – is considered a luxury. In some parts of Kisumu as much as 80 percent of plots are built largely with mud walls and old, re-used corrugated iron sheets. None of these constructions have piped water, toilets or showers. Just to have a roof that is not leaking and some very basic services would mean a huge improvement to Kisumu slum residents.