Squatter settlements - Their sustainability, architectural contributions, and socio-economic roles

In terms of wide-scale human welfare and sustainability, the conditions of life in urban squatter settlements have enormous significance. They comprise some 30-70% of the housing stock in many cities and towns in developing countries. Their scale is attributed to the inadequacies of housing finance systems and land development, along with the pressing realities of demographic growth and mass poverty, A major aim of international aid agencies and sometimes of governments is to improve the sanitary services and the legitimacy of property and occupancy rights in some squatter settlements. This aim has basic importance in development transitions, and especially in those associated with health, poverty, and brown agenda, urban environments, This raises dilemmas in institutional and organisational approaches to the improvement of squatter settlements, and it changes relationships between residents and their associations to urban politics and economics. More than this, households and communities will sometimes change their attitudes and approaches towards their housing and the environment, The discussions in this article explore these themes, some adding new dimensions to the literature. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.