Squatters settlement UCD.pptx

Urban Community Development(UCD) Squatters settlements

1. Squatters problem –UCD unit -II By Sakthi Devi, Faculty, Dept of Social Work

2. Squatters Settlements Squatting  is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a  building , usually residential, that the  squatter does not  own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use .  shanty towns  often begin as squatted settlements. A problem of rapid  rural to urban migration  is the development of  squatter settlements A "squatter" (in The Concise Oxford Dictionary) is a person who settles on new especially public land without title; a person who takes unauthorized possession of unoccupied premises. Therefore, a residential area occupied by squatters becomes a squatter settlement. 

3. Definition Squatter settlement is defined as a low residential area, which has developed without legal right to the land or permission from the concerned authorities to build, and as a result, of their illegal status, infrastructure and services are usually inadequate (UN-Habitat  2003 ).

4. History of Squatter settlement Squatter settlements have been in existence from a long time, in the sense that an individual other than the land owner has built houses with or without the consent of the land owner. But they were not illegal "squatter" settlements as we define and categorize them today. The term "squatter settlement" is infact a more recent western-initiated development, which came about by the writings of Charles Abrams and John Turner and particularly during and immediately after the Habitat Conference of 1976 in Vancouver, Canada.  This delineation of such informal or spontaneous settlements as "squatter" settlements represented a growing change in attitude from outright hostility to that of support and protection

5. Difference between Slum & Squatter, The UN-Habitat ( 2003 ) defined slum as contiguous settlements where inhabitants are characterized by (i) insecure residential status, (ii) inadequate access to safe water, (iii) inadequate access to sanitation and other basic infrastructure, (iv) poor structural quality of housing, and (v) overcrowding. Slums are areas with high social exclusion and poverty  squatter settlement i s defined as a low residential area, which has developed without legal right to the land or permission from the concerned authorities to build; as a result of their illegal status, infrastructure and services are usually inadequate (UN-Habitat  2003 ). It means slums are areas where people with land ownership live in poor environmental and socioeconomic conditions and are different from squatter settlements, which are the settlements where people build houses without any legal title to land (UN-Habitat  2003 ).

6. Various other names for Squatters Some of the local/colloquial names for squatter settlements (often also used for slum settlements) Ranchos = Venezuela  Callampas, Campamentos = Chile  Favelas = Brazil  Barriadas = Peru  Villas Misarias = Argentina  Colonias Letarias = Mexico  Barong-Barong = Philippines  Kevettits = Burma  Gecekondu = Turkey  Bastee, Juggi-johmpri = India

7. Characterstics of Squatters settlement The squatter settlement is unplanned and has the following characteristics: overcrowded, noisy and smelly houses are made from cardboard, wood, corrugated iron, plastic sheeting and metal from oil drums lack of sanitation, clean drinking water and open sewers pollution and disease are common thousands of workshops and people employed in the  informal job sector houses built from dried mud as the walls and corrugated iron for the roof. no toilets , no electricity between phone lines. no running  water , sewage or electricity in homes. no paved roads or sewers. little space between houses.no infrastructure. extremely high density's.

8. Inadequate Infrastructure: A squatter settlement, due to its inherent "non-legal" status, has services and infrastructure below the "adequate" or minimum levels.  Poor Basic Services: Such services are both network and social infrastructure, like water supply, sanitation, electricity, roads and drainage; schools, health centres, market places etc Poor water supply: Water supply, for example, to individual households may be absent, or a few public or community stand pipes may have been provided, using either the city networks, or a hand pump itself. Informal networks for the supply of water may also be in place. Poor electricity supply: Similar arrangements may be made for electricity, drainage, toilet facilities etc. with little dependence on public authorities or formal channels. Physical Characteristics:

9. Social Characteristics Daily Wage labors: Most squatter settlement households belong to the lower income group, either working as wage labour or in various informal sector enterprises Squatters are predominantly migrants, either rural-urban or urban-urban. But many are also second or third generation squatters.

10. Legal Characteristics: Lack of Land Rights: The key characteristic that delineates a squatter settlement is its lack of ownership of the land parcel on which they have built their house These could be vacant government or public land, or marginal land parcels like railway setbacks or "undesirable" marshy land. when the land is not under "productive" use by the owner, it is appropriated by a squatter for building a house It has to be noted here that in many parts of Asia, a land owner may "rent" out his land for a nominal fee to a family or families, with an informal or quasi-legal arrangement, which is not however valid under law.

11. Biggest Squatter settlement in the World In  Mumbai  the squatter settlement of  Dharavi  is now home to over 1 million people. Dharavi lies between two railway lines and is one of the biggest squatter settlements in the world

12. 5 distinct types of “squatting” such as: Deprivation-based squatting – involves poor homeless people who are distressed for their housing need. Alternative housing strategy – people organize squatting to meet their housing needs. Entrepreneurial squatting – offers opportunities any kind of establishment without much resources. 4. Conservational squatting – a tactic used in the preservation of a cityscape or landscape against efficiency-driven planned transformation. 5. Political squatting – a field of action for those who are engaged in anti-systemic politics.

13. 2 approaches to slums -Eckstein  1990 Slum of Despair Slum of despair describes the unbearable conditions people are forced to live in, the problem for people living in slums, and the problems the areas generate in society Sl um of hope slum as providing housing solutions on a large scale to persons with low income and to the immigrants. They are places of dwelling for labor forces in the cities and sometimes places for formal and informal entrepreneurs Slum areas are also known as multicultural places with a rich artistic and cultural life (ibid.). They are significant economic forces. A large proportion of population in squatter settlements is in the informal sector employment, contributing to goods and services.

14. Problems of Squatters Environmental. Poor  Sanitation . No Electricity. Dark and dank. Unhygienic. Open Sewers. Living on Pavements. No Toilets. Cramped Conditions.  Disease . ... Economic. Informal Jobs. Basic  Infrastructure . Crime. Poverty. Large families to feed. Poorly Paid Work. Social. Lack of Privacy. No Formal Education. Insecurity. Crime. Behavioral problems – drug addiction, indulge in criminal activities

15. Do a problem tree analaysis for Squatters

16. Squatter Settlements and Slum Upgrading Slum upgrading, improvement, or regularization is an integrated component of urban upgrading. Slum upgrading is a “process through which informal areas are gradually improved, formalised and incorporated into the city itself, through extending land, services and citizenship to slum dwellers” (Cities Alliance  2016 ). Slum upgrading aims to improve the areas and give dwellers what they lack in basic services, economic resources, and social support, and many projects work with legalization of informal households (Cities Alliance  2016 ) There was a marked shift in emphasis from policies that sought to eradicate squatter settlements or to relocate them to urban peripheries to urban upgrading strategies and providing services on site

17. Various urban development strategies have been adopted for squatter settlements that range from denial, tolerance, formalization, demolition, eviction, and displacement. It has been argued that poverty and inequality cannot be simply eradicated through demolition or eviction. There was an increasing focus on providing basic urban services, secure tenure, and the needs of the dwellers and the communities (UN-Habitat  2003 ).

18. Two broad approaches - Upgrading Slums -Amao Community participation approach G overnment intervention approach the approaches used by the public authorities have been settlement upgrading and “sites and services” participation approach is that the communities know their needs better and should be consulted and carried along in the decision-making process The participation of the community in improving the quality of their settlement is also an important resource that has to be mobilized for improvement. 

19. Self-help housing John Turner advocated slum improvements free of government intervention to allow their residents to change their living conditions by themselves In situ slum upgrading: it is an affordable, flexible, and viable option. in situ or on-site upgrading is of two types: conventional in situ upgrading and nonconventional in situ upgrading. Relocations Relocations may affect only a portion of the settlement or the entire settlement and may be temporary or permanent. The relocation of entire settlements to worse located land relative to livelihood opportunities and other amenities should be undertaken as a last resort 

20. Challenges The “squatter citizens” face numerous challenges in their struggle for survival in cities (Hardoy and Satterthwaite  1989 ).  There is no legal rights for them Job insecurity Lack of security & safety Health related issues Addiction and indulging in Criminal activities Lack of access to schools and higher education Overcoming Discrimination and Stigma

21. Street children – Concept & Definition Street children are one of the most vulnerable groups of urban poor. They face difficulties while living in the streets, and they also develop their own ways to overcome such difficulties. They have some common characteristics with the urban poor in general, but they still have their own different characteristics that distinguish them from other urban poor groups. Any girl or boy … for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults

22. Two groups of Street Children There are two groups of street children. The first group is ‘Children of the street’, which refers to children who are homeless, and streets in urban areas are their source of livelihood, where they sleep and live. The second group is ‘Children on the street’, who work and live on the streets in the daytime but return back home at night where they sleep, although some of them sleep occasionally on the streets (UNCHS, 2000)

23. Mark W. Lusk, a prominent researcher of street children, developed four categories of children on the street from his research: children who work on the street but return to their families at night, children who work on the street but whose family ties are dwindling, children who live and work with their families on the street, and children who work and live on their own on the street( Run away children or orphaned) ( The majority of street children in India are boys with little or no education) Regarding their health conditions, street children are subject to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV due to unprotected sexual behaviours among them and also because of casual sexual relationships. Girls who offer sex in exchange for security and shelter cannot oppose any unsafe sexual behaviour because of their weak position (Lugalla and Mbwambo, 1999). 

24. Push and Pull Factors – Causes of Street Children The first is the economic stress and poor conditions that families face due to industrialization and urbanization. The second cause is changes in the traditional family structure, especially when women became the main contributor to households’ economies  Strict parents and lack of interest in education If they did some mistake or got failed in exams Run away from due to city attraction Cinema attarction To see friends

25. How to Help a Street Children Build positive relationships with children on the street, they need our care , concern and protection Gently encourage such children to return home or to go to the Homestead Intake Shelter  Do not ignore them, report such children to your nearest police station or call to Childline 1098 ( As for culture, morals and traditions, street children usually are not concerned about culture and morals, owing to being away from their family since childhood) Many indulge in Crime activities and others involve in child labour