Informal settlement upgrading in Durban, South Africa : building institutional capacity to sustain the improvement process

This research examines the planning of the Besters Camp informal settlement in-situ upgrading project in Durban, South Africa. International experience indicates that in-situ upgrading has generally been successful in delivering services to the urban poor. It also confirms, however, that benefits of upgrading are mostly confined to project localities, and that the institutional capacity necessary for ongoing improvement in the lives of settlement residents is seldom created. Drawing from experience as a planner in some of South Africa's first generation of settlement upgrading projects, this research focuses on the question of how informal settlement upgrading can be planned in order to contribute to the continuity of the settlement improvement process. An important implication of the 'informalization' process in many Third World cities is that parts of cities in which the de facto rules of the game are dominant are growing considerably more rapidly than the 'formal city', which is governed according to the de jure instruments of control, such as statutory law, planning regulation, and legal administrative authority. In this context, the most common approach to planning the upgrading of shack settlements is to attempt to legalize, or 'formalize the informal'. Experience in Besters Camp upgrade elucidates ways of moving beyond a narrow focus on legalization, and onto more flexible regularization strategies. These strategies attempt to bridge the gap between de jure and de facto systems by integrating elements of both into the planning process, and thereby contributing to an amended legal regulatory framework appropriate to planning in informal settlements. Regularization involves putting in place the institutions - that is, the norms and structures - that are economically and politically viable, and which have the potential to carry the consolidation process forward into the longer term. Regularization takes as its starting point the delivery of services, which provides an activity into which capacity building initiatives can be integrated. Importantly, in order to sustain the impacts of upgrading projects, it is necessary to connect local settlement-level institutions and metropolitan-level institutions in such a way as to provide a relationship of complementary autonomy at both levels.Applied Science, Faculty ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofGraduat

Planning for institutional capacity building in war-torn areas: the case of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

This paper examines an attempt to build capacity and empower local institutions in war-torn Jaffna,, on the northern tip of Sri Lanka. A participatory approach that is aimed at social empowerment is seen to be possible even under the most restrictive of political environments. However, whether or not the development intervention provides a foundation for longer-term improvement depends on the extent to which institutional capacity is built. Through an examination of the Jaffna Reconstruction Project, it is argued that if any of the ingredients of this institutional capacity are missing, not only will the 'islands of participation and empowerment' that are built by the development initiative be short-lived, but there may also be a negligible contribution to building a foundation for longer-term improvement in quality of life. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Building institutional capacity for the upgrading of Barangay Commonwealth in Metro Manila

Upgrading is among the most effective interventions to address urban poverty, but weaknesses include outdated conceptual frameworks informing project design, and ineffective management by governance institutions. This paper examines the ingredients that need to be put in place during upgrading to ensure the continuity of the settlement improvement process. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section introduces urban upgrading, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses of current approaches. The second section then describes the growth of Barangay Commonwealth in Metro Manila and the characteristics of the settlement. The following section introduces the institutional capacity building framework, outlining the activities necessary to ensure longer-term improvement of low-income settlements. The section then examines physical, environmental, social, economic and institutional dimensions of the upgrading of the settlement that have taken place over the last 15 years. The concluding section examines areas that need attention in order to continue the process of building the institutional capacity that will ensure the longer-term continuity of the improvement of Barangay Commonwealth

Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water for the urban poor: the case of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Provision of adequate potable water for the urban poor is a serious problem in the developing world. There are many dimensions to be considered in assessing an urban water supply system's performance, yet no study to date includes all these dimensions together. This paper explores all the possible dimensions of an urban water supply system by which the system's performance can be assessed using an evaluation hierarchy of 'principles - criteria - indicators'. The indicators are aggregated into a composite index that indicates the adequacy of the water supply system's performance. The paper uses a case study of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to test this framework

Community water supply for the urban poor in developing countries: the case of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Akbar, DH ORCiD: 0000-0002-2269-5056This paper presents a model for community and institutional supply of potable water to the urban poor in the cities of developing countries, through an examination of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The model identifies ways of providing small-scale water supply systems for urban slum and squatter communities by following internationally recognised principles of potable water supply and building on existing recognised ‘good practise’. There are three main components of the proposed model: the community (the central actor), various complementary actors and potential local suppliers of finance and technology. The model sees a strong role for private sector investors. It is applicable to those cities where there is little or no problem with water availability but where the poor still do not have good access to potable water. The model does not claim to be a complete solution for the existing problem, but it will significantly aid the urban poor. It shows how the provision of basic services to the urban poor can be facilitated by the poor themselves

‘Policies are never implemented, but negotiated’: Analyzing integration of policies in managing water resources in the indian himalayas using a bayesian network

The paper contributes by analyzing nonlinear and complex integration of policies in framing a water management problem in a case study hamlet in the Indian Himalayas. It reveals that policies are never implemented, but integrated through the negotiation with other policies and socio-cultural settings in (re)shaping water resources management. It demonstrates the incremental and cumulative integration of policies that are formulated from different governance arrangements in (mis)managing water. In such a regime, the paper calls for statutory public actors to lay-out broad principles in their policy statements that allow multiple actors to debate and negotiate diverse alternatives in order to make the policy-making process integrative, adaptive, and dynamic

Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water for the urban poor : the case of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Provision of adequate potable water for the urban poor is a serious problem in the developing world. There are many dimensions to be considered in assessing an urban water supply system’s performance, yet no study to date includes all these dimensions together. This paper explores all the possible dimensions of an urban water supply system by which the system’s performance can be assessed using an evaluation hierarchy of ‘principles - criteria - indicators’. The indicators are aggregated into a composite index that indicates the adequacy of the water supply system’s performance. The paper uses a case study of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to test this framework

Strategic urban management in China: A case study of Guangzhou Development District

While the importance of urban management in achieving sustainable urban development is increasingly recognised as being significant by urban managers and the general public, there is still a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding in China about the substance of urban management, which impedes effective implementation. This paper examines some of the problems encountered in urban management practice in Chinese cities, and highlights the importance of a holistic conceptual understanding, and a strategic model for enhancing urban management capacities in the Chinese context. Focusing on a case study of Guangzhou Development District (GDD), the paper demonstrates that the application of a set of measurable evaluative criteria for assessing urban management performance is useful in improving urban management practice

Informal settlement upgrading: Bridging the gap between the de facto and the de jure

In order Tor informal settlement upgrading ro build the institutions necessary to ensure continuity of the improvement. process, planners must move beyond a narrow concern with legality and illegality. Upgrading should comprise a gradation of strategies that legitimize and integrate aspects of settlements' de facto institutions into the planning process. In so doing, it is possible to contribute to legal regulatory frameworks that are more appropriate to informal settlements. This article considers planning, tenure delivery, and public participation as three aspects of a recent upgrade in South Africa, and the extent to which they bridged the gap between the de jure and de facto