Squatter settlements and slums and sustainable development

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). On the other hand, slums are contiguous settlements where inhabitants are characterized by insecure residential status, inadequate access to safe water, inadequate access to sanitation and other basic infrastructure and services, poor housing quality, and overcrowding (UN-Habitat 2003). Both are form of informal settlements that are not formally planned

Challenges of Informal Urbanization

Informal urbanization refers to a form of urbanization that is independent from formal framework and that do not comply with formal rules and regulations. It is a quasi-urbanization driven by local economic development and market forces. It refers to informal housing, informal settlements, and informal economy. Informal settlements are areas that are not formally planned but nevertheless occupied illegally by the dwellers. Slums are the most deprived and excluded form of informal settlements characterized by poverty and dilapidated housing often located in the most hazardous urban land (UN-Habitat III 2016)