The world is now an urbanized planet with 95% of the urban population growth predicted to occur in cities of the developing world by 2045. One of the challenges of rapid urbanization in the 20th century is the burgeoning growth of urban poverty and slums, both spatially and demographically. Currently, one third of the global urban population lives in slums (UN-Habitat, 2003), with this number predicted to increase, causing an "urban tsunami" (Forman, 2008). Although many of these areas are considered "unplanned" or fringe areas, these peripheral urban landscapes are characterized by houses built on land for which the ownership is typically in question. The urban form is traditionally called spontaneous, irregular, informal, illegal, or squatter settlements. Although the study of slums has been predominantly focused on policy, housing and land tenure, and urban poverty, analyzing their morphological distinctiveness adds considerable potential to planning for site-specific design or policy responses (including mobility, access, and services) for these areas in the contemporary city. Although informal settlements can be seen as a response to certain socioeconomic conditions (UN-Habitat, 2003), they are also tied to factors such as the growth limit of the broader city (built-up area) and the terrain and steepness of land and building conditions (Appadurai, 1996; Benton, Castells, & Portes, 1989; C. Gilbert & Vines, 2000). Within informal settlements, the blurring of boundaries between questionable property ownership and right of use, access to infrastructure and hazardous site, function and form, and public and private spaces, introduces a set of dynamics that existing methods of morphological study do not sufficiently address. If informal settlements are potential sites of future city growth, more attention should be paid to their distinct morphological characteristics. As an established field of study, urban morphology expanded on three broad geographical differentiations within the broader city (Conzen, 1958; Whitehand, 2009). First, the separation of function, form, 760375S GOXXX10.