Informal settlement upgrading and safety: experiences from Cape Town, South Africa

Brown-Luthango, Mercy; Reyes, Elena; Gubevu, Mntungwa

doi:10.1007/s10901-016-9523-4

Cited by 56 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…Apart from interventions that address alcohol use and drinking environments of people of low SES, socioeconomic differences can be addressed on a structural level [ 4 ]. Healthy communities require living environments with affordable housing, clean water, sanitation and electricity, infrastructure and public transit, access to education and healthcare, and safe opportunities to spend leisure time [ 78 , 79 ]. Marmot et al suggested that “ health and health equity might not be the aim of all social and economic policies, but they will be a fundamental result ” ([ 79 ], p. 1661).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The socioeconomic profile of alcohol-attributable mortality in South Africa: a modelling study

Probst

Parry

Wittchen

et al. 2018

BMC Med

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BackgroundGlobally, illness and life expectancy follow a social gradient that puts people of lower socioeconomic status (SES) at higher risk of dying prematurely. Alcohol consumption has been shown to be a factor contributing to socioeconomic differences in mortality. However, little evidence is available from low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to quantify mortality attributable to alcohol consumption in the adult (15+ years) general population of South Africa in 2015 by SES, age, and sex.MethodsA comparative risk assessment was performed using individual and aggregate data from South Africa and risk relations reported in the literature. Alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) and alcohol-attributable mortality rates were estimated for cause-specific mortality by SES, sex, and age. Monte Carlo simulation techniques were used to calculate 95% uncertainty intervals (UI).ResultsOverall, approximately 62,300 (95% UI 27,000–103,000) adults died from alcohol-attributable causes in South Africa in 2015, with 60% of deaths occurring in people in the low and 15% in the high SES groups. Age-standardized, alcohol-attributable mortality rates per 100,000 adults were highest for the low SES group (727 deaths, 95% UI 354–1208 deaths) followed by the middle (377 deaths, 95% UI 165–687 deaths) and high SES groups (163 deaths, 95% UI 71–289 deaths). The socioeconomic differences were highest for mortality from infectious diseases.People of low SES had a lower prevalence of current alcohol use but heavier drinking patterns among current drinkers. Among men, AAFs were elevated at low and middle SES, particularly for the middle and higher age groups (35+). Among women, AAFs differed less across SES groups and, in the youngest age group (15–34), women of high SES had elevated AAFs.ConclusionsAlcohol use contributed to vast socioeconomic differences in mortality. Where observed, elevated AAFs for people of low and middle SES arose from higher levels of consumption among current drinkers and not from the prevalence of current alcohol use per se. The findings can direct preventive measures and interventions on those at highest risk. Future research is needed to investigate socioeconomic differences in the risk functions relating alcohol use to cause-specific mortality.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12916-018-1080-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The socioeconomic profile of alcohol-attributable mortality in South Africa: a modelling study

Probst

Parry

Wittchen

et al. 2018

BMC Med

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“…Nevertheless a necessary but not sufficient set of conditions for a neighborhood to be a slum deals with the lack of public street accesses, basic services, addresses and the availability of emergency services. For all these reasons -in resonance with processes of reblocking initiated by resident communities and local authorities [40,41] seen for Freetown and Monrovia. While this approach is not meant to be a substitute to traditional urban planning, it provides residents, planners and policy makers with new insights and proposals that promote gradual upgrading.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worldwide Detection of Informal Settlements via Topological Analysis of Crowdsourced Digital Maps

Soman¹,

Beukes²,

Nederhood³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The recent growth of high-resolution spatial data, especially in developing urban environments, is enabling new approaches to civic activism, urban planning and the provision of services necessary for sustainable development. A special area of great potential and urgent need deals with urban expansion through informal settlements (slums). These neighborhoods are too often characterized by a lack of connections, both physical and socioeconomic, with detrimental effects to residents and their cities. Here, we show how a scalable computational approach based on the topological properties of digital maps can identify local infrastructural deficits and propose context-appropriate minimal solutions. We analyze 1 terabyte of OpenStreetMap (OSM) crowdsourced data to create worldwide indices of street block accessibility and local cadastral maps and propose infrastructure extensions with a focus on 120 Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) in the Global South. We illustrate how the lack of physical accessibility can be identified in detail, how the complexity and costs of solutions can be assessed and how detailed spatial proposals are generated. We discuss how these diagnostics and solutions provide a multiscalar set of new capabilities – from individual neighborhoods to global regions – that can coordinate local community knowledge with political agency, technical capability, and further research.

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“…They are continually shaped, transformed and re-constituted, both as a consequence of and a cause of conflict, competition and negotiation [37]. The rationale behind why and how things function as they do, or appear to do, may not be clear to an outsider, but they make sense to people living within the arrangements in the settlement [38].…”

Section: Hybrid Governance and Informal Settlement Land Administrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, there are differing opinions between different branches and individuals within local planning and development authorities on how to go about informal settlement upgrading. Importantly, a number of officials are opposed to incremental approaches [38,49]. Abrahams observes the importance of involving all the affected departments in a city in low income housing and in situ informal settlement development.…”

Section: Informal Settlement Upgradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Community Land Record System in Monwabisi Park Informal Settlement in the Context of Hybrid Governance and Organisational Culture

Barry

Kingwill

2020

Land

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The study examined the effectiveness of a community-operated land record system (CRS), a product of an evolutionary information system planning approach under hybrid governance arrangements in Monwabisi Park informal settlement in Cape Town. To structure the analysis, the authors adapted an analytical framework for analysing land registration effectiveness to community records systems. It serves as a tool for analysing, designing and managing similar information systems. The CRS is an element of a participatory planning and development project involving a triad: (a) community-based organisations (CBOs); (b) a non-governmental organisation (NGO), which has acted as a change agent, facilitator and resource provider; and (c) the City of Cape Town. The hybrid governance institutions comprised a set of local community and government protocols. Of further significance are the organisational cultures of the CBOs, and the NGO’s information system team differs markedly from that of most land registries. The researchers examined the CRS database and operations management, interviewed key-informants and interviewed shack residents door-to-door. The CRS was effective because residents used it and largely adhered to the associated documented community protocols to defend their tenure and to effect transactions in shacks. Further contributors were the NGO and CBOs continually managed the institutional and leadership dynamics relevant to the CRS, factors often ignored in similar projects.

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Informal settlement upgrading and safety: experiences from Cape Town, South Africa

Cited by 56 publications

References 10 publications

The socioeconomic profile of alcohol-attributable mortality in South Africa: a modelling study

The socioeconomic profile of alcohol-attributable mortality in South Africa: a modelling study

Worldwide Detection of Informal Settlements via Topological Analysis of Crowdsourced Digital Maps

Evaluating the Community Land Record System in Monwabisi Park Informal Settlement in the Context of Hybrid Governance and Organisational Culture

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