Informality on the urban periphery: Housing conditions and self-help strategies in Texas informal subdivisions

Abstract

Most scholarship on informal housing focuses on developing countries and little research investigates how low-income populations in the US participate in homeownership through self-built and self-provided housing. Meanwhile, informally developed areas are increasingly being uncovered in the US, especially in the urban periphery of growing metropolitan regions. This paper documents and analyses largely unknown housing conditions and needs for the growing number of people that live in such communities. Data for this paper were collected through a survey of 133 households in two unincorporated low-income, self-help settlements in Central Texas. In this survey we address (1) household composition, (2) specific housing conditions, and (3) reported structural and infrastructural problems. Through regression analyses we identify factors that mitigate or aggravate the severity of overall housing problems and identify the most significant concerns for residents. Our results offer future lines of action regarding property titles, financing and dwelling upgrading.

Campgrounds as service hubs for the marginally housed

“…Informal housing is characterised by lack of legal title or tenure, often combined with inadequate physical condition. Most research on this topic has focused on cities in the Global South, particularly in terms of squatter settlements (Roy, ; Sullivan & Olmedo, ). However, varied forms of informal housing also exist in high‐income countries, where they are central to the survival strategies of marginalised households.…”

Re-Examination of Quality of Life Indicators in US - Mexico Border Cities: a Critical Review

“…Texas' Office of the Secretary of State (2017) defines "a 'colonia' as a residential area along the Texas-Mexico border that may lack some of the most basic living necessities, such as potable water and sewer systems, electricity, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing." Colonias' residents also tend to have particular struggles with property rights and structural issues with their homes (Sullivan and Olmedo 2015). In the BOP, San Luis -Somerton, AZ subjectively reported the lowest quality levels of potable piped water (Guhathakurta et al 2010).…”

Housing, Health, and Ageing in Texas <em>Colonias</em> and Informal Subdivisions

“…The linkage between having a poorer air cooling and many other consequent problems was less easy to discern, but Sullivan and Olmedo (2015) argue that it seems likely to relate to inadequate insulation and the costs of having effective air conditioning, both of which are a surrogate for poor quality homes and fittings, and are likely to aggravate health problems associated with higher summer ambient temperatures and poor air quality. Their data are a starting point for the following analysis.…”

“…Other health risks of these types of housing are small rooms, lack of privacy, and the already mentioned problems of inadequate heating and cooling. Such problems are lessened where the value of the home increases, and especially if a member of the household has previous construction experience, such that they can more readily overcome structural and other physical dwelling problems (Sullivan & Olmedo, 2015;Sullivan & Ward, 2012).…”