Tackling Informality: Why HIV/AIDS Needs to be a Critical Component of Urban Development Policies

Abstract

Cities in the South are faced with the double challenges of underdevelopment and poverty on the one hand and urbanisation on the other. As the developing regions of the South continue to urbanise at an incredible rate, it is clear that many cities do not have the necessary capacity to respond to the increasing needs and demands by urban residents. As a result, many new city residents have no other option but to settle in informal areas. These areas have long been associated with poor and unhealthy living conditions and, more recently, the links between these living conditions and HIV/AIDS have become increasingly clear. Research suggests that developmental factors like poverty, unemployment, gender inequality and inadequate shelter, water and sanitation all play a role in increasing vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. These conditions further affect the ability of HIV-positive individuals, households and communities to cope with the consequences of the epidemic. This in turn leads to further impoverishment and reduces the likelihood that people living in informal settlements will be able to improve their livelihoods. Yet, little attention has been paid by policy makers and planners to the relationship between HIV/AIDS and informality despite the challenge it provides for cities and the implications of the epidemic for government institutions and local government in particular. This paper argues that informality is complex and that its heterogeneous nature is not effectively understood and thus not given appropriate recognition and support. It looks at the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic within this context of informality and the inevitable wave of urbanisation. The paper suggests that the only way to deal effectively with HIV/AIDS (and informality) is through planning and building integrated and sustainable urban settlements that respond to the complexities of informality in cities of the developing world.Urban Forum (2010) 21:85-105

Planning for food secure cities: Measuring the influence of infrastructure and income on household food security in Southern African cities

“…As a result, urban planners provide post hoc household access to utilities and social services in these informal settlements, although in some cases these services are never provided by urban planners but by international NGOs. In a review of South African urban development, Joseph (2009) found that there is insufficient capacity, and political will, among local urban governments to implement holistic infrastructural development, leading to piecemeal infrastructure projects in urban areas. These piecemeal projects also result from municipal politics, which may put poor urban areas at a disadvantage.…”

The HIV and urban food security nexus in Africa

“…Although urban HIV prevalence rates vary considerably, in almost every country for which there are data, urban rates are higher than rural rates (Garcia-Calleja et al 2006). HIVand AIDS are therefore central urban health and development challenges (Joseph 2010;van Renterghem and Jackson 2009). Within cities, infection rates and mortality are considerably higher among poor, informal, and migrant populations (Crush et al 2005a;Banati 2010).…”