Informal settlement upgrading in South Africa: beneficiaries’ perceptions over nearly twenty-five years

ABSTRACT

Research on informal settlement upgrading tends to focus on one-off case studies. This article investigates the changing experiences, over nearly 25 years, of people living in an upgraded informal settlement. We sought to determine how the perceptions of the residents of Freedom Square changed. Our latest survey (2014) included responses from 199 household representatives and followed earlier surveys. Firstly, we find that the upgrading of Freedom Square represents a first step towards ensuring the housing rights of black people in urban South Africa. Secondly, spatial infilling and locational advantage continue to play valuable roles. Thirdly, dweller control, in terms of which residents themselves are able to design extensions to their houses, remains important. Fourthly, social cohesion among community members is proving to be more important than access to a stand. Fifthly, urban management remains an important long-term requirement. Lastly, elements of informality persist in the area.

KEYWORDS:

• Informal settlement upgrading
• housing policy
• respondent experiences
• social mobility
• living environment
• dweller control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is one of eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. In terms of population size, it is the seventh biggest metropolitan area in the country and contributes about 1.5% of GVA in South Africa.

2. The term “black” under apartheid included people who were classified as coloured and Indian under the Population Registration Act, and we use the term here to include those groups. We acknowledge, however, that apartheid policies had different implications for each of the different groups that were considered broadly “black”.

3. The IDT was created by the apartheid government to address the housing crisis in South Africa in the transitional period from 1992 to 1994.

4. This represents the 1992 rand value. In 1992, 1 USD traded on average at 2.85 ZAR.

5. Displaced settlements are settlements that have been created to redirect urbanisation away from the core urban settlements to peripheral areas (see also Marais et al. 2016).

Additional information

Funding

This paper is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa, unique grant no: 89788.

Notes on contributors

John Ntema

John Ntema is senior lecturer in the Department of Development Studies at the University of South Africa. He specialises informal settlement upgrading and low-income housing.

Ruth Massey

Ruth Massey is senior lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of the Free State. She is an expert in informal settlement upgrading, low-income housing and urban vulnerability.

Lochner Marais

Lochner Marais is professor of Development Studies at the University of the Free State. His research interests lie in three different though related themes: housing policy, small urban areas and public health.

Jan Cloete

Jan Cloete is researcher at the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State. He specialises in urban health and the relationship between housing and health.

Molefi Lenka

Molefi Lenka is researcher at the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State. He is field of expertise include fieldwork management in low-resource settings and public health.