Mottelson, J;
Venerandi, A;
(2020)
A Fine-Grain Multi-Indicator Analysis of the Urban Form of Five Informal Settlements in East Africa.
Urban Science
, 4
(3)
, Article 31. 10.3390/urbansci4030031.
Preview |
Text
urbansci-04-00031-v3.pdf - Published Version Download (6MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Few studies have investigated the urban morphology of informal settlements at fine-grain level, limiting effective urban planning and policies targeting such areas. This study presents a high-resolution morphological analysis of five informal settlements located in central areas of major cities in East Africa. The analysis is based on indicators of urban form, statistical comparison, and field interviews on household conditions. The method improves the replicability and increases the spatial granularity compared to previous studies. Outcomes show that all case studies are characterised by organic street layouts. Three settlements form a comparable group with denser urban fabrics (small block size, high coverage ratios, and small private spaces), while the remaining two cases have less compact forms. The field interviews show high rates of tenancy, overcrowding, and inadequate access to water and sanitation in the first group and low rates of these conditions in the second group. We suggest that these differences are partially an outcome of levels of informal land supply. We argue that decreased informal land supply leads to increased competition and higher prices of accommodation, leaving fewer household resources for infrastructure investments and consequent compromised livelihoods. Accordingly, we argue that some modes of informal urban development should be accepted in Sub-Saharan Africa.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Fine-Grain Multi-Indicator Analysis of the Urban Form of Five Informal Settlements in East Africa |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3390/urbansci4030031 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci4030031 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2020 by the Authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | informal settlements; urban morphology; urban form; mixed methods; Sub-Saharan Africa; East Africa |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10106385 |
Loading...
Loading...Loading...Loading...Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
