Paper short abstract:

For many poor urban dwellers in Africa, the only way to survive informally is through accessing unsecured shelter. The state views informal land and building occupation as illegal and undesirable and an approach embedded in organic incrementalism is advocated as a more appropriate response.

Paper long abstract:

In cities and towns such as those in Africa, poor urban dwellers are structurally unemployed, are dependent on the state’s social welfare grants to survive, face a myriad of challenges and are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and deprivation. For many, the only option is to find ways to survive informally is to access unsecured shelter and rudimentary utility services. The state views informal land and building occupation as undesirable and an interim arrangement that requires formalisation and improvement, even though the state is completely overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge and has scant capacity to deliver formal housing and services. It is argued that the interventions pursued by the state are at disjuncture with shelter activities and ‘strategies’ households engage in to mobilise and leveraged resources and how they survive daily. This paper seeks to uncover more appropriate responses the state should consider, emanating from theory and practice over the last three decades in Africa. There is a need to better understand settlement informality and the daily reality of survival of impoverished urban dwellers and an approach embedded in organic incrementalism is advocated.