Informal settlements (often referred to as squatter settlements or shanty towns) are dense settlements comprising communities housed in self constructed shelters under conditions of informal or traditional land tenure. They are common features of developing countries and are typically the product of an urgent need for shelter by the urban poor. As such they are characterised by a dense proliferation of small, make-shift shelters built from diverse materials, degradation of the local ecosystem and by severe social problems.
Informal settlements occur when the current land administration and planning fails to address the needs of the whole community. These areas are charachterized by rapid, unstructutured and unplanning development. On a global scale informal settlements are a significant problem especially in third world countries housing the world's disadvantaged.
A UNCHS global report on human settlements in 1986 pointed out that between 30 and 60 percent of residents of most large cities in developing countries live in informal settlements.
South Africa has a high rate of population growth that is impacting on the cities in the form of burgeoning squatter camps and informal settlements (Saff 1993:235). South Africa's total population was estimated at approximately 44 million in 1995 with estimates for annual population growth for urban Africans ranging from 2.4% to 3.5%. The majority of South Africa's poor are African, as are the majority of informal settlement dwellers. In 1994, approximately 1,06 million households comprising 7.7 million people lived in informal settlements. Coupled to this, an estimated 720 000 serviced sites that were provided by provincial legislatures under the previous government required upgrading and 450 000 people lived in various, often inappropriate, forms of hostel accommodation (Republic of South Africa 1994:9, South African Institute of Race Relations 1994:328,367, Barry and Mason 1997). Cape Town has a large and, during the course of this research, growing number of informal settlement dwellers and a substantial proportion of its population in formal property who need improved shelter. In 1995 it was estimated that more than 400 000 people were inadequately housed in the Cape Town Metropolitan area (Mazur and Qangule 1995 citing Urban Studies Unit of the Cape Town City Council 1995). The Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (1995:10) cited urban growth rates for Cape Town of between 1.8% and 5% per annum. This was due both to organic growth and a major influx of people, predominantly Xhosa speakers, with the easing of the pass laws in 1986.
One such settlement is IMIZAMO YETHU in the Hout Bay area of Cape Town.The improvement of living conditions in informal settlements is one of the most complex and pressing challenges facing developing countries today. A prerequisite to such improvement is a framework of up-to-date spatial information.
In contrast to the developed world where developments towards technologies for reconstructing 3D models of formal urban, spatial models of informal settlements (ISs) are required to support efforts to improve basic living conditions. Common scenarios include, amongst others: (1) monitoring and predicting expansion; (2) relocation of residents to formal housing; (3) upgrading of settlements, e.g. through provision of basic infrastructure; (4) disaster management, e.g. flooding and fires; and (5) environment and resource management. With the exception of perhaps scenario 3, requirements for spatial models of ISs emphasise less the need for positional and object modeling accuracy and more completeness of records in the face of highly dynamic environments.
A crucial requirement of effective planning is ready access to accurate and up-to-date spatial data. As informal settlements grow and change quite rapidly traditional mapping techniques are not economic or practical. Therefore aerial imagery is the best source of spatial information on informal settlements.
Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework: A Guide for Spatial Development in the Cape Metropolitan Region. 1995. Draft for Discussion. Western Cape Economic Development Forum, Urban Development Commission.
Saff G 1996. Claiming a Space in a Changing South Africa: The "Squatters" of Marconi Beam, Cape Town. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 86(2), 235-255. Blackwell, Cambridge, Massachusetts
South African Institute of Race Relations 1994. Race Relations Survey 1993/1994. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations.
South African Institute of Race Relations 1996. South Africa Survey 1995/1996. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations.
Urban Problems Research Unit 1990. An Overview of Development Problems in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area. Working Paper No 40, University of Cape Town.