Is informal architecture only about the settlements or
does it consider the 'art of living' too?
Architecture Informality
Prof .Ivan Kucina
Student: Sri Charan
Petnikota.
College: DIA, Dessau.
Matrikel no : 4060992
“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”
― Winston Churchill
― Winston Churchill
Most of the
dense cities are world’s healthiest places and others are among the worst.
Health outcomes are worse among the lower income population in the dense cities
and according to statics 30 to 60 percentage are living in such informal
settlements. And these is because of the increase in the density of population
in the certain area in cities. Dense Cities are developed because of the high
density people are there for growth of industry, trade and services. These
advantages can reinforce large and economically successful cities but at the
same time as health for people remains very poor. For instance, City like
Mumbai is very successful but it also has one half of the population lives in
high dense informal settlements which may take up small portion of land in the
city but there is no provision for water, sanitation, drainage and health care.
These case are true in most of metropolitan cities like Cairo, Egypt and cities
in Africa. In cities like Nairobi and Karachi more than half the population of
the city live in informal settlements that take up only few percent of city’s
land area.
High density
informal densities have benefits for residents, these settlements are near to
their work place. So time and cost of travelling is saved. Dharavi in Mumbai is
one biggest slums in the Asia which is located in the center of Mumbai indeed
provides easy and time saving access to
work place but not only that ,it also to services in cities that makes city
special like theaters , music ,venues ,museums ,libraries , the visual arts,
dance ,festivals ,the enjoyment of historic buildings and districts . Dharavi
is most popular place to live among low income groups not because of the health
advantages but because of economic advantages which result for large earning
opportunities there. These people don’t want to move near city periphery where
land rates may be cheaper and more space available because it brings high costs
in time and money getting to and from work.
Many of the
most desirable and expensive residential districts in European cities are also
high density area, often with three to six storey buildings. High income groups
choose to live in such areas because of the quality of life that is present
there. In very high-density settings, the trade-off
between indoor space, space for transport, public and private open spaces such
as squares, parks and gardens and space for public amenities is complex.
Urban poverty and house transformation effects
living condition of the people in informal settlements:
Urban poverty is usually
defined as the lack of income required meeting defined needs such as adequate
diet, health care, and education. In spatial terms, urban poverty can be as
inadequate access to infrastructure and services.
In real life context,
households may move in and out of poverty by organizing and managing the human, physical, financial, natural and social assets at their knowledge. The concept
of resistance, which is more dynamic than poverty, is capable of capturing the
change processes whereby households move in and out of poverty. And
vulnerability is closely linked to the concept of livelihoods that are defined
as the means of gaining a living utilizing the different assets as resources.
Inside the structure of
livelihoods, how and why owner households transform their houses and the
consequences on the settlement structure in the particular context of informal
settlements, where the majority of low-income earners live and where legal development
control is lacking.
Usually in developing
countries like India, Pakistan owner households transform their houses in order
to improve their livelihoods including the provision of space for the second
generation members to “live”. Housing transformation is also a key strategy for
shelter delivery. The housing transformation process is incremental and
strongly linked to the assets at the disposition of the households at any
particular time.
The main negative
effects of housing transformation are excessive densification together with
overcrowding and public health problems, occupational health hazards and
settlement degradation through road blockades.
“When housing
transformations are not guided, their negative effects undermine the
livelihoods of the owner households”.
People
in informal settlements build their own livelihoods on their resource talents
of skills, abilities, land, savings, and equipment by support of formal or
informal groups and networks that enable them to sustain a certain level of
living standards. The level of supply of resources talents has a bearing not
only on how individuals are protected and fed, but also subsequently on their
health status. It is observed in the informal settlements that children of
parents with more education, skills and abilities are more likely to have
better health outcomes .Education also place an important role to maintain
health of the family and oneself in the formal settlements.
The health and livelihood concerns of slum dwellers seem to
be diverse yet tangled; they are faced with poor access to safe and adequate
drinking water, and poor sanitary facilities - which pre-dispose them to
illnesses. In the event of illness, they have limited access to appropriate
health services due to both physical Health and Livelihood Needs of Residents of
Informal Settlements and financial barriers, resulting mainly from limited
livelihood opportunities. To address their health concerns focusing on single
interventions such as curative or preventive would probably be less effective
because the approach would ignore the contentedness of their problems. Child illness
and mortality is the greatest health challenge in these slum communities. This
implies that intervention packages that address health service provision,
environmental sanitation, personal hygiene, health seeking behavior, and livelihood opportunities are likely to have greater impact.
Informal Settlements and the Environment.
Informal settlements have often viewed as a source of pollution and disease.
Lack of service provision, in particular sewer systems, refuse, and collection,
and water supply, means that conditions are unsanitary. Household waste is
generally abandoned into open streams, and downstream inhabitants suffer as a
result. Rodents and insects often proliferate. In South Africa during the early
years of the 20th century, such conditions were used to justify the eviction and
segregation of non-white communities from cities like Johannesburg. Nairobi was
also racially segregated, a policy rationalized as a means of achieving “a disease-free
environment with a minimum of public expenditure. “This ‘environmental health’
narrative has been mobilized against poor Communities in other African countries,
even in recent years. And for example Kibera is an informal settlement which
had thirteen villages in south of Nairobi where according to the statics one
million people live without electricity and proper sewerage. Toilets are holes
in the ground and portable is hard to get and expensive. While it’s raining the
situation gets worse. The settlements that they live in doesn’t provide
opportunity for healthy life style because of their economic and social
situations.
Creativity
in Informality Settlements.
Informal settlements promotes certain level of platform for practicing the art. It plays an essential role in creative dynamics and vitalization
processes. Urban creativity was based on misbehavior and investigation of the alternative.
These process develop on edge of the formality and on the challenge of
conventional solution. Graffiti, street art or other urban interventions have
brought us many examples of these in recent years. These processes naturally
bring important conflicts of uses between city users, both in material and
symbolic arenas. These conflicts of interest, expressed in public and private
spaces, are often associated to strong gentrification processes. Non-formal,
non-sanitized spaces are particularly attractive to the development of creative
dynamics. For some of the start-up artist who are economically not sound
staying in the informal settlements provides a podium for them to practice their arts on the streets and enhance their skills.
User-Created
Atmospheres.
The features of these neighborhoods that are most relevant is that
locally developed neighborhoods are often well organized internally; they
develop through courses that can be recognized, they are often constructed in a
professional manner; and they have a tendency to improve over time. They
usually are home to discriminated castes and communities, who improve their
living standard incrementally, in line with the neighborhood's own urban
development. The concepts of home-grown neighborhoods and neighborhoods in-formation as an entry point for policy, planning, and architectural
engagements based on the recognition of local dynamics, developmental
processes, and emerging forms. The neighborhood mentioned above have all been
developed by masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians who live and work
within the locality. For the most part, they are built of hard industrial
material such bricks, steel, cement, and plaster of Paris. This gives an
interesting twist to the notion of ‘vernacular architecture’, since the
techniques and labor are local but the materials are part of a global market.
The small footprint of houses means that they can fairly easily be rebuilt with
improved material and designs. Thus these neighborhoods characteristically
improve over time, both in small increments and over longer phases.
Informality
as Resistance.
“By leaving the people
to build or organize their markets informally, the government is able to accuse
them of violating laws and regulations at any time. It is an indirect way to
control as well as a way to reduce people’s demands and expectations of quality
services, because they are informal.” So can we begin to think of informality
not only as a way of survival or resistance but as a way to control?
-Dr. Khaled Abdelhalm.
In cities like Cairo and Mumbai the authorities give the
opportunity in informal settlements to create their own place for certain
function like markets and sometimes house also in the case of Istanbul and
accuse them of violating the laws so that they don’t expect any other services
from the government and they control the settlements. Which adversely effects
on the life style of the people as they tend to fear to change certain things
in their settlements and also in their own life style. The ways in which informal urban spaces are imagined,
successfully constructed or ultimately disintegrate reflect degrees of
competency and literacy in community organisation, in framing a cohesive and
‘deserving’ discourse and in the actual dialogue with local and national
expressions of power .
Major effects of Living condition of
people in informal settlements.
The extensive of poorly controlled settlement
developments has resulted in many environmental and health related problems.
Uncontrolled settlement development is causing physical disorder, uneconomical
land utilization, and excessive encroachment of settlements into good
agricultural land, environmental degradation and pollution risks
The most common
consequences of the informal settlements include the following:
Pollution of
Water Sources:
Expansion of the informal human settlements has been
the major cause for pollution of ground water sources, most of which are
located on the periphery of the Town. Loss of vegetation around water sources
reduces water flow while poor disposal of liquid and solid wastes causes water
pollution .There have been frequent outbreaks of water borne diseases like
cholera and dysentery, particularly during high rainfall seasons, due to
contamination of the drinking water.
Deforestation:
Natural forests and catchment areas are being invaded
by the expanding human settlements. The ongoing shrinkage Towns due to the
expansion of settlements. This practice has reduced the amount of ground water
and resulted in environmental degradation.
Pollution
from Solid and Liquid Wastes:
One of the fundamental problems faced by the residents
of Town is the lack of a proper system for waste management. The problem is
even more severe in the informal settlement areas. Due to the lack of
established collection points, piles of garbage are scattered in and around
residential areas which leads to environmental and health problems. Few
residents opt to bury or burn their wastes close to their residences. As there
is no centralized sewage system, liquid waste which includes water from
washing, laundry, kitchen, bath and other domestic uses is haphazardly
discharged onsite. This disposal practice pollutes the groundwater and marine
environments and is a major cause of water borne diseases.
Flooding:
Haphazard construction of houses has blocked many
natural water ways and has led to frequent floods during the rainy seasons
particularly in the months of March, April and May of every year. Soil erosion
and landslides are strongly related to flooding which destroy houses as well as
footpaths and unpaved roads. Houses and other properties are being washed away
by floods forcing the inhabitants to vacate the areas. A high housing density,
which most of the informal settlements are characterized by, makes natural
seepage of storm water more difficult due to a high share of sealed land.
Flooding which results in the overflow of pit latrines and septic tanks is also
a major cause for pollution of water sources and marine environments. Due to
the non-existence of drainage systems, storm water creates big puddles that
become breeding places for mosquitoes which is the cause of malaria.
Encroachment
of Good Agricultural Land:
The uncontrolled expansion of human settlements has
led to conversion of the best agricultural land into settlements. There have
been genuine complaints that the agricultural land is consistently decreasing
due to over expansion of human settlements. This trend has not been reversed as
more and more people are flocking into urban areas to look for what is
perceived as a better life. The loss of agricultural land means a decrease of
crop production and income of poor agricultural families.
Accessibility:
Lack of access is one of the most common problems
caused by and experienced by residents in the informal settlements. Because
there are neither the layout plans nor the regulatory machinery, residents tend
to build to almost 100 per cent of their plot size. It has become impossible to
provide access roads to these areas as there is no space for this. Likewise, no
area is left open for social services like schools, hospitals, children’s play
grounds, etc. Consequently, people and service movement in these areas is very
restricted and residents have to walk long distance to obtain services like
health, education, transport .
Illegal occupation of urban land and
their Problems.
It is a widespread phenomenon in many metropolitan
city like Mumbai, Cairo. Inner city slum dwellers, although occupying land
outside the legal land tenure system with limited or no access to public
utilities, benefit from their proximity to formal and informal employment in
downtown areas. Illegal settlements in central areas create problems such as
poor living conditions for the settlers and negative environmental and social
impacts on the rest of populace, particularly those that utilize the central areas.
From the city’s perspective key problems include:
higher than average incidence of wastes and odors in the settlements and
surrounding neighborhoods; discontinuities of street structure resulting from
many settlements situated in the right of way of planned roads; overcrowding of
downtown urban services by the settlers. From the settlers’ perspective, key
problems in downtown areas are similar to those of periphery settlements,
except that downtown settlements have higher densities, thus posing a more
complex and costly implementation challenge. Therefore, there is a need to both
promote the social and economic advancement of slum dwellers and eliminate
negative externalizes that affect the entire city. The programs required to
address these situations are multi-sector and difficult to implement. However,
the integrated interventions of settlement-upgrading programs in central areas
generate significant urban benefits for the area as a whole, along with
substantial improvements in living conditions for the beneficiaries, supporting
the argument that such interventions are better conceptualized as urban
development programs and that their overall economic benefits help justify
their above average costs .
Conclusion:
From
analysis the findings, Facts, statistics and research papers it can be said
that the art of living in informal settlements depends on wide number of things
like economic ,social , community, government , Services in the area ,
Individual perception ,education and so on. Informal settlements are not just
about the settlement’s but it considers art of living or in other words the art
of living depends on the condition that community is facing in the informal
settlements. The life style of the people are molded according to the circumstances
of the settlements. There is huge opportunities in this sector to improve the
health condition and life style of the people with help of Ngo, Community and
Government.
The
trade-offs between living space and public amenities for any informal settlements
upgrade are complex. These initiatives share a commitment by city governments
to work with all the residents and their community organisations to seek the
best workable compromise. This is much easier for governments in cases where
representative organisations have been formed by those living in informal
settlements and want to work with them, as is the case with the national and
city federations of slum or shack dwellers that are active in nations. This is
especially so when city governments work with those living in informal
settlements to take advantage of their agglomeration economies and provide the
infrastructure and services that can transform health and quality of life.
Working with communities to identify the road ahead can contribute
to a socially cohesive approach within informal settlements. Evaluators should
move on from passive acceptance of the situation to active engagement to drive
toward meaningful solutions. Evaluators have a unique set of skills, and are
well placed to find and facilitate solutions to the urbanization process
typified within informal settlements. Taking a holistic, strategic approach, we
can bring all issues together and focus on improving lifestyle in the informal
settlements.
Bibliography:
- Working Paper of Urbanisation &
the Production of Knowledge: The Case of Informality by Andrew Wade in
UCl, London.
- Policy Brief: approaches to informal
urban settlements in Africa: experiences from Kigali and Nairobi - by judi
wakhungu, chris huggins, elvin nyukuri and jane lumumba.
- Research on Occupy urban space: Dialectic of formality and informality in
Greece in the era of crisis by Tsavdaroglou Ch. & Makrygianni V. Phd
Candidates, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of
Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessalonik
.
- Paper on the causes and consequences
of the informal settlements in zanzibar
mohammed haji ali and
muhammad salim sulaiman, Tanzania in Shaping the Change XXIII FIG Congress
Munich, Germany, October 8 – 13, 2006 .
- The Ideologies of Informality:
informal urbanisation in the architectural and planning discourses Jan Van
Ballegooijen & Roberto Rocco published online: 16 Dec 2013.
- Paper on Settings, Collectivises,
Informalities: Art and Public Space
in Istanbul by Can ataly, Istanbul University.
- Postcolonialising informality by Ann
Varley Department of Geography UCL (University College London).
- Health and Livelihood Needs of Residents
of Informal Settlements in Nairobi City, Occasional Study Report 2002 by
African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC).
- Working Paper by matias echanove (The University of Tokyo) Beyond the Informal: Reconceptualising Mumbai‘s urban development.
- Dissonant Architecture, Architectures of
Dissidence: On the Right to Urban
Society by adrian parr (university of Cincinnati).
- Upgrading dense informal settlements: the
potential for health and well-being by David Satterthwaite is a Senior
Fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development
(IIED).
- RESILIENCE, Defining a
New Paradigm through Informality by Adriana Navarro Sertich October 22, 2010.
