Informal Settlements

Indian journalist Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar examines the opportunities that informal settlements provide to the poor and unskilled for ascending economic and social ladders.
May 7, 2013   Next City
Flavie Halais looks at both successful and unsuccessful cases of alleviating slum conditions on three continents. For the best results, practitioners must be more adept at problem solving and creativity than pure design.
Mar 10, 2013   Architectural Record
Marcus Tudehope offers 12 reasons why community-led counting and mapping of the urban poor can be an effective tool for putting "power and democracy" into their hands.
Mar 7, 2013   The Global Urbanist
Adam Nossiter reports on the latest episode in Lagos's quest to become a "premier business center" - the demolition of the Badia East slum, which instantly left 10,000 residents homeless.
Mar 4, 2013   The New York Times
Martha Bridegam investigates the aftermath of a forced eviction at a homeless encampment in San Francisco. Do the homeless deserve to be criminalized?
Nov 24, 2012   The Global Urbanist
Kerwin Datu reflects on the implications of treating the world's diverse mixed-use slums as residential only enclaves.
Jan 18, 2012   The Global Urbanist
Evelio Contreras and Philip Kennicott film the Occupy movement transforming MacPherson Square into an urban hub, in one of Washington's central nodal points.
Nov 11, 2011   The Washington Post
A new exhibition curated by the Cooper-Hewitt in New York illustrates how the design community is trying to reshape itself as more collaborative than 'pedagogic or paternalistic.'
Oct 14, 2011   The Atlantic
Informal settlements - unregulated, makeshift housing - create substantial safety and health risks in Latin American countries. While clearing of settlements is not a solution, letting them be is not an option. Gregory K. Ingram suggests that regularizing programs combined with upgrading assistance can be effective means of improving conditions. Exclusive
Jun 20, 2011  By Tim Halbur
Informal settlements like slums and favelas have been perplexing governments in Latin America for decades. A new report looks at two of the ways governments are addressing these areas, and the challenges that remain.
Jun 1, 2011   Citiwire
The population of India's slums is expected to rise close to 100 million in 2011.
Sep 16, 2010   Tiny Green Bubble