Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate how South African municipalities' municipal housing projects contribute to sustainable human settlements. The study concentrated on the Newcastle Housing initiatives, which were started to give residents access to sustainable housing. This is due to Newcastle Municipality's rapid urbanization and population growth, which has increased demand for residential space. The delivery of sustainable services has been threatened by this fast expansion because of the unplanned settlements, backyard homes, rural settlements, and informal settlements that have an impact on the municipality's social order and security. According to the report, it is a constitutional entitlement to provide sustainable housing that leads to human settlements. The results of the study demonstrated that sustainable human settlements are essential for achieving economic growth and for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The majority of democratic constitutions worldwide impose obligations on governments to provide the basic housing necessary for their populations to live in sustainable human settlements. While poor service delivery compromises them, good service delivery raises living standards and improves quality of life. However, the study found that South Africa still faces major backlogs in the delivery of houses that lead to decent homes. The study found that sustainable human settlements influence economic security which in turn leads to social security and reduction of crimes. The study findings showed that the Newcastle Municipality housing projects are hindered by factors such as inequality, financial constraints, unavailability of lands in the municipality and the lack of finances on the side of the citizen to occupy those houses and as well as maintaining them. The study showed that there is little known on the role of sustainable human settlements in promoting SDGs, thus recommending further study in that field. The study adopted a sustainable development theory to underpin the research, and a qualitative research methodology was used to collect and analyse data.