Mobile GIS: a tool for informal settlement occupancy audit to improve integrated human settlement implementation in Ekurhuleni, South Africa
- Authors: Mokoena, B. T. , Musakwa, W.
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mobile gis , Occupancy audit , Informal settlements , Integration , Ekurhuleni
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/94042 , uj:20423 , Citation: Mokoena, B. T. & Musakwa, W. 2016. Mobile gis: a tool for informal settlement occupancy audit to improve integrated human settlement implementation in Ekurhuleni, South Africa.
- Description: Abstract: Upgrading and relocating people in informal settlements requires consistent commitment, good strategies and systems so as to improve the lives of those who live in them. In South Africa, in order to allocate subsidised housing to beneficiaries of an informal settlement, beneficiary administration needs to be completed to determine the number of people who qualify for a subsidised house. Conventional methods of occupancy audits are often unreliable, cumbersome and non-spatial. Accordingly, this study proposes the use of mobile GIS to conduct these audits to provide up-to-date, accurate, comprehensive and real-time data so as to facilitate the development of integrated human settlements. An occupancy audit was subsequently completed for one of the communities in the Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng province, using web-based mobile GIS as a solution to providing smart information through evidence based decision making. Fieldworkers accessed the off-line capturing module on a mobile device recording GPS coordinates, socio-economic information and photographs. The results of this audit indicated that only 56.86% of the households residing within the community could potentially benefit from receiving a subsidised house. Integrated residential development, which includes fully and partially subsidised housing, serviced stands and some fully bonded housing opportunities, would then be key to adequately providing access to suitable housing options within a project in a post-colonial South Africa, creating new post-1994 neighbourhoods, in line with policy. The use of mobile GIS therefore needs to be extended to other informal settlement upgrading projects in South Africa.
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- Authors: Mokoena, B. T. , Musakwa, W.
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Mobile gis , Occupancy audit , Informal settlements , Integration , Ekurhuleni
- Language: English
- Type: Conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/94042 , uj:20423 , Citation: Mokoena, B. T. & Musakwa, W. 2016. Mobile gis: a tool for informal settlement occupancy audit to improve integrated human settlement implementation in Ekurhuleni, South Africa.
- Description: Abstract: Upgrading and relocating people in informal settlements requires consistent commitment, good strategies and systems so as to improve the lives of those who live in them. In South Africa, in order to allocate subsidised housing to beneficiaries of an informal settlement, beneficiary administration needs to be completed to determine the number of people who qualify for a subsidised house. Conventional methods of occupancy audits are often unreliable, cumbersome and non-spatial. Accordingly, this study proposes the use of mobile GIS to conduct these audits to provide up-to-date, accurate, comprehensive and real-time data so as to facilitate the development of integrated human settlements. An occupancy audit was subsequently completed for one of the communities in the Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng province, using web-based mobile GIS as a solution to providing smart information through evidence based decision making. Fieldworkers accessed the off-line capturing module on a mobile device recording GPS coordinates, socio-economic information and photographs. The results of this audit indicated that only 56.86% of the households residing within the community could potentially benefit from receiving a subsidised house. Integrated residential development, which includes fully and partially subsidised housing, serviced stands and some fully bonded housing opportunities, would then be key to adequately providing access to suitable housing options within a project in a post-colonial South Africa, creating new post-1994 neighbourhoods, in line with policy. The use of mobile GIS therefore needs to be extended to other informal settlement upgrading projects in South Africa.
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Making great places in slums/ informal settlements
- Mpe, Reabetsoe, Ogra, Aurobindo
- Authors: Mpe, Reabetsoe , Ogra, Aurobindo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Slums , Informal settlements , Community development , Place making , Human settlements , Urban transformation
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4925 , ISSN 978-0-86970-781-4 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13025
- Description: According to UN-Habitat (2007) “a slum is a heavily populated urban informal settlement characterized by substandard housing and squalor”. The word slum is generally used to describe low-income settlements with deprived conditions. (UN-Habitat, 2006). There is no universally agreed definition of the word slum. As conditions differ from country to country, different scholars from various countries define the term “slum” differently. Definitions mainly include: illegal, poorly-constructed settlements without basic services, even when some of them are relatively more different and have proper structures? An informal settlement can be defined as stated by Huchzermeyer and Karam (2006) as those settlements that were not planned by nor have formal permission to exist from government. Srinivas (1991) defines informal settlement/ slums as an area where the urban poor resides and usually have no access to tenure rights and are forced to ‘squat’ on vacant land either private or public. While slums/ informal settlements differ in size and other characteristics in different counties, but what most slums/informal settlements share in common are the lack of reliable basic services such as the supply of clean water, electricity, timely law enforcement and proper services. (UN-Habitat 2007). Place making is a described as an approach that is used to inspire and encourage communities to create their own space/ places. Place making is how we collectively shape our public realm to maximize shared value (Project for public spaces, 2009). The focus on place making was intended to remind planners of the human aspect of city-building and the ultimate goal is to create places that people use, that inspire social interaction and promote community stewardship (Urban Strategy Inc., 2008). This paper highlights critical determinants of place making in slums/informal settlements. In the context of slums/ informal settlements, firstly it covers what great places are and what constitutes as a great place. Secondly it covers the characteristics of a great place/ place making and how we can upgrade slums/ informal settlements in to great places. Lastly what is the perception of communities of great places and what they think is needed to make their settlement a “great place”. The paper is based on a research study of Kaya Sands slums/ informal settlements of Midrand, South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mpe, Reabetsoe , Ogra, Aurobindo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Slums , Informal settlements , Community development , Place making , Human settlements , Urban transformation
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4925 , ISSN 978-0-86970-781-4 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13025
- Description: According to UN-Habitat (2007) “a slum is a heavily populated urban informal settlement characterized by substandard housing and squalor”. The word slum is generally used to describe low-income settlements with deprived conditions. (UN-Habitat, 2006). There is no universally agreed definition of the word slum. As conditions differ from country to country, different scholars from various countries define the term “slum” differently. Definitions mainly include: illegal, poorly-constructed settlements without basic services, even when some of them are relatively more different and have proper structures? An informal settlement can be defined as stated by Huchzermeyer and Karam (2006) as those settlements that were not planned by nor have formal permission to exist from government. Srinivas (1991) defines informal settlement/ slums as an area where the urban poor resides and usually have no access to tenure rights and are forced to ‘squat’ on vacant land either private or public. While slums/ informal settlements differ in size and other characteristics in different counties, but what most slums/informal settlements share in common are the lack of reliable basic services such as the supply of clean water, electricity, timely law enforcement and proper services. (UN-Habitat 2007). Place making is a described as an approach that is used to inspire and encourage communities to create their own space/ places. Place making is how we collectively shape our public realm to maximize shared value (Project for public spaces, 2009). The focus on place making was intended to remind planners of the human aspect of city-building and the ultimate goal is to create places that people use, that inspire social interaction and promote community stewardship (Urban Strategy Inc., 2008). This paper highlights critical determinants of place making in slums/informal settlements. In the context of slums/ informal settlements, firstly it covers what great places are and what constitutes as a great place. Secondly it covers the characteristics of a great place/ place making and how we can upgrade slums/ informal settlements in to great places. Lastly what is the perception of communities of great places and what they think is needed to make their settlement a “great place”. The paper is based on a research study of Kaya Sands slums/ informal settlements of Midrand, South Africa.
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Informal settlements and organisations in post-apartheid South Africa : the case of Bethlehem, Tshwane
- Authors: Ledwaba, Madimetja Joseph
- Date: 2012-07-31
- Subjects: Squatter settlements , Informal settlements , Bethlehem (Tshwane, South Africa)
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:8862 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5329
- Description: M.A. , This thesis explores to which organisations residents of informal settlements in post-apartheid South Africa are affiliated, and what they gain from particular organisational affiliations. Residents of informal settlements are faced with a variety of problems and these problems pose a challenge to their daily livelihood. For these residents to survive, they need strategies that will assist in coping with the problems. Some of the problems encountered by residents of informal settlements are poverty, and the displacement and lack of access to basic social needs like housing and sanitation. Building organisations might be one of the coping strategies, but lack of organisational expertise and the fact that these residents are not known to each other is, however, an impediment. It therefore becomes important to establish how these residents overcome various challenges. By concentrating on the role of organisations within informal settlements, this thesis fills a gap in the literature on coping strategies for residents in informal settlements. The study was conducted in Bethlehem, informal settlement in the city of Tshwane. A quantitative approach was used to explore organisational affiliations of residents and to ascertain what residents gain from their affiliation to particular organisations. Eighty residents of the settlement were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was employed to analyse the captured data. The study found that a minority of respondents were affiliated to organisations. The findings of the study in Bethlehem indicate that organisations do not play a major role, and their limited role is not a material one, but rather a spiritual one. While it can be postulated that respondents‟ arduous work schedules contributed to their lack of participation in organisations, further research is required to explore this issue.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ledwaba, Madimetja Joseph
- Date: 2012-07-31
- Subjects: Squatter settlements , Informal settlements , Bethlehem (Tshwane, South Africa)
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:8862 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5329
- Description: M.A. , This thesis explores to which organisations residents of informal settlements in post-apartheid South Africa are affiliated, and what they gain from particular organisational affiliations. Residents of informal settlements are faced with a variety of problems and these problems pose a challenge to their daily livelihood. For these residents to survive, they need strategies that will assist in coping with the problems. Some of the problems encountered by residents of informal settlements are poverty, and the displacement and lack of access to basic social needs like housing and sanitation. Building organisations might be one of the coping strategies, but lack of organisational expertise and the fact that these residents are not known to each other is, however, an impediment. It therefore becomes important to establish how these residents overcome various challenges. By concentrating on the role of organisations within informal settlements, this thesis fills a gap in the literature on coping strategies for residents in informal settlements. The study was conducted in Bethlehem, informal settlement in the city of Tshwane. A quantitative approach was used to explore organisational affiliations of residents and to ascertain what residents gain from their affiliation to particular organisations. Eighty residents of the settlement were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was employed to analyse the captured data. The study found that a minority of respondents were affiliated to organisations. The findings of the study in Bethlehem indicate that organisations do not play a major role, and their limited role is not a material one, but rather a spiritual one. While it can be postulated that respondents‟ arduous work schedules contributed to their lack of participation in organisations, further research is required to explore this issue.
- Full Text:
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