Background and use of SL
Informal settlements play a crucial social and economic role
in many Third World cities. People living in informal settlements
daily experience threats to their health and well-being, including
poor quality housing, water supply, sanitation, and lack of
access to social services. In addition, the very position
they occupy spatially, socially and economically exposes them
to a host of other potential threats.
In
an effort to address this issue, the Developing Country Fund
of the International Council for Research and Innovation in
Building and Construction (CIB) sponsored members of CIB Task
Group 40 on Informal Settlements to research the interface
between sustainable livelihoods, environmental hazards and
informal settlements.
The project aims to understand how this interface is addressed
(or not adequately addressed) in current thinking about appropriate
responses to disasters in informal settlements and broader
processes of regularisation or integration into the city.
The first phase of the project, aimed at reaching a common
understanding and a shared approach to the project, including
an understanding of the sustainable livelihoods approach.
The
second phase of the project comprised a more detailed set
of country-based case studies of responses to disaster events
affecting informal settlements. The
final phase of the project will be concluded with the publication
of a book, containing the material from the whole project.
The project applies two frameworks in its analysis: the DPSIR
Model (drivers, pressures, state, impact, response) and the
Sustainable Livelihoods Framework.
The source of this summary information is: www.csir.co.za
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