Author Archives: Victoria Brewster

Architecture Creating Opportunities

Posted on by
Reply

Professor Muhammad Yunus said in his interview in the SMA News that “if we can just provide the opportunity to poor people, there is no reason for poverty to remain a part of our societies” (Chong 5). While Professor Yunus was speaking in terms of microlending in this case, why is this particular concept not extended to architecture? He mentions that by bringing social businesses, which are “non-loss, non-dividend companies designed to address a social goal,” into the marketplace, we can improve the lives of the poor (Chong 4). Architecture firms could easily fall into this category, since they are still for-profit organizations for the most part, but have the ability to make drastic changes in peoples’ lives.
The work of Alejandro Aravena with his firm Elemental, for example provides housing to those who are desperately in need, yet it is still a for-profit organization. How can a firm balance their own need for profit with the desire to help others? A combination of micro lending and government funding may be a viable answer. When developing large scale projects like Iquique Housing in Chile, using micro lending in addition to government funding would increase the project budget, as well as provide a greater sense of ownership for those who will live in the houses. By taking out a loan in order to improve their house, they will immediately have a connection to it and care about its appearance, maintenance, etc. This will improve a home’s lifetime and, using Iquique as a model, the price of the home can increase exponentially in a short span of time (Aravena 32).
As we have seen throughout our investigations of architectural interventions in poor areas, participation is a key factor in a project’s success. Increased input from the community allows for final products that reflect the needs of the users, resulting in an increased interest in the project’s future. When people have put time, effort, and money into something, they are far more likely to care for it going forward. In this way, micro lending will drive those in impoverished areas to truly care about their surroundings in a new, positive way.
Providing those living in informal settlements with a stake in their homes and communities will provide them with an opportunity to get out of poverty. There is an opportunity for economic improvement through increasing property values as well as through the income from the shops that often take over the ground floor of homes in settlements such as Iquique and PREVI. Micro lending in conjunction with any available government funding is a clear and simple way to raise money for projects, increase community participation in the design and construction, as well as improve the lives of the poor going forward by giving them a home that over time can be profitable to them. It will allow architecture firms to remain for-profit companies while still aiding those in the most desperate need of their services.

Chong, Toh Han. “Interview with Professor Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank.” SMA News 40.12 (2008): 2-7

Aravena, Alejandro. Elemental: A Do Tank

Re-examining the Role of the Architect

Posted on by
Reply

It is clear that we must re-examine the role of the architect, specifically with regard to the developing world. Currently, most architects are stuck working within the boundaries that the “brief writers” have neatly created for them, when in reality, is it the brief writers who truly know best? (Awan, Schneider, Till 70). One single person or entity cannot and should not create or generalize the opinion of an entire neighborhood or city.
We have seen in a variety of case studies such as Paraisopolis and Tijuana/San Diego that there is often an incredible juxtaposition between extreme wealth and extreme poverty in our cities. The gap between classes is only getting wider, thus we need to mediate between these two disparate communities in order to bridge this gap and improve the living conditions of the poor. This requires spatial agency in conjunction with a close examination of the causes of these impoverished conditions. Once we are able to identify these deep seeded causes, architects, designers, engineers, and the communities will be able to work in conjunction with one another in order to create new systems to improve people’s lives. The key to success and invention once the root of the problem is discovered, is working in collaboration with a variety of groups, most importantly the inhabitants, to come up with the best possible solution for each community (Aquilino 162). Social exchange is an underutilized, yet invaluable tool for anyone proposing architectural interventions. Collecting information and input from the largest group possible will provide us with an immense amount of ideas that may not have occurred to an architect or other designer who does not live in the area in which they are working. This is a type of participatory design that will help us as designers see the possibilities of a site, using spatial agency. It will push architecture past being solely a service, into a creative, unencumbered process that can accommodate for any number of variables (Awan, Schneider, Till 72). This is the way that we can begin to push the boundaries and break the status quo. It is possible that instead of focusing on large institutional projects with strict guidelines, the next generation of architects will choose to work outside of their comfort zone and begin to explore the possibilities and potential that is abundant in developing countries and their slums.
Vast quantities of factors determine the success of any given project or neighborhood. As Marie Jeannine Aquilino discusses, the environment and the building stock are vitally linked, and must be considered in conjunction (Aquilino 155). Using spatial agency, and looking outside of the norms for design concepts has the promise of creating new types of space that both respects the environment as well as supports the population. It is irresponsible for architects in the twenty first century to design without the environment in mind, and while it may take time and significant effort to convince others, particularly governments, that this is the inevitable truth of our world, it is something that designers must take on. After all, it truly is a place for architectural experimentation and innovation.

Aquilino, Marie Jeannine. Beyond Shelter: Architecture and Human Dignity. New York, NY: Metropolis, 2010.
Awan, Nishat, Tatjana Schneider, and Jeremy Till. Spatial Agency: Other Ways of Doing Architecture. Abingdon, Oxon [England: Routledge, 2011.

Participatory Mapping

Posted on by
Reply

As James Corner notes in his essay, The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention, maps are often static expressions of an area that do not take any sort of change or time into account. In order for maps to become useful tools that can encourage change, they must begin to address the actual conditions within a location. While it is often easy to be reductive when mapping, it is far more valuable to dig deeper into the possibilities that a map can reveal (Corner 213).
Since mapping is never a neutral exercise, and it will always be seen through a particular lens, what is the most productive way to depict a given location, and how can designers question mapping conventions (Corner 221). In such a rapidly changing world, it is necessary to include time in almost any map that is meant to enable change (Corner 226). Additionally, representing a population on a cultural level, which can only be achieved with community participation, will provide an invaluable tool for any designer. There are numerous projects that demonstrate the success of community input in architectural and planning projects, and if mapping is supposedly what is generating these designs, it only makes sense that it would also be driven by local knowledge (Corner 241). By producing a “game board” map, as Corner refers to it, architects would be able to discuss a large variety of concepts proposed by any number of people using one single image as a base. Allowing it to be an open system with a factual base that can be altered depending on need, or desire would invariably create productive designs that consider the culture, and its future.
In places such as São Paulo, there is a desperate need to accurately, yet inventively record the conditions of the informal areas of the city. A simple, aerial view will not suffice, since it cannot accurately represent the character of any given neighborhood. Tracings from satellite images of favelas would simply appear as a jumbled mass of lines with no boundaries, and would not give any insight into the culture or atmosphere. In a location that is in a time sensitive situation regarding urban renewal as well as addressing the ever worsening flooding problems, an accurate and future oriented map is essential to create any new designs.
In the case of São Paulo’s flooding problem, it has become increasingly necessary to divert flood waters to reservoirs throughout the city’s periphery (Franco 2). In order to best decide where reservoirs and accompanying canals and widened streets, designers should create maps that address concerns in each specific neighborhood that will be effected. By doing so, this will allow architects to address specific concerns of the entire community, not simply a government official who has never even stepped foot in the favela before. Architectural interventions in informal settlements must take into account the vast variety that exists even from one neighborhood to another, in addition to the creation of accurate maps that take both the comments of the community as well as the physical and temporal aspects of the area.

James Corner: Agency of Mapping
Franco de Mello: Filling Voids

Implementing Networks

Posted on by
Reply

As Daniela Fabricius mentions in her article Resisting Representation, what lies just beyond the “networked society” is often neglected, meaning that we must search out the information in order to fill in the vast gaps in our knowledge (Fabricius 8).
With such an immense amount of the world’s population living in favelas, and other types of informal settlements without safe or reliable access to the infrastructure that many of us take for granted each and every day, we must create flexible solutions that can be implemented once a community is well established. Infrastructure such as water, transportation, sewage, and electricity was originally omitted from the vast majority, if not the entirety of informal settlements at their creation (Fibricius 3). Over time as settlements illegally add these networks on their own often in a haphazard way, it becomes necessary to create new infrastructure that can facilitate growth, and connect them with the formal city more directly.
There are a variety of possibilities for systems that can be implemented that will aid in the improvement of informal settlements. Urban Think Tank brings up a variety of their own ideas in Beyond Shelter Architecture and Human Dignity. They propose improvements ranging from building stairs, to creating a cable car system, to harvesting rainwater, to adding public programs on sites that would be unsafe to build on (Aquilino).
When adding or amending the transportation system in a city, Beyond Shelter Architecture and Human Dignity mentions that “where existing bus routes only connect the city and the favela, reinforcing the division between the two and the city’s fragmentation, a new bus line, bootstrapped onto the city system, can create a network of interconnections within the slum itself” (Aquilino 1). Often when looking at informal settlements like those in Rio, it is hard to differentiate various areas within a large favela, so it is simple to forget that the entire favela is not a single, interconnected entity. Is it possible that by creating links between each neighborhood within an informal city, there would be a greater sense of community? It would most likely take a variety of programmatic interventions, such as Urban Think Tank’s Vertical Gymnasium, which would bring a larger portion of the community together in a single location, in order to facilitate more personal connections between inhabitants of various areas (Aquilino 6). With the amount of drug warfare that is present in favelas, particularly in Rio, it is necessary to attempt a variety of solutions in order to keep the violence at bay and create positive connections between neighborhoods.
Whether implementing infrastructural changes in informal settlements will truly improve the lives of the inhabitants enough to create a change from informal to formal is unknown. It may not even be possible given the additive nature of the growth of informal settlements. It also may not be entirely desirable for those who have been living for so long without the same amount of regulation as their counterparts in the formal city. While it is certainly necessary to improve the living conditions for the favela dwellers like those in Rocinha, there needs to be a collaboration between highly organized infrastructure and the unplanned nature of the settlements in order for projects to be successful.

Tailor-made Intervention

Posted on by
Reply

Much of the first world views favelas and slums as places devoid of intellectual activity and creativity. It can be difficult for those unfamiliar with life in informal settlements to understand just how much activity, creativity and ingenuity is truly present and encouraged by informality.
When faced with a series of unique, seemingly impossible to solve problems, humans become intensely creative and begin to experiment in order to find the best solutions. While they may appear messy and unorganized to many, they are, in reality, highly organized and planned with a high level of sophistication.
Additionally, when architects get involved in projects in informal settlements with a completely unfamiliar set of problems to be solved, they are also forced to break free from conventional design and planning techniques. The most difficult task that designers and planners have to face in situations of urban renewal and growth is that of instigating social change. Informality is often stigmatized in our society, thus in order truly create positive change, aiding social growth must be at the root of the solution. This is a particular necessity in cities such as São Paulo, where the wealthy live in complete separation from the poor, and barricade themselves into secure, gated communities, in order to completely ignore the reality of their city’s situation (Caldeira 168).
Additionally, there is a necessity for a high level of adaptability and networking in possible architectural interventions in favelas in order to improve the lives of the large percentage of the urban population that is currently being ignored. In order for a design to be successful socially, it must asses and address the local conditions specifically. In Medellín for example, the city implemented a system of cable cars that connects disparate parts of the city, allowing for a greater amount of interaction between the formal and informal (Smith 13). This highly site specific design is adapted to the location and the culture of the favelas in Medellín, thus proving to be extremely successful in comparison to a more generic proposal.
In Rio de Janeiro, the redevelopment and urbanization of the favelas was entirely based on solving the major social issues prevalent in the area. Through the creation of public programs, such as libraries, community centers, and athletic facilities at major transit hubs, the architects hoped to discourage the youth living in the favelas from becoming involved in drug trafficking (Jáuregui 63). The concept of social interventions, while common in certain senses in the first world, takes on a different form when used to revitalize an entire favela. It requires innovative and creative thinking on every scale from small interventions such as adding benches or putting a mural in a public space to massive urban infrastructure projects. By strategically planning out the locations of public buildings in a city, the architects hope to sway an entire youth population towards certain socially beneficial activities. This, in turn would have a drastic effect on the future of the city as a whole. The major question is, will this have a lasting impact on the community, or is it simply idealistic?

Jáuregui, Jorge Mario. Articulating the Broken City and Society.
Smith, Cynthia E. Designing Inclusive Cities.
Caldeira, Teresa. Worlds Set Apart.

A New Kind of City

Posted on by
Reply

Over the last decade, Beijing has begun a drastic change towards becoming a new kind of city, and will soon become what Koolhaas describes as a “Generic City.”
Since the announcement of the location of the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing has undergone an extensive transformation. The government has a deep seeded desire to become a metropolis that is modern, state of the art, and unforgettable, and they will stop at nothing to achieve it. Between striking fear into the hearts of the city’s inhabitants and destroying the neighborhoods that gave the city its character, the Chinese government is completely disregarding the importance of remaining a unique city (Broudehoux, 92, 100).
As Koolhaas describes it, a “Generic City” is not only devoid of character, but also loses its history, giving it freedom to become whatever kind of city it wants to (Koolhaas, 1248). This is illustrated in the destruction of Beijing’s poorer communities, which are, like in many other cities, the most vibrant, active areas within the urban fabric. By evicting a large percentage of the population and leaving them to fend entirely for themselves, the city is simply asking to lose its life force and detach itself from its history. Additionally, the move towards capitalism within China has pushed forward the process of separating the past from the future. With a capitalist economy run by an authoritarian government, the previous Socialist ideals of the country seem to fall through the cracks. Soon Beijing will become an entirely Generic City with buildings designed by some of the most famous starchitects in the world, which could be placed on any site in any city throughout the world without changing at all. While the buildings themselves may be beautiful, in no way does it produce an urban condition in the way the area had before. It loses every bit of rich cultural history that it once had.
Additionally, the government has little respect for its citizens who simply cannot survive in the changing world with extremely limited resources. The growing gap between the rich and poor will eventually lead to massive squatter settlements if not addressed immediately. As the city expands outwards, the gap between the rich and the poor inevitably grows wider. Those who can afford to live in gated communities will do so, further separating themselves from those whom they perceive as being lesser beings. There are millions of people whom the wealthy simply ignore as they pass them each and every day, exploiting them for cheap labor (Broudehoux 91, 96).
For any city, particularly one with as much rich history as Beijing, it is vital to never forget where you’ve come from in order to know where to go in the future. Sadly, Beijing may not have this option for much longer, since it is seemingly giving up on maintaining its urban culture or giving aid to its citizens.
What will it take for governments throughout the world, not just in China, to finally accept responsibility for their actions and take care of the entire population as well as their history and culture?

Broudehoux, Anne-Marie. Delirious Beijing: Euphoria and Despair in the Olympic Metropolis
Koolhaas, Rem; Mau, Bruce. SMLXL. Generic City

How Can Architects Help?

Posted on by
Reply

In the past two hundred years, the world has undergone rapid, drastic changes that have altered how we live.  With the Industrial Revolution came a focus on the factory rather than the human being.  This meant that the living conditions of the workers fell far below previous standards, forcing up to twenty people to live in a single room (Mumford 21).  Unsafe living conditions only continued with the continual growth of cities throughout the twentieth century.  The question that architects must consider is how do we address these growing populations?

In One Hundred Years of Humanitarian Design, Kate Stohr discusses the importance of architects’ involvement in disaster relief and redevelopment projects.  The question of whether architects should be involved in the processes at all seems to be one with a simple answer.  Yes.  If we can help others, why not?  It is a matter of finding the correct method and design strategy for each location and situation.  Each and every area in need of new or improved housing is unique, and there will most likely not be a single solution to such an immense and wide-reaching problem.  However, there are a few factors that seem to create positive, lasting results no matter what the situation.  Community involvement has proven to be one of the most effective tools when redesigning or redeveloping areas.  For example, in Puerto Rico in 1949, a “government resettlement and land redistribution plan…[was started, in which] families were free to design and build their own homes using any method that made sense” (Stohr 43-44).  This gave them the ability to create their own houses without being forced into accepting a design that does not relate to the context or their specific needs.

In contrast with community involvement is prefabricated design, something that in the post

1: Levittown Cape Cod Kit of Parts

World War II era was one of the most useful tools that planners throughout the world had at their disposal.  With both the influx of veterans returning from war as well as the massive amount of destruction throughout Europe and Japan, prefabricated, often Modernist structures were a logical building type to move away from the old, pre-war state of mind, and into a new era.  Levittowns

2: Levittown Cape Cod Constructed

sprouted up all over the world, from Long Island, NY to Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria, France, and Israel (Stohr 46).  Pre fabricated housing such as Levittowns have not proved as useful for disaster relief situations, because often, even if the structure is a simple tent, it may not arrive on site early enough to make an immediate impact, nor will it provide much more than an extremely temporary solution to a permanent problem.

An additional necessity for a successful future for a project is ownership.  When squatters do not own their homes, they often lose the desire to rebuild or revitalize the existing structure since they live in constant fear of losing what they have.

3: 1978 to 2003 Adaptation of PREVI

This was addressed in PREVI, in Lima, Peru, because the new residents owned the homes and were encouraged to add to them as time and money allowed.  In fact, it was part of the project brief itself that the structures be easily added to.  This meant that they were invested in the future of their homes, and were free to make them into anything they wanted to.  The ability to adapt each home to the occupants specific needs creates a dynamic city with a variety of aesthetics that are each uniquely personal.  In this way, despite the standardized designs that each architect involved in PREVI created, each block no longer appears monotonous, but rather incredibly active, each house with its own character.

With the rise of NGO’s and aid organizations, architects have no excuse not to help those in need of well designed, sustainable homes.  We have the knowledge and skills to improve the living conditions of the immense percentage of our planet that currently lives in slums, yet somehow nothing is done about it.  Stohr’s article proves that between architects’ knowledge of building systems and planning, and the input of those in need of housing, relief and renewal projects can most certainly be successful.

 

 

1: http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/Architectural.Styles.Postwar.htm

2:http://invinciblearmor.blogspot.com/2010/08/cape-cod-original-levittown-house.html

Dynamic Cities

Posted on by
Reply

Cities are organisms with the ability to grow, shrink, thrive, and self-organize.  They are constantly adapting to new situations, and with the ever growing urban population that we now face, they have countless changes to contend with.  As a result of this intense urban growth, cities cannot be seen as being physically static, be it a formal or informal settlement.  Rather, we must think of them in terms of emergence, which “requires the recognition of buildings not as singular and fixed bodies, but as complex energy and material systems that have a life span, and exist as part of the environment of other buildings, and as an iteration of a long series that proceeds by evolutionary development towards and intelligent ecosystem” (Emergence in Architecture, 1).  In this way, every portion of cities, not simply its inhabitants, makes up part of the dynamic city.

Not only are cities dynamic and ever adapting, but they are also made up of patterns and groupings that are self-organizing.  To many people, slums are simply disordered, chaotic, dense clusters of makeshift buildings.  If this were true, then squatters would never have any clue where they were or how to find anyone within their own community.  Of course this is not true, and squatter settlements work in a similar way to many growing urban environments throughout the world.  They are grouped much the way that Florentine silk weavers are discussed in The Pattern Match; they gravitate towards like-minded people.  Within slums, there are clusters of people from similar cultural backgrounds, religions, professions, etc. all living in a single area.  In this way, slum dwellers create a similar process to what is described in Nonorganic Life where “form emerges out of formless matter, order emerges out of chaos.”  What may appear formless and chaotic at first is in reality a highly organized network of people and groups that create a functioning whole.

The concept that cities “are more an imprint of collective behavior than the work of master planners” validates the organization and creation of squatter settlements. They grow organically, with few, if any formal interventions from governing bodies, and while this may not always be the most functional as far as infrastructure goes, it creates culturally rich, often well functioning communities (The Pattern Match, 109).

Many slums have been in the same location for decades, if not longer.  This suggests that even if the structures they inhabit are not permanent, and the world around them is constantly changing, they have a specific trait that makes them stay put.  It is “a kind of self-organizing stickiness” that allows the squatters to remain in their neighborhoods for decades (The Pattern Match, 106).  This is an astounding feat when compared to many of their counterparts living in the formal cities of the world.  Often city dwellers are constantly on the move, finding a new home every few years, never taking the time to settle in, or even meet their neighbors.  There is certainly quite a bit to be learned from communities of squatters.

The Community of Squatters

Posted on by
Reply

In squatter settlements such as Dharavi, it is important to note that the social situation is often not the most pressing issue that needs to be addressed.  Many times, particularly in settlements that have existed for long periods of time, there is a strong sense of community that is not always present in affluent areas.  In Dharavi, people are employed, have a community with similar histories surrounding them, and are proud of how they have improved their own and their family’s situation.

Dharavi has roots going back over one hundred years, and thus has had time to establish itself, its businesses and its neighborhoods, as well as assert its importance within the city.  As it has become more centrally located within Mumbai between two major train routes, Dharavi has become a focus for the city, particularly the politicians.  Multiple redevelopments have been attempted, however, the only truly successful ones included community involvement (Sharma xviii).  A sense of belonging to a group is part of what sets Dharavi apart from many densely populated areas of the world.  People can connect over their common struggle to move upward in society as well as over cultural similarities.

Inhabitants of slums in Mumbai, like the dabbawalas, often live with a group from their home town.  This strengthens the sense of community, and promotes a peaceful environment, not a violent one as many people assume.  For much of its existence Dharavi has been a relatively peaceful place to live. There have been religious riots in recent years, but previous to that, there were seemingly few problems.  This indicates that even in an area of such density containing an enormous variety of people, governmental control is not necessarily the only solution.

Most importantly, while much of the world is in a state of economic distress, Dharavi has avoided many of the problems that come with government involvement in the economy.  As a result, “almost everyone seems to be employed in some kind of work. And many have prospered through a mixture of hard work, some luck and a great deal of ingenuity” (Sharma xxxv).  This is not to say that the working conditions are safe or healthy, quite the contrary, they certainly need to be addressed, but at least many of the residents of Dharavi are employed (Sharma xviii).  The availability of jobs also allows for social mobility, giving many the hope for a rags to riches story of their own.  This is a promising  aspect of the extra-governmental society that has formed within Mumbai, which proves that even without government control, economies can flourish.

Many people consider squatter settlements to be disorganized in every way solely because they often appear so in their physical layout.  With a closer look at Dharavi, it is made clear that just because it do not follow government standards, that does not mean that it is a disorganized place.  In fact, the complex network of dabbawalas that Percot describes illustrates that intense focus on detail and planning.  Without each person being in exactly the correct place at the correct time, the system would fall apart.

The dabbawalas are the perfect example of the successes of informal settlements.  They function as a single organized entity with a complex set of rules that govern their jobs.  They have created a system of symbols that when paired with their extensive route planning allows them to have an efficient system of deliveries throughout Mumbai (Percot 8).  These men all belong to a single community, from a single area of India, so they have a strong sense of solidarity, as well as social control within their group (Percot 4).  Stories like those of the dabbawalas are what make Dharavi such a unique settlement with incredible potential.  They express the highly organized social and economic system that has grown within an ‘illegal’ community.

 

Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. “The Static and the Kinetic.” Living in the Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2011.

Percot, Marie. “Dabbawalas, Tiffin Carriers of Mumbai: Answering a Need for Specific Catering.”

Sharma, Kalpana. Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia’s Largest Slum

The Future of Squatter Settlements

Posted on by
Reply

Squatter settlements have, in recent years, become home to a vast portion of the world’s population. People are moving into the cities to seek out opportunities in alarming quantities, particularly when one considers that cities would have to construct one home each second in order to keep up (Neuwirth xiii). Not only do we not have enough housing to support the influx of people, but the economy simply does not have enough jobs to satisfy the current or future demand (Davis 178). Thus, it is necessary to investigate both the economic, political, and social issues that surround squatter settlements in order to better understand how to improve their conditions.
What is it that causes certain settlements to be well established, permanent parts of a city, and others to be neglected areas with little organization? Some of this can be traced back to the politics in a given country. As Neuwirth notes, Turkey has laws that provide squatters with certain rights; something that most countries would not consider worth their while (Neuwirth 18). However, when such a large portion of the world’s population is living in one form of informal settlement or another, it is a question that many more of the world’s politicians will soon need to address. It is not an option to simply clear the slums in order to remove the population of squatters. This would only make matters worse, since it would cause those in the most need of aid to move farther from the city and its resources, forcing them further into poverty (Beardsley 56). Instead, people from a variety of backgrounds need to come together to form a cohesive plan that is specific to each location. This group would need to include politicians, economists, designers, urban planners, etc., who are open to working to help those who often do not have a voice.
Currently, the world’s economy cannot provide work for all those who need it, and although life in a squatter settlement may be an improvement for many, it is certainly far from ideal. In larger settlements, it is possible to create informal employment opportunities, which gives the inhabitants the opportunity to earn a living (Davis 178). Of course, this system is far from perfect, and there are countless ways to enhance it. Between squatters, economists, and politicians, there must be a way to enhance the strengths of the more successful settlements in order to make them productive parts of the world’s economy.
When discussing squatter settlements, it is also important to note, as Robert Neuwirth does in Shadow Cities, that squatters are an extremely diverse group “with different needs, different incomes, different aspirations, different social standing, different stories” (Neuwirth 14). Settlements vary from a small grouping of dwellings separated by hung carpets, to large, organized cities with permanent structures, indoor plumbing, running water, and even their own government. This means that if there is to be a plan for formalizing, moving, or simply improving the quality of life in these settlements, then there may not be a single solution that will work in every situation. It is vital that politicians faced with situations like this be willing to work with every type of person, particularly since there is such a stigma attached to “slums”.

Neuwirth, Robert. Shadow Cities (London: Routledge, 2004)
Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums (London, New York: Verso, 2006)
Beardsley, John. A Billion Slum Dwellers and Counting (Harvard: Harvard Design Magazine, 2007)