Retrieving the Baby from the Bathwater: Slum Upgrading in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Drawing on project experiences over a thirty-year period and academic literature, this paper focuses on the question: what has worked in slum upgrading in Africa? We find that efforts to regularize land titles to confer de jure security of tenure have not been encouraging. By contrast, infrastructure investment efforts have performed better—they have conferred de facto security of tenure and also ameliorated living conditions. Over time project-based learning and microlevel innovations have helped improve upgrading performance. To create broader and sustainable benefits, however, upgrading needs to go to scale. We propose an upgrading strategy with the following elements—a programmatic approach that links slums to citywide systems, is channelled through government, and combines a community-demand and participation approach with supply-side constraints and rules of access.

Urban Services and Child Migration to the Slums of Nairobi

“…This finding challenges the recent trends in slum upgrading approaches of implementing small-scale and single sector interventions. It supports recent calls in the literature for a more complex and multi-sectoral approach to urban informal planning (Gulyani & Bassett, 2007), with simultaneous investments in multiple types of services. It contributes to a growing literature seeking to place children more prominently in urban development policy, planning, and practice (e.g., Bartlett, 1999) and the calls for more participatory approaches to urban planning and development (e.g., Bocquier, Otieno, Khasakhala, & Owuor, 2009).…”

“…The Government of Kenya has recently stepped up its efforts in slum upgrading. The most effective slum upgrading efforts to meet the needs of the urban poor, however, are being debated (Bassett, Gulyani, Farvacque-Vitkovic, & Debomy, 2003;Cohen, 2001;Gulyani & Bassett, 2007;Varley, 2007;Werlin, 1999). Unfortunately, these policy discussions often take place in an environment where not enough consideration is given to the demographic realities and residential strategies of urban migrants.…”

The impact of water and sanitation access on housing values: The case of Dapaong. Togo

“…Even if studies find that tap water and sanitation increases home values or rental, tap water often is less costly than private vendors, as noted, for instance, by Gulyani and Bassett (2007). One should also take into account the premium households shall pay when given access to tap water or private latrines, in order to fully capture the cost of access.…”

The Face of Urban Poverty: Explaining the Prevalence of Slums in Developing Countries

“…These findings are consistent with that of Edelman and Mitra (2006) which show a negative association between public spending on health and the incidence of slums at the state level in India. Increased spending on infrastructure can also be seen as a way of legitimizing informal settlements, thereby encouraging families to gradually improve their houses (Mayo et al 1986;Gulyani and Bassett 2007). Furthermore, investment in trunk infrastructure for access, water, sanitation and power supply can serve as a means for preventing the formation of new slums (UN Millennium Project 2005).…”

“…These include: the low levels of investment that have been incapable of rectifying decades of neglect and deterioration; the adoption of a project-oriented approach that has failed to ensure the necessary follow-up maintenance; hasty planning that allowed for little or no input from beneficiary communities, thereby resulting in lack of ownership and reluctance to pay for improved services; inability to address the more fundamental supply constraints of land, finance, and building materials; weak institutional and financial mechanism; and the absence of any clear focus on poverty reduction (Abelson 1996;UNCHS 1996UNCHS , 2003aOkpala 1999;Werlin 1999;Tebbal and Ray 2001;Gulyani and Bassett 2007).…”