Slum Settlements
Kayomars Irandoost; Milad Doostvandi; Kasra Ashouri; seyed mohamad Ghanezade
Abstract
Urban Informality is one of the survival options of low-income urban groups that inefficient formal sector and planning systems have not provided their housing. So housing and the informal sector result from formal discourse and have been formed simultaneously with formal planning. Formal planning systems ...
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Urban Informality is one of the survival options of low-income urban groups that inefficient formal sector and planning systems have not provided their housing. So housing and the informal sector result from formal discourse and have been formed simultaneously with formal planning. Formal planning systems and dominant discourse see this phenomenon as a great challenge and against it, various approaches have endeavoured. Such as neglect, elimination and forced eviction, site and service, public housing and new participatory methods to Upgrading and empowerment and regeneration; most contemporary upgrading approaches have been inefficient in regularizing this phenomenon for various reasons, and at the same time, the rapid development of new slums has shown the inefficiency of urban governance. Meanwhile, some planners are looking for realistic approaches to organizing through foresight and integration with the city, including David Gouverneur, who has proposed an approach called Informal Armature (IA). This approach is a forward-looking design and management that accepts the reality of the growth of informal settlements. Its purpose is to find a middle ground in informal and formal development, accompanied by top-down intervention while accepting the people's views in these settlements (bottom-up).There are some proceedings for the implementation and success of the IA approach:• acceptance of informality in policy• provision land with public and private sector participation• training of staff to implement IA and attention to design components (corridors, patches and custodians).In this paper After introducing the Informal Armature (IA) approach, its application in Iran and Sanandaj has investigated. This paper used data from the population and housing censuses of Iran (1976 to 2016) , aerial images and GIS software, and some previous research. The results show that due to the informal urban dynamics in Sanandaj in the form of three spatial layers and informal reproduction, it is instrumental in paying attention to a futuristic perspective on informal development in the framework of the IA approach.This approach seeks to connect the corridors around the city with the means of design and the potential for informal expansion, and to integrate spontaneous settlements with the city, providing housing for the poor and basic infrastructure. Provide spontaneous urban settlements of the future and thus avoid many current challenges. IA's approach seeks to organize informal growth around cities with the potential for informal expansion with a predictive and forward-looking view, which seems to be practical and beneficial in the context of Iran's urban development.
Slum Settlements
Saeed Khani; Kayoumars Irandoost; Alireza Kammali
Abstract
Highlights
- With increasing urbanization and the importance of planning, demographic data and analysis are needed at the level of urban districts.
- The paper compares the demographic indicators and characteristics of informal settlements and other settlements in Sanandaj.
- Along with demographic ...
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Highlights
- With increasing urbanization and the importance of planning, demographic data and analysis are needed at the level of urban districts.
- The paper compares the demographic indicators and characteristics of informal settlements and other settlements in Sanandaj.
- Along with demographic heterogeneity, a significant portion of the changes, including population growth and immigration, take place in informal settlements.
- In urban management with the aim of upgrading and regeneration of informal settlements, it is necessary to pay attention to demographic characteristics.
Introduction
Informal settlements are a fundamental challenge in modern urbanization. Various approaches and plans have been adopted to address this challenge, but many of them have not been associated with success for various reasons, including a lack of understanding of the characteristics of these settlements, especially the demographic dimensions. Studies have demonstrated that housing and habitation in informal settlements is far more frequent in Sanandaj than the national average, and covers more than half of the city’s population. The aim of this study was to analyze the demographic characteristics and indices in informal settlements and compare them to those in other settlements in Sanandaj. The achievements are highly significant mainly because they provide an overview of the active demographic structure and processes in formal and informal settlements. Moreover, many theories that indicate the formation of informal settlements highlight the importance of social, economic, and demographic factors in this regard.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of this research was based on theories that focus on urban growth and diversity in developing countries. Furthermore, these theories address the typology of urban settlements due to this diversity.
According to the demographic transition framework, rural-urban migration is the initial source of urban growth at the early stages of transition, but natural population growth itself is the fundamental source of urban growth as the transition and urbanization processes continue, and the urban sector grows increasingly larger (Keyfitz, 1980: 149). In the middle and end of the demographic transition, where the rates of death and birth are both low and more or less equal in urban and rural areas, rural-urban migration turns into another factor affecting the growth of urban population.
Undergoing a state of demographic transition and post-transition, the city of Sanandaj, Iran has witnessed both natural growth and rural migration, and has therefore experienced high rates of urbanization. This increasing urbanization has led to the formation of various structures and patterns of urban settlement, including informal dimensions, and represents different trends, types, and patterns in demographic terms.
Methodology
The present research is a quantitative descriptive study with an exploratory nature although it analyzed the current conditions. It was conducted to compare population characteristics and indices in formal and informal settlements in Sanandaj with a secondary analysis of raw data from the population and housing censuses in 2006, 2011, and 2016 in Sanandaj. After the data were processed and prepared, the districts were classified into settlement types based on previous research, and the population characteristics and indices in urban settlements were then compared and analyzed.
Results and Discussion
According to the results, the most dramatic demographic changes in Sanandaj, including those in size, population growth rate, and migration, had occurred in informal settlements. In addition, they are considered as the poles of attraction of the population along with the new settlement areas. There is instability and imbalance among the settlements in terms of the static characteristics of the population, including household density, residential unit quality, academic conditions, dependency burden, and employment status This indicates that informal settlements with larger households, smaller residential units, larger populations per room, and higher ratios of flimsy housing units are excluded from the proper cycle of economic and social urban life. These problems can all lead to occurrence of further urban challenges.
Conclusion
The present study revealed the existence of heterogeneous characteristics and demographic indices in the settlements of Sanandaj. Although the same pattern in terms of population processes cannot be considered for different districts, some settlements are characterized by both higher population growth and poorer housing, occupation, employment, and education. This makes them not only more vulnerable but also potential causes of urban issues and the Achilles’ heel of urban management.
The policy solution proposed in this article is that it is necessary and fundamental to pay attention to the demographic characteristics and indices of informal settlements in the provision and advancement of a comprehensive approach to planning and management in order to upgrade and regenerate these settlements. The results of this paper provide important lessons for planners and policy-makers on population redistribution policies and urban management, and indicate the different dimensions and characteristics of population in districts and settlements of Sanandaj.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Deputy of Statistics and Information of the Management and Planning Organization of Kurdistan Province for their provision of the available information concerning the general population and housing censuses of the districts of Sanandaj.
