Land-Use in Urban Areas in Developing Countries (SQA National 5 Geography): Revision Note

Specification checklist

This page covers what you need to know from the SQA National 5 geography specification to answer questions on:

• Recent developments which deal with issues in informal housing settlements in developing world cities

Informal settlements in developing countries

• Cities in developing countries often experience high levels of rural-urban migration

• Migration to the cities is the result of push and pull factors

  • Push factors are negative issues which push people away from rural areas, such as the lack of food, clean water and jobs

  • Pull factors are positive assumptions people make about the cities that attract them there, such as jobs, education and greater food supply

• Often, these assumptions are incorrect

  • People arrive in the cities and cannot find jobs or places to live

• This impacts on the land use patterns in the cities

• Land use in cities in developing countries is different from that in developed countries

  • The highest quality housing is close to the CBD rather than on the outskirts of the city

  • The quality of housing decreases with distance from the CBD

  • Industry is located along the main roads

Informal settlements

• Housing cannot keep up with the rate of population increase in developing cities

• This leads to people building their own homes on any vacant land using scrap materials like cardboard, corrugated iron and plastic

• These homes are unplanned and unregulated housing (informal settlements) with limited sanitation, limited freshwater and an unreliable energy supply

• Usually, the people building the settlements do not own the land and are located

  • In areas of no economic value

  • On the urban edges or fringes

  • Along main roads or railways

  • On steep slopes

• These informal settlements go by various names depending on the country

  • Favelas in Brazil

  • Shanty towns in the West Indies and Canada

  • Bustees on the Indian subcontinent

• In developing countries, about a quarter of urban inhabitants (1.6 billion) live in these impoverished informal settlements

• By 2030, the UN estimates that 1 in 4 people on the planet will live in some form of informal settlement

• Some cities have 'mega-slums', which are huge, overcrowded informal settlements, usually within megacities

  • The largest examples are found in:

    • Nairobi, Kenya, with a population of 1.5 million crowded into three sprawling slums of mud huts and tin shacks – Kibera being the largest of the three

    • Neza, Mexico City, Mexico, with a population of 1.1 million people 

    • Dharavi, Mumbai, India, with 1 million people in a warren of narrow lanes, interconnected shacks and single-room living spaces that double as factories

    • Orangi Town, Karachi, Pakistan, with an estimated population of 2.4 million people across 8000 acres of concrete block homes, with 8-10 people sharing two or three rooms

    • Khayelitsha in Cape Town, South Africa, with a population of 400,000 in iron and wooden shacks

• These unregulated housing areas present serious risks such as fire, flooding and landslides

• Informal settlements typically suffer from housing, which is:

  • Made from poor-quality materials

  • Overcrowded

  • Small

  • Built very close together

• The settlements have restricted access to water and electricity supplies

• There are little to no sanitation facilities and no solid waste disposal

  • This leads to a polluted and degraded local environment

• There are inadequate health facilities

  • Together with poor living conditions, this increases sickness and death rates

• Most people in these areas have insecure living conditions, as they may be forcibly removed by landowners or other authorities

• Whereas other governments accept that informal housing is a self-help way of dealing with a housing shortage

Informal settlements in Mumbai

• Mumbai is India’s largest city with a population of around 20 million

  • It is the capital city of the Maharashtra state on the western coast of India

• Originally, Mumbai was several separate islands

• These were joined through large-scale land reclamation and causeway projects

• Mumbai has more millionaires and billionaires than any other Indian city, but also the highest rates of poverty

  • Mumbai contributes 31% of India's entire tax revenue

• It is a major centre for finance, manufacturing, and entertainment, but faces huge challenges from rapid urbanisation

• Around 40% of residents live in informal settlements such as Dharavi

• Mumbai has air transport links to many world cities and is popular with international tourists

• Rapid urban growth has led to a significant increase in rural-to-urban migration, resulting in one of the largest unplanned settlements globally

• Dharavi is home to about 1 million residents and occupies an area equivalent to 500 football pitches

• Residents in Dharavi face severe challenges, including inadequate:

  • Water supplies

  • Sanitation

  • Waste services

• Poor infrastructure and transport contribute to increasing pollution, leading to waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid

• The government plans to redevelop Dharavi into high-end real estate due to rising land prices and limited space

• There are over 12,000 companies, 58,000 families, and more than 100,000 people who work in the informal economy, mostly in leather, ceramics, and textiles in Dharavi

• Authorities are considering two approaches to improve housing through the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme

  • A bottom-up approach with NGO assistance

  • A top-down approach involving demolition and new construction

Managing issues in informal settlements

Redevelopment of Dharavi

• There have been many plans for managing informal settlements in Mumbai

  • The 2004 scheme for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project never happened

Self-help schemes

• SPARC (Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres) and Mahila Milan

  • Works with residents to design and upgrade homes in Dharavi

  • Provides micro-loans, training, and building materials

  • Encourages households to use durable materials and install sanitation and electricity

• Advantages:

  • Empowers residents and improves living conditions at a low cost

  • Builds community ownership and local skills

  • Reduces the spread of disease and improves safety

• Limitations:

  • Only small-scale, slow progress due to limited funding

  • Legal land ownership is often unclear

Housing clearance and redevelopment

• Mumbai Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)

  • Replaces informal settlements with high-rise apartments

  • Frees up valuable central land for commercial use

  • Provides secure housing, sanitation, and infrastructure

• Advantages:

  • Permanent housing with electricity, water, and toilets

  • Improves city image and attracts investors

• Limitations:

  • Many families relocated far from jobs and schools

  • Loss of community networks and the informal economy

  • Only a fraction of 'slum' residents benefit; some are excluded

Housing projects

• Mumbai Development Plan 2034

  • In October 2022, new plans were made to deal with the problem of informal housing

    • The government invited companies to submit proposals for redevelopment

    • These proposals included wider city housing targets and specific redevelopment plans for Dharavi

    • The Adani Group won the bid to replace informal housing with high-rise apartments, focusing on building upwards to reduce urban sprawl

  • Plans for one million affordable homes using public and private land

  • Allocates land for schools, hospitals, and open spaces

• Advantages:

  • Addresses the housing shortage

  • Integrates low-income families into formal housing markets

  • There are plans to provide free housing with essential services for displaced residents, affecting around 68,000 people

  • Includes infrastructure improvements

    • Road building to create wider roads and bridges

    • Improvements in water supply

• Limitations:

  • Land values remain high, limiting true affordability

  • Implementation is uneven; bureaucracy slows progress

  • Many residents and business owners are worried that high-rise developments will erode the community spirit and have a negative influence on the informal economy

  • To qualify for new housing, residents must prove their informal homes were built before January 2000, raising concerns among long-term residents