Informal housing and squatting on the Cape Flats: a comparative analysis of four areas
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Date
2000
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
The housing conditions of four surveyed areas namely Uitsig, Bishop Lavis, Jakkalsvlei and Crossroads, situated on the Cape Flats is the main thrust of the dissertation. It is a comparative analysis between two "coloured" residential area's, namely Bishop Lavis and Uitsig and "black" squatter settlement's Crossroads and Jakkalsvlei. lt investigates the struggle to eradicate homelessness by means of informal housing and squatting Through scientific investigative research, interviews, data and statistical analysis, this dissertation falls within the sphere of urban geography. Although informal settlements have been part of the metropolitan area of Cape Town for several decades, the period since 1990 saw the mushrooming of informal settlements and the emergence of backyard squatting in "coloured" areas squatting on the periphery of "black" townships. The dissertation address issues associated with informal settlements such as health and disease within these settlements, access to clean water and refuse removal, environment conditions, physical structure in and around informal settlements, recreational facilities and the role of the Reconstruction and Development Programme(RDP). ln eight chapters, the study outlines the quest of informal dwellers to eradicate homelessness by means of backyard squatting and informal settlements. Though no longer regarded as an urban "problem", communities and the local authorities within these areas are hard at work in finding ways to improve living conditions within informal settlements, by turning shacks into decent and liveable homes in the new millennium.
Description
Magister Artium - MA
Keywords
Homelessness, Architects of apartheid used landlessness, Cape Flats, Migration