|
Informal Settlements
Informal housing or informal settlement can include any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the informal housing industry is part of the informal sector. To have informal housing status is to exist in "a state of deregulation, one where the ownership, use, and purpose of land cannot be fixed and mapped according to any prescribed set of regulations or the law". While there is no global unified law of property-ownership, the informal occupant or community will typically lack security of tenure and, with this, ready or reliable access to civic amenities (potable water, electricity and gas supply, road creation and maintenance, emergency services, sanitation and waste collection). Due to the informal nature of occupancy, the state will typically be unable to extract rent or land taxes. The term "informal housing" is useful in capturing t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soweto Township
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and is one of the suburbs of Johannesburg. History George Harrison and George Walker are today credited as the men who discovered an outcrop of the Main Reef of gold on the farm Langlaagte in February 1886. The fledgling town of Johannesburg was laid out on a triangular wedge of "uitvalgrond" (area excluded when the farms were surveyed) named Randjeslaagte, situated between the farms Doornfontein to the east, Braamfontein to the west and Turffontein to the south. Within a decade of the discovery of gold in Johannesburg, 100,000 people flocked to this part of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek in search of riches. They were of many races and nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12.5 million (1.25 crore). Mumbai is the centre of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the seventh-most populous metropolitan area in the world with a population of over 23 million (2.3 crore). Mumbai lies on the Konkan coast on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2008, Mumbai was named an alpha world city. Mumbai has the highest number of billionaires out of any city in Asia. The seven islands that constitute Mumbai were earlier home to communities of Marathi language-speaking Koli people. For centuries, the seven islands of Bombay were under the control of successive indigenous rulers before being ceded to the Portuguese Empire, and subsequently to the East India Company in 1661, as part of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Planning
Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks, and their accessibility. Traditionally, urban planning followed a top-down approach in master planning the physical layout of human settlements. The primary concern was the public welfare, which included considerations of efficiency, sanitation, protection and use of the environment, as well as taking account of effects of the master plans on the social and economic activities. Over time, urban planning has adopted a focus on the social and environmental "bottom lines" that focuses on using planning as a tool to improve the health and well-being of people and maintain sustainability standards. In the early 21st century, urban planning experts such as Jane Jacobs called on urban planners to take ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Dovey
Kim Dovey is an Australian architecture, architectural and urban critic and Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne, Australia, teaching and researching architecture, urban design and urban planning. Born in Western Australia he received degrees in architecture from Curtin University and the University of Melbourne, and a Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He has lectured and broadcast widely on social and morphological issues in architecture, urban design and urban planning. His early work on phenomenology of place expanded into critiques of buildings and cities as mediators of power. The book Framing Places (2nd ed. 2008) explores the politics of public space, housing enclaves, shopping malls and corporate towers. Becoming Places (2010) explores the formation of place identity and develops a theory of place as a dynamic assemblage. Urban Design Thinking (2016) is a broad-ranging application of assembl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subsidized Housing
Subsidized housing is a subsidy aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing". Forms of subsidies include direct housing subsidies, non-profit housing, public housing, rent supplements/vouchers, and some forms of co-operative and private sector housing. Increasing access to housing usually contributes to lower poverty rates. Types Housing subsidies are government funded financial assistance programs designed to mitigate the costs of housing for low-income tenants. Subsidies can be provided in the form of housing vouchers given to tenants, e.g. Section 8 (Housing), or via direct deposits to landlords with government contracts to provide affordable housing. Home mortgage interest deduction The largest housing subsidy in the US is the home mortgage interest deduction, which allows homeowners with mortgages on first homes, second homes, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Right To Housing
The right to housing (occasionally right to shelter) is the economic, social and cultural right to adequate house, housing and shelter (building), shelter. It is recognized in some Economic, social and cultural rights#National constitutions, national constitutions and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The right to housing is regarded as a freestanding right in the International human rights law which was clearly in the 1991 General Comment on Adequate Housing by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The aspect of the right to housing under ICESCR include: availability of services, infrastructure, material and facilities; legal security of tenure; habitability; accessibility; Affordable housing, affordability; location and cultural adequacy. The United Nations, UN Human Settlement Programme is known as UN-HABITAT. At least 84 states make an explicit reference to housing rights in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Informal Sector
An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countries, it is sometimes stigmatized as troublesome and unmanageable. However, the informal sector provides critical economic opportunities for the poor and has been expanding rapidly since the 1960s. Integrating the informal economy into the formal sector is an important policy challenge. In many cases, unlike the formal economy, activities of the informal economy are not included in a country's gross national product (GNP) or gross domestic product (GDP). However, Italy has included estimates of informal activity in their GDP calculations since 1987, which swells their GDP by an estimated 18% and in 2014, a number of European countries formally changed their GDP calculations to include prostitution and narcotics sales in their official GDP s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affordable Housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and a number of forms that exist along a continuum – from emergency homeless shelters, to transitional housing, to non-market rental (also known as social or subsidized housing), to formal and informal rental, indigenous housing, and ending with affordable home ownership. Demand for affordable housing is generally associated with a decrease in housing affordability, such as rent increases, in addition to increased homelessness. Housing choice is a response to a complex set of economic, social, and psychological impulses. For example, some households may choose to spend more on housing because they feel they can afford to, while others may not have a choice. Increases in any housing supply (wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single-family Detached Home
A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions The definition of this type of house may vary between legal jurisdictions or statistical agencies. The definition, however, generally includes two elements: * Single-family (home, house, or dwelling) means that the building is usually occupied by just one household or family and consists of just one dwelling unit or suite. In some jurisdictions, allowances are made for basement suites or accessory dwelling units without changing the description from "single-family". It does exclude, however, any short-term accommodation (hotel, motels, inns), large-scale rental accommodation ( rooming or boarding houses, apartments), or condominia. * Detached (house, home, or dwelling) means that the building does not share walls with other ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accessory Dwelling Unit
A secondary suite (also known as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), in-law apartment, granny flat, granny annex or garden suite) is a self-contained apartment, cottage, or small residential unit that is located on a property that has a separate main, single-family home, duplex, or other residential unit. In some cases, the ADU or in-law is attached to the principal dwelling or is an entirely separate unit, located above a garage, across a carport, or in the backyard on the same property. Reasons for wanting to add a secondary suite to a property may be to receive additional income, provide social and personal support to a family member, or obtain greater security. Description Background Naming conventions vary by time-period and location but secondary suites can also be referred to as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), mother-in-law suite, granny flat, coach house, laneway house, Ohana dwelling unit, granny annexe, granny suite, in-law suite, and accessory apartment. The prevalenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Neuwirth
Robert Neuwirth is an American journalist, author, and investigative reporter. He wrote '' Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World'', a book describing his experiences living in squatter communities in Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul and Mumbai. His articles have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', ''Forbes'', ''The Nation'', and ''Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...''. His second book, ''Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy'', was published in 2011. In this book Neuwirth joins globe-trotting Nigerians who sell Chinese cell phones and laid-off San Franciscans who use Twitter to market street food and learns that the people who work in informal economies are entrepreneurs who provide essential s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Disaster
An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is defined as a catastrophic event regarding the natural environment that is due to human activity.Jared M. Diamond, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', 2005 This point distinguishes environmental disasters from other disturbances such as natural disasters and intentional acts of war such as nuclear bombings. Environmental disasters show how the impact of humans' alteration of the land has led to widespread and/or long-lasting consequences. These disasters have included deaths of wildlife, humans and plants, or severe disruption of human life or health, possibly requiring migration. Some environmental disasters are the trigger source of more expansive environmental conflicts, where effected groups try to socially confront the actors responsible for the disaster. Environmental disasters Environmental disasters have historically affected agriculture, wildlife biodiversity, the economy, and human health. The most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
