How to address informality
Successful new schemes are demand-led. Until the mid-1990s, many upgrading schemes were developed in locations far from jobs to reduce land costs and so overlooking settlers’ priorities. Cost recovery calculations that ignore the economic reality of low-income groups may lead to infrastructure standards which are too expensive.114 In such cases, intended beneficiaries may be inclined to sell or rent and return to informal settlements. Effective site and services schemes would benefit from skilled municipal personnel to run demand-led designs in close partnership with affected communities.
Provide access to areas of opportunity Accessibility is essential for anticipatory schemes. Laying out a grid of major arterial roads and well-designed streets that are continuous and connected to the existing city network creates economic opportunity, and is central in the integration of informal settlements in the city’s urban fabric. Spacing major arteries one kilometre from each other will ensure that future public transit is within a 10-minute walk radius of any single city location. Arteries’ widths of between 20 and 30 metres can accommodate car traffic, dedicated bus lanes, bike lanes and pedestrian paths.115 Mixed land use policies shorten the distance to jobs. Transport to employment centres, either formal or informal, may be costly and can impose a heavy toll on households getting minimum wages. Adopting mixed-used zoning standards will tend to bring together jobs and services and thus reduce the need to commute. Industrial policy in Delhi in India allows 73 different types of household industries, which need permits to operate. Businesses benefit from the availability of labour in informal areas and residents benefit from local jobs.116
New housing scheme in Uberlandia, Brazil © UN-Habitat/Alessandro Scotti
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