This paper explores what a just urban transition approach to informal settlement upgrading looks like. It draws on research and dialogues with various stakeholders involved in informal settlement upgrading and climate resilience, including residents living in informal settlements, emphasising the principle of ‘nothing about us without us'. The paper gives further impetus and meaning to the social compact underpinning informal settlement upgrading. It explores whether – and under what conditions – alternative service delivery models and technologies can advance human rights. The paper also examines the complexities of land access and spatial justice, including the possible relocation of settlements deemed uninhabitable or environmentally sensitive. Furthermore, building on the centrality of livelihoods, jobs and the local economy in a just transition-type approach, it considers how upgrading policy and practice can be reorientated to give greater impetus to this dimension. Attention is also given to governance, capabilities, partnerships and resourcing for this new orientation towards informal settlement upgrading.