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.

The project was funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI). 

Isandla Institute has made submission into the draft White Paper for Human Settlements, which is currently out for public comment. The White Paper has been promised for almost a decade (since 2015), so its release has been highly anticipated. The current draft has many flaws and, in our view, represents a missed opportunity in guiding the human settlements sector to respond effectively to new realities and stubborn problems. One of the inclusions we are calling for is a policy position on self-build as an official housing programme, which includes the institutionalisation of local housing support centres and a commitment to developing a public funding mechanism for those unable to leverage (sufficient) private funds. You can read our submission here.

If you are a municipal practitioner wishing to engage with informal settlement communities about upgrading decisions to drive a just urban transition, then this tool is for you. Geared towards climate resilience and addressing vulnerabilities and social exclusion experienced by informal settlement residents, a just urban transition involves novel approaches to informal settlement upgrading and challenges municipalities (and other potential partners) to work differently with informal settlement communities. Informed by informal settlement communities, this tool provides ideas and considerations on how you can approaching complex decision-making deliberatively, with communities.

The project was funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).

Informal settlements are often viewed in light of the nexus of vulnerability to climate change and the development challenge they represent. An opportunity to upgrade thousands of informal settlements in a decarbonised manner is presented as a central thrust of the government’s just urban transition framework. This comes at a time when national government has shifted its priority focus from formal housing provision to informal settlement upgrading. In reality, upgrading is hampered by technical, finance and governance challenges. Currently, there is little understanding – either amongst practitioners, or at grassroots level – of what a “just urban transition” means, let alone how this will affect informal settlement upgrading.

This concept note draws on a range of perspectives from people who had either been involved in developing the PCC’s “just urban transition” strategy, climate science, environmental justice, or those with specialist knowledge and experience in informal settlement upgrading. They were asked to reflect on what it could mean for South Africa’s progressive informal settlement upgrading agenda. This document aims to inform discussions and debate towards the co-creation of an (emerging) approach to informal settlement upgrading that embeds the principles and modalities of a just urban transition.

The project was funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).

Amid the growing discourse around self-build, especially in the context of fiscal constraints and the de-prioritisation of new large-scale public housing projects, there is an opportunity for self-build to be enabled and supported through Housing Support Centres, to tap into latent willingness and agency of communities for incremental top-structure consolidation. Based on the Enhanced People’s Housing Process (EPHP) as a local self-build precedent, and other examples of current and proposed models for support centres, both locally and in other global South locations (Brazil and India), Isandla Institute has proposed a municipal-led Housing Support Centre model that could provide a variety of possible housing support needs across different housing/settlement typologies, in partnership with provinces, NGOs, the private sector, and academic institutions. For more details, see an animation and proposition paper here, which are distilled from a  longer research paper (see here), as well as this comic book which was generated from the animation.

In 2022 Isandla Institute, supported by a number of civil society partners, produced a joint civil society submission, which addressed four key areas of intervention which we believe start to address some of the significant challenges facing the backyard housing market. These key areas include access to basic services for backyard residents living on both public and private land; tenure (in)security for both landlords and backyard residents; enabling the right to self-build as an integral part of the right of access to housing; and, the importance of promoting safe neighbourhoods through an area-based violence prevention approach. For more details, see the civil society submission here and an animation that distils the main arguments, as well as this comic book which was generated from the animation.

In 2023, Isandla Institute deepened its work on technical and financial support for self-build by developing a proposed institutional design for Housing Support Centres . This paper examines the financial implications for self-build. It builds on the premise that self-build is part of the right of access to housing and that as such, the state must take reasonable steps, including financial assistance to enable any sustainable form of self-build to those who require financial assistance. It examines whether there is any support for self-build in the current subsidy scheme for those who often fall within the cracks of current state programmes. It further examines if the fiscus supports the current and growing demand in the context of an anticipated increase in demand. Finally, it touches on the requirements for institutionalising and administering public financial assistance to this particular segment of the population, given that it requires a change in thinking and operational requirements to ensure that any administrative system is accessible and fit for purpose.

In 2022, Isandla Institute investigated  how self-build can be enabled and supported through of Housing Support Centres (HSCs), inspired by the local EPHP housing support centre precedent and other Global South self-build initiatives. This paper draws on the research and arguments developed previously by developing a model for the institutionalisation HSCs. This, in turn will lay the basis for policy advocacy around the uptake of the model in local, provincial and national policy and programmes. It covers the rationale for HSCs, the municipal benefits of implementing an HSC model, what HSCs will do and what shape and form they can take, and the role for communities and intended beneficiaries in HSCs. The implications for municipal capacity and resources, funding sources, governance arrangements, the role of non-government stakeholders, and the role of provincial and national government in creating an enabling environment for HSCs are also covered. Ultimately, a national HSC policy framework and support is needed to guide municipalities (and an adequate self-build subsidy funding for those with lowest incomes); the piloting of the HSC model in different municipalities, responding to different human settlements contexts and needs; and lastly, multi-stakeholder engagement with and refinement of the proposed model.

Municipalities often overlook backyard residents in their provision of free basic services which are funded by the equitable share. Isandla Institute did research on the implications of extending water and sanitation infrastructure to backyard residents in 2022. The case study undertaken on waste management in 2023 builds on the advocacy arguments around including backyard residents in free basic service provision as well as in respect of other public amenities and services such as policing, access to health care, early childhood centres, libraries etc. It examines the challenges and opportunities in facilitating the extension of the service to all indigent residents in under-serviced areas. It also examines the high societal, health and environmental costs of failing to provide services. With examples from practise, it briefly touches on some of the multiple interventions which may not be as resource-intensive but which are capable of yielding significant positive impacts both in the short, medium and long-term in the context of refuse removal initiatives. Waste management is the one basic service that provides entry points for diverse local economic development and employment opportunities.