Informal settlements

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Informal settlements are usually comprised of vulnerable populations and experience greater disaster damages. These resources analyse how these settlements exacerbate risk and management efforts.

Informal street vendor in an African country
For low-income residents in African cities, the COVID-19 pandemic has often been experienced less as a health crisis and more in terms of the devastating socioeconomic, political and violent impacts arising from lockdown measures and other responses.
African Cities Research Consortium
Township in South Africa. Soweto in Johannesburg.
Informal settlements around the world have the least developed infrastructure, yet they continue to come together to build their resilience to shocks and disasters.
Flood Resilience Portal
Informal settlements around the world have the least developed infrastructure, yet they continue to come together to build their resilience to shocks and disasters.
Global Resilience Partnership
Aerial view of a greened Dar es Saalam informal settlement
The study suggests that increasing temperatures under climate change are likely to be a significant risk to human health in Africa, as many cities may have similar features as Dar es Salaam, increasing the heat vulnerability of informal settlements.
Conversation Media Group, the
Workers return to a damaged road after floods in Durban
A geographical information system on its own is not able to explain human factors behind flood vulnerability. South Africa’s laws make provision for using indigenous knowledge in reducing flood risk. But the use of this approach is still relatively low.
Conversation Media Group, the
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2022
This study, examines what factors and methods make participatory flood risk mapping (PFRM) an effective participatory disaster risk reduction (DRR) tool.
International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Informal Township outside Cape Town, South Africa.
Flooding is common in informal settlements in Bwaise, in Kampala, Uganda. Bwaise’s residents are largely excluded from planning and local decision-making processes, and have poor housing and limited access to sanitation and other essential services.
Conversation Media Group, the
Cover
2022
The current study developed a novel gender-specific Women’s Coastal Vulnerability Index (WCVI) to assess the impact of coastal disasters on women and their preparedness in Vijayawada, India.
Sustainability (MDPI)
Ida Gabrielsson
Organisations like Mahila Housing Trust and Slum Dwellers International work with women to design safe, resilient housing solutions.
2020

This brief sets out key considerations for protecting informal urban settlements from the spread and impacts of COVID-19. There is heightened concern about these settings because of the combination of population density and limited infrastructure.With 1

Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform