Ximena Ocampo Aguilar

MSc City Design and Social Science SA4C6 International Housing and Human Settlements

How do poor housing areas both help and hinder urban development and urban economies?
When it comes to cities, it is very common to make general assumptions and create myths about their dynamics, especially when talking about formality informality dichotomies. The economic and social discourse of leaders and experts has usually addressed the subject trying to formalize informality through regulations and even through more aggressive physical interventions such as slum removals. However, this approach to informality has been fabricated without a proper understanding of how cities really work. Cases such as Mirpur in Dhaka and Orangi in Karachi illustrate how such reactions towards informal adaptation are very narrow; and when understood differently, it might become evident how slums and informality in general, exist as a very successful way of adaptation of the urban poor. Nevertheless, this phenomenon has been supported by ways of illegality that represent a big economic and political difficulty for governments in a larger scale. The history of Pakistani cities, exemplified by their slums is very revealing when it comes to this type of adaptation. Informality of every sort has had to cope the needs of an increasing population in lack of housing, employment, education and entertainment; for instance, Karachis population increased from 450,000 in 1947 to 1.137 million in 1951 (Hasan, 2002). Settlements like Orangi appear as an alternative of what the state has not been able to handle, given the population growth rates and its incapability to act as a proper welfare state. Houses have been built, private schools established and a sustainable society and economy has emerged; in Orangi township, there are 72 government schools and 682 private schools, most of which began as informal one-class affairs. Orangi has become one of the best-consolidated settlements of the city, with proper services like transportation, TV access, and high rates of employment and literacy. Through generations, population has been able to overcome many difficulties given the opportunities and accessibility; today, these are no longer purely working-class settlements and the younger generation living in them is overwhelmingly literate (Hasan, 2002). However, this entire phenomenon has been possible principally due to corruption and illegality. Of the 13,200 minibuses in Karachi, 6,000 are unregistered, and the minibus operators pay around US$ 13 million a year as

bribes to the city administration to use the roads as bus terminals, depots and workshops. Mirpur in the city of Dhaka is an example of adaptation as well. From being a nonconforming area, one built on a design alien to the rest of the city, bastuhara1 housing is now much more like the rest of the city. However, such example differs from Orangi since it was originally a formal settlement planned and constructed by the state; the scheme was intended to provide basic shelter for displaced persons, mainly refugees from Pakistan, but which conditions were far from ideal. As a way of improving these circumstances, the inhabitants started to transform their houses, the built-up area of bastuhara housing has doubled, basic services have been improved -according to official statistics, only 5 per cent of households in Mirpur have no toilet facilities (Tipple & Ameen , 1999) and where significant space is available, shops have been developed. All of these amendments have meant an increase in the value of the housing and helped contribute to an increased supply of cheap and relatively good quality rental accommodation-. Despite of this progress, government officials argue that the way in which it has occurred (informal and unplanned) is creating slums in an area of the city that was originally formal. The two cases presented above, show how, especially in third world countries, the population itself has had to come up with creative and spontaneous ideas in order to fulfil their needs and have a better way of living. Even though much of this phenomenon is possible due to corruption and illegality, it is also true that in many cases it is the only means for the poor to do well, or at least to survive. Government in such countries cannot provide with any other alternative or the alternative provided does not fulfil basic necessities like physical space, or access to services and employment-. In times when these governments are being encouraged to provide large amount of housing, due to rapid population growth, and to involve as many actors as possible in the housing process, the more informal ways of production appear to have many advantages for both the population and the state. A more subtle relation between formality and informality could help bridging the gap between the demand and available supply; if the right actors are involved, it could even mean having a more controlled construction of cities. Informality will never disappear since it is just a 1 The bastuhara (bastu=home, hara=less) scheme was proposed in 1972 as probably the first mass housing scheme for low-income groups in Bangladesh.

response to a big scarcity. However, in order to produce a win-win situation, more than just getting rid of slums, collaboration between all the actors involved is needed in order to push for more sustainable economies in cities.

References
Hasan, A. (2002). The changing nature of the informal sector in Karachi as a result of global restructuring and liberalization. International Institute for Environment and Development. Tipple, A., & Ameen , M. (1999). User initiated extension activity in Bangladesh: building slums or area improvement?