Resource information
Informal settlements are a permanent
feature of South Africa's cities. Estimates from the
General Household Survey by Statistics South Africa show
that more than 26 percent of all households in the
country's six metropolitan areas live in informal
dwellings. The government's policy efforts have focused
on provision of subsidized housing, first introduced as part
of the Reconstruction and Development Program. Through the
lens of new urbanism and coordination in planning this paper
explores the possible impact of the program using data from
the General Household Survey. The analysis of the
program's beneficiaries relative to non-beneficiaries
does not show that public housing provision has multiplier
effects in terms of complementary private investments in
housing maintenance or in upgrading. This is likely because
Reconstruction and Development Program housing is often far
from employment centers, with the houses built in the
"old" apartheid locations that are disconnected
from employment centers. In addition, households do not
receive title deeds and are not allowed to rent out these
dwelling. On the demand side, the authors carried out a
small sample survey in Cape Town and find that, on a per
hectare basis, shack dwellers are paying around the same for
access to land as can be found in the up-scale market for
undeveloped land. However, land zoning regulations and
subdivision laws do not allow supply of small plots that are
compatible with the affordability of poor households.
