Informal Settlement (ABPL90425)

Informal settlement is a process of citizen-driven architecture, urban design and planning that has become the primary form of urban development in cities of the global South. It is a mode of urban production that operates without state authorization yet always in complex relations with formal state control. This subject will provide an introduction to the theories and practices of informal settlement together with a critique of various modes of professional engagement with the challenges of upgrading substandard conditions. The class will engage with the following questions and issues:

• where do informal settlements emerge in relation to the formal city and why?
• How are informal settlements designed and planned in terms of street/laneway networks, building typologies, density, functional mix and public space?
• How are informal settlement practices and forms geared to the livelihoods of the urban poor in terms of informal transport and street trading?
• How does informal settlement relate to sub-standard outcomes including tenure insecurity, services, overcrowding and overdevelopment.
• What professional engagements with upgrading and redevelopment practices are possible.

This is a fundamentally interdisciplinary subject that connects architecture, urban design and planning with landscape, property and construction. There will be scope for students to explore disciplinary specific topics within the subject.