Items tagged:
Informal settlements (slums)
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Lima's community-organised soup kitchens are a lifeline during COVID-19
In Lima’s informal settlements, ollas comunes – community-led soup kitchens – are reviving strong traditions of self-organised crisis response and resilience among the urban poor.
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Bringing urban refugees into local planning
Can we move from emergency to developmental response to the large and growing numbers of refugees living in urban areas by bringing them into local planning processes?
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Working with informality for more resilient, equitable responses to COVID-19
In this second report in our series setting out key lessons from the coronavirus pandemic, we highlight the need for COVID-19 responses that work with the informal sector
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Emerging lessons from community-led COVID-19 responses in urban areas
In the first of a new IIED series setting out key lessons from the coronavirus epidemic, we look at how community organisations in urban areas mobilised to respond to the crisis
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COVID-19, JAGA Mission and the value of already existing solutions
Guest blogger Antarin Chakrabarty reflects on one Indian state’s successful programme to provide work and incomes to migrants, enabling a rapid and efficient government response when crises such as COVID-19 hit
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Karachi, informal settlements and COVID-19
How our Karachi's informal settlements managing the COVID-19 lockdown and how can existing government structures support the city’s settlements during the COVID-19 recovery, and beyond
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Transitioning to a better global ‘new normal’
COVID-19 has changed our world. To mark Earth Day 2020, and the global call to act on climate change, we ask: what lessons can we apply from the pandemic response to help tackle other global crises, including the climate emergency?
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COVID-19: on the front line where crisis meets normal
It is time for the development community to rethink its attitude to risk. COVID-19 shows the need to challenge vertical hierarchies and top-down responses to global crises
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Dealing with COVID-19 in the towns and cities of the global South
Diana Mitlin looks at the particular challenges the COVID-19 outbreak will pose to people living in informal settlements, what steps can be taken to reach the populations in need, and how community organisation networks can be supported to scale up their efforts
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Alternative data sources for cities and communities
In the latest in our series of blogs and interviews focusing on the transition to a predominantly urban world, David Satterthwaite looks at community-driven data collection and mapping
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Coronavirus threat looms large for low-income cities
Weak infrastructure would leave urban settlements in low-income countries highly vulnerable, should the rapid spread of COVID-19 continue
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City leaders need to rise to the climate change challenge
City leaders from around the world are meeting in Abu Dhabi for the 10th World Urban Forum on sustainable urbanisation (8-13 February). IIED director Andrew Norton and Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of UN-Habitat, highlight the need for leaders to work with residents of informal settlements in order to prepare for the impacts of climate change
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Q&A: blog series explores the transition to a predominantly urban world
IIED has launched a series of blogs that will examine different aspects of global urban change, including analysis of the social, political and environmental factors that cause cities to thrive or decline. David Satterthwaite highlights what to expect
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The transition to a predominantly urban world
This is a series of blogs and interviews, curated by IIED senior fellow David Satterthwaite, that will examine different aspects of global urban change, including analysis of the social, political and environmental factors that cause cities to thrive or decline.
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Haiti earthquake 10 years on – a new chapter in disaster response
A decade after the devastating Haiti earthquake, Lucy Earle reflects on the humanitarian response to the tragedy and its urban setting – and the lessons that have been learned for disaster response
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Planning for reality in one of Nairobi’s largest ‘slums’
High levels of participation and a readiness to reconsider conventional approaches have led to promising plans to upgrade the Mukuru informal settlement in Nairobi
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The rise of Nairobi’s concrete tenement jungle
Guest blogger Baraka Mwau describes how the transition to ‘low-cost’ rental housing in Nairobi is unfolding
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‘Participatory’ adaptation plans aren’t working for migrants in cities
A paper in the latest issue of the journal Environment and Urbanization highlights how urban plans for adapting to climate change often leave out migrant populations living in informal settlements. Guest bloggers Eric Chu and Kavya Michael call for a rethink.
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Unsmart, unsafe cities for informal workers: effective policy change will need better data
How can urban health policy be effective when the data on residents’ and workers’ leading causes of premature death, illness and injury is inadequate? A new project with partners in India seeks to fill the data gaps and support informal workers’ well-being
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The challenge of finding money to build shelter in Mogadishu’s informal settlements
Housing development in Mogadishu is overlooking and excluding its largest potential customer base: the poor
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Delivering climate finance at the local level: the Gungano Urban Poor Fund
The Gungano Fund provides loans to low income urban households that cannot access other financial services. The fund aims to develop a scalable and replicable housing finance model and partner with central and local government to upgrade informal settlements
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The Ethiopian informal settlement jigsaw puzzle: an opportunity to re-sort the pieces?
Informal settlements are increasingly housing Ethiopia’s growing population – laying bare gaps in policy that must be addressed
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Co-production in urban areas: evolving form, enduring presence
How far can ‘co-production’ improve the lives of the one in seven of the global population living in informal settlements without secure tenure or adequate access to services? Authors of the October 2018 issue of Environment and Urbanization tackle this question by analysing the potentials and shortcomings of co-production
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Addressing risks facing informal workers
IIED and partners are assessing the occupational, environmental and public health risks faced by workers in the informal economy. This project will also explore responses to these risks with workers in India, while also helping to build their resilience to climate change
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Is urban development too complicated for us?
Aid agency staff find it difficult to work in informal settlements. There is little or no data about their residents. For many, there are no maps or street names. There are often complex political struggles that frustrate development projects. But this can be addressed by working with grassroots organisations and federations – as they have the knowledge and it is their needs that aid is meant to be addressing
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Shelter provision in East African cities: understanding transformative politics for inclusive cities
This project ran from October 2017 to February 2020 and investigated systems of shelter provision in three East African cities – Nairobi in Kenya, Hawassa in Ethiopia and Mogadishu in Somalia – in order to generate new insights to inform more inclusive, affordable shelter interventions
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Global to local: supporting cities to meet the New Urban Agenda
The New Urban Agenda sets ambitious sustainability objectives for cities of all sizes. At the 9th World Urban Forum, IIED worked with local governments on how to deliver against the wide-ranging goals. Alexandra Norodom reflects on the power of inclusive processes
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Providing shelter in East African cities: what works?
Diane Archer introduces a new project that aims to identify the key determinants of access to shelter in East Africa's fast-growing urban areas
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A special approach to slum upgrading: the Special Planning Area in Mukuru, Nairobi
The idea of a Special Planning Area might not immediately be alluring. But for the residents of Mukuru, one of the largest 'slums' in Nairobi, this mundane phrase hides the potential for a radical transformation in their homes and lives
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Are impact investors missing a trick by overlooking local communities?
Guest blogger Katharina Neureiter explores whether impact investors are missing a trick by not engaging with community groups
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Financial inequalities; defining our age
A decade on from the global financial crisis, can the world's banks and financial institutions learn about value and values from grassroots savings schemes that help the world's lowest-income people?
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Ward diaries: crucial evidence for planning in Mumbai's slums
Jockin Arputham, the president of Slum/Shack Dwellers International and founder of the National Slum Dwellers Federation in India, explains how data from slums, gathered by slum dwellers themselves, is helping to provide vital services where they are needed most
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Co-producing urban innovation from the bottom up
Finding alternatives to eviction: Teresa Corcoran reports on how urban poor organisations are working with local authorities to make cities more inclusive and resilient
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Data that supports local development
Global goals and targets often rely on national data, but local data are needed to inform action on the ground and to monitor progress on the goals
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World Water Week 2016: key resources
With this year's World Water Week running from 28 August to 2 September in Stockholm, Sweden, IIED has collected a range of resources detailing its work on water issues
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Is community-based adaptation suited to cities?
In the week of the urban-themed 10th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation, we ask what is needed for this approach to succeed in urban spaces
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Where are the local indicators for the SDGs?
As discussions on the SDG indicators are under way in New York, David Satterthwaite asks where are the indicators that report on local needs and support local action in urban areas
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Why we do 'slum' profiles
Jockin Arputham, the founder of the National Slum Dwellers Federation in India, explains the benefits of developing a slum-dweller led strategy for securing land tenure and services
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Nourishing livelihoods: the food vendors sustaining Nairobi's slums
Selling food in Nairobi's informal settlements can provide cheap meals and create vital livelihoods, especially for women, but these providers are usually ignored and remain invisible
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A picture of urban living
What does the word 'urban' mean to you? Our photo gallery shows how we are working with partners to document and highlight the often neglected circumstances in low-income urban communities, and to advocate for change
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Building fairer food futures
Powerful images from Uganda and Indonesia highlight the importance of informal food vendors in the food systems of the rural and urban poor
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What might slum dwellers want from the SDGs?
Jockin Arputham has been fighting for the rights of slum dwellers for nearly 50 years. Ahead of World Habitat Day, he highlights what the Sustainable Development Goals could mean for slum dwellers
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Namibia's women lead the way in housing development
Persistence, celebration and the First Lady's help have turned around the fortunes of women's savings organisations helping to meet Namibia's housing needs
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Sanitation in informal settlements: a networked problem
Can understanding how people perceive sanitation help achieve sustainable access to sanitation in cities?
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Helping low-income groups in Karachi, Bangkok and Kathmandu to take advantage of urban density
IIED worked with local partners to seek out alternative routes to density, that don't force people to choose between being displaced to distant peripheries or being crowded into unhealthy "slums" or apartment blocks
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About the architecture of aid
How can decentralised finance drive sustainable development? A new interactive story produced by IIED's Human Settlements Group highlights successful examples from the global South
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References: how can decentralised finance drive sustainable development?
The interactive presentation on architecture of aid describes two powerful examples of international funds that have supported community-based organisations at scale – the Urban Poor Fund International and the Asian Coalition for Community Action. Here are the sources used
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Informal food vendors: urban food security's invisible experts
One in three urban citizens in Asia and Africa live in informal settlements. It’s time to consider their priorities when shaping urban food security policies.
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Local democracy as a substitute for data (and rather a good substitute too)
Why is there so little data on who faces poverty and where they live? David Satterthwaite examines why 'better' data is better than 'more' data
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World Toilet Day: People need equality and dignity when they 'have to go'
On World Toilet Day on 19 November, our photoblog details the work of IIED and its partners to tackle the fact that 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation
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Achieving universal sanitation: Sharing the experience of the SDI affiliate in Blantyre, Malawi
Achieving universal sanitation is a major challenge. A joint delegation from Malawi came to World Water Week in Stockholm to share their work on sanitation in the city of Blantyre
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Urban water and sanitation
With water and sanitation recognised as human rights, IIED has been working with local partners to identify how sanitation can be improved in deprived urban locations
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2008 Barbara Ward Lecture: Lindiwe Sisulu on managing relationships between the state and the urban poor
Lindiwe Sisulu looked at the often troubled relationship between the state and the urban poor when she delivered the 2008 Barbara Ward Lecture in London
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The Multidimensional Poverty Index: Another underestimate of urban poverty
Yet another global study has understated the scale and depth of urban poverty, by failing to appreciate the differences between rural and urban contexts
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Namibia shows how to support low cost housing
Around a quarter of Namibians live in informal urban neighbourhoods; they live without secure tenure and without adequate access to services. So how has the country gained its reputation for progressive state action on housing?
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If we don't count the poor, the poor don't count
Research in several countries shows how governments and development agencies undercount the scale and depth of urban poverty
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Wanted: Urban data revolution for post 2015 sustainable development goals
Around a billion people live in informal urban settlements that lack essential services and security, so the concerns of these people should be high on the agenda when agreeing a new set of sustainable development goals
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Co-learning for inclusive cities
Not so long ago in Zimbabwe, government officials and communities would have blamed each other for the poor state of high density, low-income neighbourhoods. But thanks to years of dialogue the two sides have come together.
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From slum-dwelling carpenter to US$1.25 million prize winner
There's a surprising name on the list of winners of this year's US$1.25 million Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship
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Up in the air: Citizen scientists map food dangers in Nairobi
A balloon, a camera and some interviews are helping researchers map a hidden aspect of food insecurity in an informal settlement in Nairobi
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Reducing risks to urban health and building climate resilience
Climate change, health and urban resilience are all connected, and this means research and policy in these arenas must join up
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Poorest urban children failed in disasters, says report
Disasters in Asia's megacities hit the poorest children hardest, a new report finds.
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Work and shelter – two struggles, one reality
Urban development programmes have tended to treat livelihoods and shelter as separate problems to solve, when in fact they are closely linked. Grassroots organisations are increasingly seeking ways to tackle these challenges together.
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Setting the bar too low: is there really progress on UN development goals?
The UN report on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals seems so at odds with realities on the ground, says David Satterthwaite.
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Slum-dwellers show that revolutions are not built in a day
Slum dwellers across Africa and Asia have used new tactics to achieve social justice and urban rights.
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More patience, less protest: the new politics of the urban poor
A new book shows how poor urban communities across Africa and Asia have developed powerful new approaches that have enabled millions of people to get better housing and services, and —beyond this — social justice and inclusion in political processes.
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TEDx Talk: A small change to aid, a big impact on urban poverty
One small change to how donors provide development aid could unlock the power of poor people in urban centres to address their own problems, says Dr David Satterthwaite, senior fellow in IIED’s Human Settlements Group.
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How does a changing climate impact on urban poverty?
When floods hit a city, usually low-income groups are hit hardest. The devastation that such disasters cause can be linked to the failure of city governments to manage growth and build infrastructure.
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The real issue is universal access to affordable basic services
Why have global leaders endorsed partial Millennium Development Goal targets, asks Diana Mitlin, leaving millions without water, sanitation or healthcare?
