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D. Vanegas and M. Bose
community are deemed worthwhile and remain an important goal of policy and
planning (Dempsey et al. 2011).
RS is a holistic measure of the extent to which residents perceive a sense of
contentment or even enjoyment of the environment in which they live, which includes
their neighborhood and community. Thus, a high level of RS is a prerequisite for the
sustainability of a community and provides a basis for identifying collective aspects
of social life that are worth preserving and promoting.
2.3 Neighborhood Origin
Urban form is a result of a complex synthesis of factors that vary in terms of relative
weight and thereby make every city unique. In developing countries, a tendency
toward rapid urbanization entails informal occupation and development of large
parts of the city in the form of slums, shanty towns, barrios, or favelas (UN-Habitat
2004). Referred to as informal settlements, these areas are unplanned, consist of
unauthorized housing and, therefore, usually lack adequate basic services and/or are
located in hazardous areas. Most of these informal settlements house low-income
populations with limited access to city services (water, public transportation, health)
and opportunities (employment, cultural activities).
However, low-income populations in cities of developing countries also live in
housing produced and delivered through the formal sector. Many cities have moved
from state to private housing provision such that low-income housing has become
another tier in the housing market (Hardoy and Satterthwaite 2014). Others have
implemented a mixed strategy through land banks (city owned) and private construction companies with subsidies for both buyers and developers (Hardoy and
Satterthwaite 2014). Regardless of the strategy, the idea is to regulate and formalize
housing production and delivery to keep city growth under control and within planning constraints while fulfilling the goal of providing safe and adequate housing to
low-income groups.
The assumption from the city-planning perspective is that formal housing delivery
is preferable because it guarantees the provision of public services, controlled land
allocation for public and private use in neighborhoods, controlled density, adequate
land use mix, and overall alignment with the vision for the city and the policies
associated with it. However, given the high percentage of neighborhoods developed
as informal housing in the cities of developing countries, it is not feasible to replace all
informal settlements with formal housing. Yet, we are not advocating for the informal
development of cities. Instead, we see that neighborhoods of formal origin and those
of informal origin differ in terms of what they provide as residential environments
and that these differences are worth examining from the perspective of the residents.
Overall, we are pursuing this line of inquiry to achieve a better understanding of the
nuances of formal and informal neighborhoods, thereby providing a basis to help
cities more effectively address the challenge of becoming more sustainable than is
presently the case.
D. Vanegas and M. Bose
community are deemed worthwhile and remain an important goal of policy and
planning (Dempsey et al. 2011).
RS is a holistic measure of the extent to which residents perceive a sense of
contentment or even enjoyment of the environment in which they live, which includes
their neighborhood and community. Thus, a high level of RS is a prerequisite for the
sustainability of a community and provides a basis for identifying collective aspects
of social life that are worth preserving and promoting.
2.3 Neighborhood Origin
Urban form is a result of a complex synthesis of factors that vary in terms of relative
weight and thereby make every city unique. In developing countries, a tendency
toward rapid urbanization entails informal occupation and development of large
parts of the city in the form of slums, shanty towns, barrios, or favelas (UN-Habitat
2004). Referred to as informal settlements, these areas are unplanned, consist of
unauthorized housing and, therefore, usually lack adequate basic services and/or are
located in hazardous areas. Most of these informal settlements house low-income
populations with limited access to city services (water, public transportation, health)
and opportunities (employment, cultural activities).
However, low-income populations in cities of developing countries also live in
housing produced and delivered through the formal sector. Many cities have moved
from state to private housing provision such that low-income housing has become
another tier in the housing market (Hardoy and Satterthwaite 2014). Others have
implemented a mixed strategy through land banks (city owned) and private construction companies with subsidies for both buyers and developers (Hardoy and
Satterthwaite 2014). Regardless of the strategy, the idea is to regulate and formalize
housing production and delivery to keep city growth under control and within planning constraints while fulfilling the goal of providing safe and adequate housing to
low-income groups.
The assumption from the city-planning perspective is that formal housing delivery
is preferable because it guarantees the provision of public services, controlled land
allocation for public and private use in neighborhoods, controlled density, adequate
land use mix, and overall alignment with the vision for the city and the policies
associated with it. However, given the high percentage of neighborhoods developed
as informal housing in the cities of developing countries, it is not feasible to replace all
informal settlements with formal housing. Yet, we are not advocating for the informal
development of cities. Instead, we see that neighborhoods of formal origin and those
of informal origin differ in terms of what they provide as residential environments
and that these differences are worth examining from the perspective of the residents.
Overall, we are pursuing this line of inquiry to achieve a better understanding of the
nuances of formal and informal neighborhoods, thereby providing a basis to help
cities more effectively address the challenge of becoming more sustainable than is
presently the case.