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Tenure and Vulnerability: the Effects of Changes to Tenure Security on the Identity and Social Relationships of the Urban Poor

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Tenure and Vulnerability: the Effects of Changes to Tenure Security on the Identity and Social Relationships of the Urban Poor TENURE AND VULNERABILITY: THE EFFECTS OF CHANGES TO TENURE SECURITY ON THE IDENTITY AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE URBAN POOR BY KAMNA PATEL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM OCTOBER 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Directed by the Millennium Development Goal to improve the lives of at least 100 million ‘slum’ dwellers by 2020, national governments and development agencies are driving policy to upgrade and formalise informal settlements. This study is an investigation into the effects of in situ upgrade and formalisation on the vulnerability and resilience of the urban poor in Durban, South Africa. The study examines the relationships between tenure and vulnerability by identifying and exploring how changes to tenure security, introduced through the upgrade process, affect individuals’ exposure to risk and ability to cope, and the ways in which identity and social relations influence those effects. The data are drawn from twenty-four ethnographies of residents living in three low income settlements in/around Durban each at different stages in the upgrade process. The findings of the study show that many residents are better off following an upgrade – ownership claims are better protected, they are more comfortable in their homes and able to improve livelihoods. However, these security and resilience gains are undermined by the high levels of crime and violence that continue post-upgrade and affect the desirability of a location and the ability of people to live there. Furthermore, the manner in which the process is implemented reconfigures local power relations, without meaningfully altering them; thus continuing to tie residents’ wellbeing to social rules administered by informal institutions. These findings challenge conceptualisations of ‘tenure security’ and the conventional orthodoxy of upgrading. DEDICATION For my family - Jayprakash, Bhadra and Jigna For their boundless encouragement, love and support ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Having grown up in inner-city London my earliest memories are of how dichotomous cities can be. I shopped in the numerous pound shops on Kilburn High Road and lived in social housing until my parents were afforded an opportunity to buy their ex-council flat at a much reduced rate under the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme. Following their homeownership, we still lived in Kilburn, we still shopped in pound shops, and my mother was still mugged on our doorstep. On a parallel road in West Hampstead I would see (mostly) white people drinking coffee outside fancy-looking cafes on wicker chairs at solid pine tables; less than half a mile away was a different world. For a while, to drink coffee on the pavement outside of a fancy cafe was the height of my childhood aspirations. I did not know it, but I shared many of the thoughts and dreams with the people I went on to interview who lived almost 15,000km away in Durban. I only know this because twenty-four people who I had never met before allowed me and my questions into their lives. They were patient, gracious and welcoming; and I am indebted to them. I am particularly indebted to Thoko, Nkosi and Mrs. Jiani - three of the best research assistants and friends I could have hoped for. I am also indebted to Dr. Philip Amis and Professor Carole Rakodi, without their supervision, guidance and support, the completion of this thesis would not be possible. I am grateful for their insightful comments which challenged and strengthened not only the arguments within this thesis but almost all my thoughts and opinions on urban land and housing. I am also appreciative of the academic support I received while a visitor at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in particular Professor Brij Maharaj, Professor Vishnu Padayachee, Glen Robbins and Professor Richard Ballard for their very warm welcome and guidance. I am grateful to the Economic Social and Research Council (ESRC) for funding this study, which enabled me to be a part of the stimulating and exciting environment here in the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. My deepest gratitude is reserved for my family – my parents, Jigna, Heymang and especially Rohan and Kian who provided the most welcome distractions throughout this otherwise isolating process. And also to Lee Rensimer, whose pillar of support is made of steel. As he embarks on his own PhD, I hope to reciprocate the levels of encouragement, energy and drive he has given me. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms and Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... iv Glossary ....................................................................................................................................... v Maps ....................................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The research topic and relevance of the study ................................................................... 1 1.1.1 International trends in urban poverty alleviation ................................................................ 1 1.1.2 South African approaches to informal settlements ............................................................. 5 1.2 Research aim and objectives ........................................................................................... 12 1.3 The research questions ................................................................................................... 13 1.4 Scope of the study .......................................................................................................... 14 1.5 Structure of the thesis .................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................................... 17 2.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Informal settlements ...................................................................................................... 18 2.1.1 The constituents of an ‘informal’ settlement .................................................................... 19 2.1.2 The residents of an informal settlement ............................................................................ 21 2.1.3 Order and disorder in informal settlements ...................................................................... 24 2.2 Tenure security and insecurity ........................................................................................ 27 2.2.1 A neo-liberal approach to tenure security and insecurity ................................................. 28 2.2.2 Neo-customary approaches to tenure security and insecurity .......................................... 33 2.3 Identity and social relations in urban spaces.................................................................... 37 2.3.1 Urban African identities ..................................................................................................... 39 2.3.2 Social relations in urban informal settlements .................................................................. 44 2.3.3 The maintenance of social relationships ............................................................................ 46 2.3.4 The breakdown of social relationships ............................................................................... 48 2.4 Vulnerability and resilience in urban spaces .................................................................... 50 2.4.1 From income-based poverty analysis ................................................................................. 50 2.4.2 Asset vulnerability framework ........................................................................................... 52 2.4.3 Chronic poverty and vulnerability ...................................................................................... 55 2.4.4 Livelihood systems and vulnerability ................................................................................. 56 2.4.5 Wellbeing and vulnerability ............................................................................................... 58 2.4.6 Asset vulnerability framework revisited ............................................................................ 60 2.5 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................
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