ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND LAND MANAGEMENT Sixty-ninth session Geneva, 22–23 September 2008 Informal notice 1 Item 6 of the provisional agenda ENGLISH ONLY UNEDITED DRAFT In Search for Sustainable Solutions for Informal Settlements in the ECE Region: Challenges and Policy Responses *This study is based on the research conducted by experts and the Secretariat The main author is Sasha Tsenkova, University of Calgary, Faculty of Environmental Design Contributing authors are Anna Badyina, the University of Oxford, School of Geography and Chryssy Potsiou, National Technical University of Athens Table of Contents Table of Contents................................................................................................................... 2 List of Boxes, Tables, and Figures ......................................................................................... 3 Boxes................................................................................................................................. 3 Tables ................................................................................................................................ 3 Figures............................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary............................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Why do Informal Settlements Matter for Public Policy? Social Inequality and the Risk for Sustainable Urban Development........................................................................... 9 1.2. Addressing the Challenges of Informal Settlements: a Call for Action .................... 9 1.3. Purpose, Structure and Objectives of the Report ................................................... 11 1.4. Methodology and References................................................................................ 12 1.5. Types of Informal Settlements: Working Definitions............................................ 13 2. Factors Influencing the Development of Informal Settlements...................................... 15 2.1. Economic and Social Change ............................................................................... 15 2.2. Urban Change: Urbanization and Migration.......................................................... 16 2.3. The Crisis of Displaced People and Refugees ....................................................... 18 3. The Phenomenon of Informal Settlement Formation in the ECE Region....................... 19 3.1. Spatial Manifestation and Formation Processes .................................................... 20 3.1.1. Squatter settlements.......................................................................................... 20 3.1.2. Settlements for vulnerable groups..................................................................... 22 3.1.3. Upgraded squatter settlements .......................................................................... 23 3.1.4. Illegal subdivisions........................................................................................... 25 3.1.5. Substandard inner city housing (slums)............................................................. 26 3.2. Location and Size................................................................................................. 27 4. The Economic, Social and Environmental Challenges of Informal Settlements............. 29 4.1. The Economic Challenges .................................................................................... 29 4.2. The Social and Environmental Challenges............................................................ 31 5. Changes in Governance and Informal Settlement Formation ........................................ 34 5.1. Constraints in the Land Management and Registration System ............................. 36 5.2. Constraints in the Planning and Approval System................................................. 38 5.3. Constraints in the Housing Provision System........................................................ 42 6. Towards inclusive urban development: An opportunity to be seized............................. 46 6.1. Regularisation and Legalisation............................................................................ 47 6.2. Regularization and Upgrading .............................................................................. 52 6.3. Resettlement and Reallocation: an Issue for Public Housing................................. 57 6.4. Alternative Housing Systems for Informal Settlements: Enabling Environment for Communities and Self-Provision of Housing.................................................................... 61 6.5. Addressing the Challenge of Substandard Inner City Housing: Urban Renewal and Regeneration Strategies.................................................................................................... 62 7. Concluding Comments................................................................................................. 66 8. Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future: Issues for the Policy Dialogue ............. 67 References ........................................................................................................................... 69 Statistical Annex.................................................................................................................. 74 2 List of Boxes, Tables, and Figures Boxes Box 1: Informal Settlements in Tirana.................................................................................. 21 Box 2: Housing Exclusion: the Case of Roma Communities ................................................ 22 Box 3: The Housing Crisis of Refugees and Displaced People in Azerbaijan ....................... 22 Box 4: Upgrading Informal Settlements: Kalugerica ............................................................ 24 Box 5: Illegal Subdivisions in Naples................................................................................... 25 Box 6: Slums and Unsanitary Informal Housing Settlements in Belgrade............................. 27 Box 7: Illegal Subdivision Transformed into Suburb: Pitesti ................................................ 28 Box 8: Provision of Social Infrastructure and Community Facilities in Kamza..................... 32 Box 9: The Environmental Challenges in the Peri-Urban Areas of Bishkek.......................... 33 Box 10: Planning and Land Management Constraints .......................................................... 35 Box 11: Planning Constraints in Montenegro ....................................................................... 39 Box 12: Difficulties in Copying with Illegal Construction in Georgia................................... 41 Box 13: Council of Europe Bank: Social Housing Projects................................................... 45 Box 14: Legalization of Illegal Construction in Informal Settlements in Croatia and Armenia ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Box 15: Legalisation in Tirana............................................................................................. 49 Box 16: Legalizing Informal Settlements in the Context of Rapid Urbanization in Turkey ... 50 Box 17: Challenges in Legalizing Informal settlements THROUGH REGULARIZATION AND UPGRADING in Greece (usually in Greece there is not extended squatting on public or private land, so these projects do not include serious situations in terms of legal rights on land parcels) .................................................................................................. 53 Box 18: Regularization of the Gorica Settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina....................... 55 Box 19: Legalisation and Upgrading of Borgate in Rome .................................................... 56 Box 20: The Special Re-Housing Programme in Lisbon and Porto Metropolitan Areas........ 58 Box 21: Resettlement of C habolistas in Madrid with Active Angagement............................ 58 Box 22: Dutch Urban Regeneration: Focus on Deprived Neighbourhoods........................... 63 Box 23: Vienna’s Urban Renewal Program.......................................................................... 64 Tables Table 1: Refugees and Displaced Persons in the ECE Region............................................... 18 Table 2: Matrix of Informal Settlement Types...................................................................... 28 Table 3: Infrastructure Deficit in Informal Settlements in Tirana and Belgrade .................... 33 Figures Figure 1: Urbanization in UNECE Region, 2005.................................................................. 17 Figure 2: Informal Settlements in Belgrade .......................................................................... 23 Figure 3: New Informal Housing in Belgrade....................................................................... 29 Figure 4: Disadvantaged Groups in Belgrade ....................................................................... 31 Figure 5: Informal Housing in Greece after a Big Fires ........................................................ 34 Figure 6: Homeownership in the ECE Region, 2004 ............................................................ 43 Figure 7: Households Experiencing Financial