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A Coca-Cola sign outside a small town in Benin. Bloomberg’s new health initiative will support cities to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks, but this isn't the biggest health challenge facing low-income urban residents (Photo: Lorena Pajares, Creative Commons via Flickr)
Bloomberg and public health: did he get it right?
… of public health : piped water and good quality toilets in each home, functioning drains, paved roads and paths and household waste … today . Around a billion urban dwellers live in under-served informal settlements. They usually lack access to good quality healthcare and … ([email protected]) is a senior fellow in IIED's Human Settlements research group and visiting professor at the …
Insight, 07 June 2017
The UN estimates that a million Somalis were displaced during 2017. Many move to informal settlements on the fringes of the capital, Mogadishu (Photo: AMISOM Public Information via Wikimedia Commons)
Providing shelter in East African cities: what works?
… How do informal settlements come about in a city, and why do they form where they do? What other housing … when more than 4,000 people had their homes destroyed. A particular group of ' gatekeepers' has emerged – often former IDPs themselves, … Diane Archer ( [email protected] ) is senior researcher in IIED's Human Settlements research group . …
Insight, 22 February 2018
Ibadan, Nigeria, a city that has experienced devastating high winds and flooding (Photo: David Dodman/IIED)
How risk accumulates in African cities – and ways to break the cycle
… to stop the build-up.  What creates risk in low-income and informal settlements?  First, risk arises where a hazard occurs and people are … cities safe, inclusive and resilient, calls for a frank conversation about where the power lies to make a difference. These are challenging … David Dodman  ( [email protected] ) is director of IIED's  Human Settlements research group . …
Insight, 30 January 2017
The rice fields on outskirts of the city of Bandung, Java, Indonesia: urban areas often have damaging impacts on the areas around them (Photo: Ikhlasul Amal, Creative Commons via Flickr)
New publication looks at environmental impacts of urban areas
News, 16 March 2015
A view over a large township
Internal and international influences on urban change
… complaining to me about all the unemployed people living in informal settlements and how they should go back to what he assumed was their village home. So I asked him: "Do you have a maid?" Yes. "Do you have a cook?" … do.   We do not know how and when it will be under control and what human and economic costs are still to come, although we already see huge …
Insight, 27 May 2020
Community reblocking to improve settlement design and the quality of the neighbourhood in Namibia (Photo: Diana Mitlin/IIED)
Namibia shows how to support low cost housing
… need remains. Five years ago the federation surveyed Namibia's shack settlements in detail, documenting living conditions in 235 settlements … "We experienced so much resistance from other planning professionals about our ideas to set development levels that matched affordability. I … Mitlin ([email protected]) is a principal researcher with IIED's Human Settlements Group . …
Insight, 13 June 2014
Informal settlements in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. The World Bank estimates that some 29 million Indonesians live in urban areas with poor access to basic services (Photo: Axel Drainville, Creative Commons via Flickr)
Urban risks: where are the top five biggest blind spots?
… the lack of health data for the billion people living in informal settlements  No local records on many serious health problems. Surveys … how little we know : we have to start by admitting how little we know about the hazards facing much of the world's urban population, and thus …  ( [email protected] ) is a senior fellow in IIED's Human Settlements research group  and visiting professor at the …
Insight, 18 April 2017
The stylish modelling of the Singapore City skyline may not be appropriate for cities in Africa and could deepen social inequalities (Edwin.11: Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
Warning over race to reshape African cities as "urban fantasies"
… Vanessa Watson's paper,  Dr Gautam Bhan (from the Indian Institute of Human Settlements ) sees these plans as in part a yearning for a controlled … and Urbanization . " There is nothing smart nor sustainable about cities that ignore the needs of most of their citizens, including …
News, 13 January 2014
Street in Karachi, Pakistan with overflowing sewage.
The real issue is universal access to affordable basic services
… approximately 60% of the 20 million inhabitants live in informal settlements (“slums”); three-quarters of these people do not have access … are 50 people to one toilet seat. Nairobi’s informal settlements are home to at least 30% of the city’s population. On average, 71 people … In a low-density rural settlement, the local eco-system can process human waste, just as it would the wastes from animals in the vicinity, …
Insight, 14 August 2012
It is estimated that Mumbai has the largest slum population of any city in the world, with more than half of its 12 million people living in informal settlements (Photo: Jon Baldock, Creative Commons via Flickr)
Why we do 'slum' profiles
… to engage and support slum residents and their organisations to learn about their slum and the ward it is in. With clear maps and details of … blog was drawn from an interview with David Satterthwaite from IIED's Human Settlements Group .  …
Insight, 22 February 2016