Informal Settlements in Developing Countries: Issues, Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Professionals in the built environment as well as governments of most developing countries have had to challenge the problem of the  proliferation of informal settlements in recent years. The inner core of informal settlements is mostly affected, while the peri-urban slums  are inflicted with the absence of social services and infrastructure, uncontrolled development, and substandard housing sector.  The rate and geometric proportion of population growth and explosion in urban cities have given rise to several informal settlements  springing up in major urban centers in developing countries, especially in Africa. Most African cities are characterised by unequal  development, owing to the growth of informal settlements. A greater percentage of the African population resides in urban centers, with  the expectation that about 66% of the world’s population will live in urban centers by the year 2050! The United Nations termed a  megacity as a continuously urbanised area with a population of at least 10 million people, most major cities of Africa fall into this bracket.  With this assertion, the development of informal settlements in these urban cities is a great expectation, as continuous rural-urban drift  is a major factor. The aim of this study is to examine the different reasons for the creation or emergence of informal settlements in urban  cities, especially in Africa with Lagos as a focal point, and to weigh efforts of successive governments to mitigate, manage and  improve or renew informal settlements.