Mark Ward 8244329 Research Report ARPL7053A Self-help housing as an effective delivery mechanism to reduce the backlog: Research into self-help housing on state subsidised sites and services projects. A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Urban Studies in the field of Housing & Human Settlements. Johannesburg, 14 December 2022 i Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final DECLARATION I declare that this Research Report is my own unaided work. It is being submitted in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Urban Studies in the field of Housing & Human Settlements to the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination to any other University. Signature: _________________________ Date: 14 December 2022 ii Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final ABSTRACT By announcing a radical shift away from formal housing provision to an approach of sites and services, the South African Department of Human Settlements has opened-up the potential for self-help housing to be re-established as a way for the poor to access land and housing. In view of the extensive housing shortages and historical rejection of incrementalism and the limited implementation of the Peoples’ Housing Process (PHP) in post-apartheid South Africa, the research has set-out to investigate whether self-help by way of sites and services is a viable option to address the backlog. By reviewing literature and evaluating the anonymous answers to questionnaires from officials and community members, the research has attempted to find out how the approach will be implemented. In getting a wider understanding of the proposed sites and services approach, the research has found that state-assisted self-help housing is an effective delivery mechanism that can help the poor to take control of their housing needs. iii Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very thankful for the guidance of my supervisor, Neil Klug, for his invaluable assistance during the preparation of this report. Neil’s understanding of the topic has encouraged many aspects of the research to be questioned and taken into consideration. I am also very grateful to Professor Marie Huchzermeyer for her tremendous insight into housing and human settlements, both in South Africa and internationally. I would also like to thank the academic and administrative staff from the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand for their help during the course. Special thanks go to Ms. Taki Sithagu for her advice and to Ms. Siphokazi Makhaye for all the organising and administration and Ms. Lerato Nkosi for her assistance with the Ethics Application. My sincere appreciation goes to my fellow students for their assistance, support and reassurance during the course. Last, but not least, to my beloved family and friends. Your support is appreciated from the bottom of my heart. My girlfriend, Helena, has shown tremendous patience and encouragement, as has my son, Michael, who is also studying. iv Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES ix LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF ACRONYMS xi APPENDICES xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background 1 1.3 Problem Statement and Rationale 1 1.4 Objectives 2 1.5 Research Questions and Sub-Questions 2 1.6 Expected Findings 2 1.7 Research Methodology 3 1.7.1 Philosophy behind the Research 3 1.7.2 Research Approach 4 1.7.3 Research Strategy 4 1.7.4 Research Choices 4 1.7.5 Research Time Horizon 5 1.7.6 Research Techniques and Procedures 5 1.7.7 Limitations of the Research 5 1.8 Ethical Considerations 6 1.9 Outline of the Research Report 7 v Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8 2.1 Introduction 8 2.2 What is aided self-help? 8 2.3 History and origins of aided self-help housing 8 2.4 Peru’s influence on John Turner and assisted self-help 10 2.5 US support for aided self-help in Latin America 12 2.6 The World Bank’s funding for sites and services and its subsequent abandonment of the model 14 2.7 The opposing positions of John Turner and Rod Burgess: The ‘use value’ vs. the ‘exchange value’ 15 2.8 The Urban Foundation and IDT’s sites and services solution in South Africa prior to 1994 16 2.9 SA’s housing policy goes beyond sites and services at the NHF 18 2.10 Sites and services projects achieve success over time 18 2.11 Drawbacks of sites and services 20 2.12 Problems experienced with sites and services in Nigeria 22 2.13 Conceptual Framing 22 2.13.1 Rapid Land Release 23 2.13.2 Site and Service Housing 23 2.13.3 Self-Help 24 2.13.4 Sweat Equity 24 2.13.5 Incremental Housing 25 2.13.6 Differences (and similarities) between site and service and informal settlement upgrading 25 2.13.7 Security of tenure 26 2.13.8 Self-help and sites and services as ‘pro-poor’ housing strategies 27 2.13.9 Incremental housing as a workable solution 27 2.13.10 Prospects for incremental housing 27 vi Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 2.13.11 Standards for self-help housing 29 2.14 General steps in the subsidised housing development process 30 2.14.1 Project Inception: Pre-feasibility, integration of development objectives and applying for funding 30 2.14.2 Concept Design: Identifying, acquiring and planning the land 30 2.14.3 Detailed Design: Tender and construction: Self-Help (PHP) vs. Project- Linked 31 2.15 Brief overview of the evolution of state-assisted self-help housing in the post- apartheid era 32 2.16 Conclusion 34 CHAPTER 3: CONTEXT AND CASE STUDY 35 3.1 Introduction 35 3.2 Locality 36 3.3 Background to the Bottom Compound Informal Settlement 38 3.4 The context of the Draft Upgrading Plan (2018) and revised Settlement Plan (2021) for Bottom Compound in terms of housing policy and planning mechanisms 39 3.4.1 Incremental steps towards Housing Consolidation: Phases 1 to 4 of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) 40 3.4.2 Transitional Residential Settlement Areas and Annexure 9999 of Amendment Scheme 9999, June 2009 42 3.5 ‘Regularisation’ and ‘Internal Blocking’ as ways of establishing sites and services 43 3.6 Regularisation along the ‘Tenure Security Continuum’ 45 3.7 Bottom Compound: Category B1 upgrading with interim essential services and the Enhanced People’s Housing Process 47 3.8 ‘Access to the city’ for the poor via informal settlements, formal townships and sites and services 47 3.9 The Layout Plan for Bottom Compound 49 3.10 ‘Orderly urbanisation’ at Bottom Compound 53 vii Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 3.11 To fomalise or not to formalise? Grappling with informal settlements (and urban development) 57 3.12 Conclusion 58 CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS FROM THE FIELDWORK 60 4.1 Introduction 60 4.2 Analysis of the interview with Community Leaders at Bottom Compound 60 4.2.1 Background to the interview and the respondents 60 4.2.2 The affordability of self-help for the very poor and what should be included in a sites and services package? 61 4.2.3 Subsidy criteria and the question of non-qualifiers 62 4.2.4 Trust in the layout plan and the City of Johannesburg to reduce the backlog 63 4.2.5 Where should land be identified, what is needed by the community and acceptability of the approach? 63 4.2.6 Further assistance to build a top-structure and confirming the advantages of the approach 65 4.3 Analysis of the interviews with officials from the National Department of Human Settlements (DoHS), the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDoHS) and the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) 66 4.3.1 Sites and services is a work in progress: Reasons behind government’s change in approach and incorporating components of the PHP and the UISP into the strategy 66 4.3.2 Appropriate building densities, house typologies and stand sizes for sites and services 68 4.3.3 Who will be targeted in the new approach? 69 4.3.4 How many sites are to be delivered in the medium term and will the backlog be reduced? 69 4.3.5 Identifying suitable land and security of tenure 70 4.3.6 Difficulties in providing infrastructure, transport facilities and social & economic amenities on privately-owned land 71 4.3.7 Consultation with political parties, community leaders and the public: Will the sites and services approach be accepted? 72 viii Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 4.3.8 Ongoing support for constructing the house 73 4.3.9 Mechanisms to assist beneficiaries to construct top-structures 74 4.3.10 No compromising on technical specifications for sites and services 74 4.4. Discussion of key themes connected to self-help and sites and services 74 4.4.1 Affordable standards 74 4.4.2 A collective approach to funding for house construction 76 4.4.3 Public land must be made available for human settlements 77 4.4.4 Difficulties with delivery, regularisation and transferring ownership 78 4.5 Conclusion 78 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 80 5.1 Introduction 80 5.2 Summary of Key Findings 80 5.3 Recommendations 82 5.4 Conclusion 84 REFERENCES 85 INTERNET REFERENCES 90 ix Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 The Research Onion is a theoretical concept of formulating a research methodology. 3 Figure 2.1: A diagram from a children’s book in 1931 showing prefabricated parts being installed in a ‘Magic House’ in Stockholm. 9 Figure 2.2 ‘Magic House’ owner-built house in Stockholm c. 1920. 10 Figure 2.3 Barriadas of Lima, Peru. 11 Figure 2.4 Latin American Favela. 12 Figure 2.5 Pre-occupancy sites and services in Neuquén, Argentina. 13 Figure 2.6 Post-occupancy additions to the original ‘core’ - Neuquén, Argentina. 14 Figure 2.7 ‘Toilets in the Veld’: Mayfield Ext. 45, Benoni. Houses have not been constructed and the toilets have been vandalised. 17 Figure 2.8 Site Plan of Charkop in Mumbai. 19 Figure 2.9 Chennai sites and services project 20 years later. 20 Figure 2.10 Conceptual Framework showing key components of Assisted Self-Help Housing 22 Figure 2.11 Stages of construction: From a shack to a double-storey house. 28 Figure 2.12 Incremental self-help construction, sub-division and densification in El Alto, Bolivia. 29 Figure 3.1 Bottom Compound Settlement in Slovoville Ext. 1. 36 Figure 3.2 Locality of Bottom Compound Settlement in relation to Soweto and the Johannesburg CBD. 37 Figure 3.3 Locality of Bottom Compound and Bottom Time House in relation to Harmony Doornkop Gold Mine, Main Road and R558 Arterial Route. 38 Figure 3.4 Aerial View of Bottom Compound Informal Settlement and Bottom Time House. 39 Figure 3.5 Temporary toilets (connected to a main sewer line) have been provided at Bottom Compound. 41 Figure 3.6 Residents of Bottom Compound are supplied with water from communal stand pipes. 42 x Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final Figure 3.7 ‘Internal blocking’ is being undertaken at Naledi Camp in Soweto. Communal stand pipes have been installed and the informal settlement is being reconfigured in accordance with the layout plan. 43 Figure 3.8 A resident of Naledi Camp in Soweto points to the flimsiness of the roof of the temporary structure provided during the course of ‘internal blocking’. This lady had been more content with the ‘permanent structure’ she had built herself. 44 Figure 3.9 The location of Johannesburg’s informal settlements. 45 Figure 3.10 Tenure Continuum and the Regularisation Approach. 46 Figure 3.11 The Tenure Continuum and the position of the Regularisation Approach. 47 Figure 3.12 Diagram indicating how land settlement can be managed on an incremental basis either by in situ upgrading, greenfield projects or sites and services. 48 Figure 3.13 Concept layout plan for the Bottom Compound Transitional Residential Settlement Area, October 2018. 49 Figure 3.14 The former mine hostel building at Bottom Compound has been declared structurally unsound but is still occupied. 51 Figure 3.15 Revised Settlement Plan: Bottom Compound Transitional Residential Settlement Area, April 2021. 52 Figure 3.16 The revised Settlement Plan has been attached to the wall of the community leader’s room in Bottom Compound. 53 Figure 3.17 Movement patterns around the Bottom Compound complex. 54 Figure 3.18 Environmental Map: Draft Upgrading Plan, 2018. 55 Figure 3.19 The site of the former Bottom Time House where 28 shacks have been erected. 56 Figure 3.20 South Africa’s first sites and services scheme at Moroka Emergency Camp, c. 1947. The settlement was planned as temporary accommodation, but developed into a permanent residential area. 57 Figure 3.21 Bottom Compound informal settlement 58 Figure 4.1 Bottom Compound on a rainy morning. 61 Figure 4.2 Aging temporary infrastructure at Bottom Compound is inadequate for the community. 62 Figure 4.3 Rain water from a leaking roof at Bottom Compound. 64 xi Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final Figure 4.4 Buckets are used to collect rain water from a leaking roof at Bottom Compound. 64 Figure 4.5 The 28 shacks erected on the site of the old Bottom Time House. 65 Figure 4.6 Incremental housing in Mumbai showing densification of one-room houses on small stands into double-storey houses. 68 Figure 4.7 Examples of incremental concrete frame construction adding additional floors (‘panosikoma’) to self-built houses on the periphery of Athens. 69 Figure 4.8 Residents of L&J informal settlement in a standoff with the Ekurhuleni Metro Police over basic services and the demolition of shacks. 72 Figure 4.9 Children outside self-built homes in Moroka Emergency Camp c. 1947. 79 Figure 5.1 Serviced stands have been supplied with a toilet structure (wet core) at Mayfield Ext. 45, Benoni. 82 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Spatial Planning and Human Settlement legislation and policies geared towards regularisation, upgrading of informal settlements and sites and services. 93 LIST OF ACRONYMS ANC African National Congress BNG Breaking New Ground BRT Bus Rapid Transit CBD Central Business District CoJ City of Johannesburg Coopop Cooperación Popular (Popular Cooperation) CORC Community Organisation Resource Centre DAG Development Action Group xii Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final DBSA Development Bank of South Africa DFA Development Facilitation Act of 1995 (now abolished) DoH Department of Housing DoHS Department of Human Settlements EMM Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality EPHP Enhanced Peoples’ Housing Process FAR Floor Area Ratio FEDUP Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor FLISP Finance-Linked Individual Subsidy Programme GDoHS Gauteng Department of Human Settlements HDA Housing Development Agency HSDG Human Settlements Development Grant HSC Housing Support Centre HSS Housing Subsidy Scheme IDP Integrated Development Plan IDT Independent Development Trust ISN Informal Settlement Network ISPG Informal Settlement Partnership Grant (aka Informal Settlement Development Grant) MEC Member of Executive Committee MINMEC Ministers and Members of Executive Committee MPT Municipal Planning Tribunal MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NHBRC National Home Builders Registration Council xiii Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final NHF National Housing Forum NUSP National Upgrading Support Programme PHP Peoples’ Housing Process RAC Rapid Assessment & Categorisation RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme SABS South African Bureau of Standards SDF Spatial Development Framework SDI Slum Dwellers International SHHA Self-Help Housing Agency SOWETO South Western Townships SPLUMA Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act TRSA Transitional Residential Settlement Area UISP Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme UN United Nations UN Habitat United Nations Human Settlement Programme UPFI Urban Poor Fund International USDG Urban Settlements Development Grant APPENDICES Appendix 1 Synopsis of the applicable spatial planning and housing legislation and policies. Appendix 2 Ethics Clearance Certificate: SOAP 150/06/2021. Appendix 3 Plagiarism Declaration. 1 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Originating in the work of John Turner and Robert Fichter in the 1970s, the self-help philosophy of ‘Freedom to Build: Dweller control of the housing process’ is based on beneficiaries actively managing the building process themselves (housing as a ‘verb’) rather than being passive recipients of standardised products (housing as a ‘noun’) (Turner, 1972). Although prior to 1994 the sites and services approach with freehold title had been advocated by the Urban Foundation ‘as a solution to the [South African] housing crisis’ (Huchzermeyer, 2002: 92), the so-called ‘toilets-in-the-veld’ approach was not accepted by the ANC who insisted that the full package of land, services and a top-structure be delivered. Self-help by way of serviced sites is still considered an effective way of creating housing opportunities and upgrading informal settlements (Srinivas, un-dated). 1.2 Background The announcement in 2020 of a rapid land release programme and a shift by government away from building formal houses to an approach of sites and services forms the background to the topic. The South African former Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu is quoted as saying that ‘[the government] will be releasing land, cutting it out, fencing it off and giving it to beneficiaries’ and that the ‘essentials of how to build a house [will be provided]’ (Eglin, 2020, un-paginated). Acknowledging that the very poor are the ‘[m]ajority of those in need of land for housing’, the minister referred to the relaxation of ‘land-use management and building control rules and regulations’ to permit low-income households to build with available resources (ibid). By announcing a radical shift in state-assistance, the minister opened-up self-help as an alternative for the poor. 1.3 Problem Statement and Rationale The problems underlying this research are the shortage of adequate housing for the poor, the inability of the state and the market to address extensive low-income housing needs and declining participation in self-help housing (Kumar, Royston and Clark, 2020). In spite of support for self-help housing from the UN Habitat and several local NGOs, Landman and Napier (2010: 3) advise that it ‘has not gone to scale’, with ‘only about 1% of state provided houses … [delivered by] … aided self-help’. The low uptake of self-help has been attributed partly to ‘exceedingly bureaucratic procedures that makes it difficult for communities to control the process’ (Huchzermeyer, 2001: cited in Landman and Napier, 2010: 3) and because it is ‘too difficult to implement and manage’ (Landman and Napier, 2010: 1). The predominance of ‘fully subsidised and completed [RDP] houses’ has unsurprisingly ‘overshadowed’ the PHP, with ‘giveaway houses [being] preferred above self-built options’. The expectation on the government to provide the full package therefore brings into question whether self-help will be taken-up 2 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final by poor households, who may choose to wait (sometimes indefinitely) for the state to provide a house ‘[rather than] building their own’ (ibid: 5). 1.4 Objectives The purpose of the research is to find out if a new approach is workable and can address the backlog, which is estimated at around 2.1 million units (Fieuw and Mitlin, 2018). Furthermore, the research will attempt to determine whether the proposed sites and services approach is a genuine conceptual shift towards ‘dweller control’ of the housing process as advocated by John Turner and which lies beneath the theoretical basis for assisted self-help. Or as Bromley (2003: 289) has observed, will the potential for communal self-help to become a viable large-scale housing strategy be lost to ‘top- down decision-making instead of grass-root empowerment’? 1.5 Research Question and Sub-Questions The main question underlying the research is: 1) ‘What is the potential of a site and service approach to provide housing for the poor?’ Although supported at ‘grassroots’ by the Homeless Peoples’ Federation, the Peoples’ Housing Process (PHP) has not been widely implemented in post-apartheid South Africa (Charlton and Kihato, 2006: 266). The research therefore needs to understand what factors are limiting the effective implementation of self-help and what could be done to increase uptake of the approach. Sub-questions are the following: 2) What policy mechanisms can be put into operation to make sites and services more widely available? 3) Where will well-located land be identified? 4) Will the approach be affordable for the poor and will it gain acceptance? 5) Is it possible for minimum safety requirements to allow for less formal standards? 6) Can approval and funding processes be simplified to accommodate more people and speed-up delivery? 1.6 Expected Findings The advantages of sites and services to governments and the homeless as a way of supplying and accessing land respectively are expected to be confirmed, lending support to its renewal as a strategy. It is also anticipated that security of tenure will be highlighted as a precondition for the uptake and resurgence of self-help. The findings are likely to reveal that policy certainty for a less formal approach will be critical and that 3 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final ‘tackling major areas of political sensitivity’ and ‘underlying policy contradictions’, noted by Charlton and Kihato (2006: 276) as having an ‘impact on the lives of the poor’, will need to be addressed. 1.7 Research Methodology The research method has been formulated from the 6 steps outlined in the Research Onion (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2016) and as explained by Crossley and Jansen (2021) in order to try and answer questions related to sites and services. Figure 1.1The Research Onion is a theoretical concept of formulating a research methodology, (Source: Saunders, et al, 2016). The 6 steps followed in formulating the research methodology - viz. Philosophy, Approach, Strategy, Choices, Time Horizon and Techniques – are briefly discussed below: 1.7.1 Philosophy behind the Research The underlying philosophy of the research is that self-help housing and sites and services are a cost-effective way for governments to establish opportunities for the poor to build for themselves. In order to validate this philosophy, the research has followed a qualitative approach by reviewing important literature and assessing primary data from interviews conducted with officials from the National and Provincial Departments of Human Settlements, the City of Johannesburg and community members from Bottom Compound informal settlement. By finding convergent thinking it has been possible to determine that the argument for sites and services is compelling. As objective or hard-nosed statistics about sites and services are hard to come to terms with, a ‘positivist’ philosophy of obtaining empirical data ‘based on measurement’ 4 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final (Crossley and Jansen, 2021: un-paginated) would not have revealed the bigger picture. Finding answers related to the topic therefore required a pragmatic or practical philosophy based on reasoning to understand and interpret relevant factors. Crossley and Jansen (2021: un-paginated) refer to ‘pragmatism’ as a practical, common sense approach to research ‘where knowledge is not fixed, but instead is constantly questioned and interpreted’. This rationale has enabled the research to get a better understanding of sites and services in the South African context. 1.7.2 Research Approach The positive hypothesis that people can build their own houses when supplied with a serviced site is widely acknowledged and well-documented. For example, authors like Srinivas (2020) and Harris (1999) show that sites and services have been implemented in several countries as an alternative to conventional housing. Widespread recognition of the approach suggested that the research should follow a deductive or rational process to build on the theory. However, negative perceptions of the apartheid era’s ‘toilets in the veld’ strategy, coupled with a sense of entitlement from the political expectation that formal housing will be supplied, make the prospects for sites and services uncertain in South Africa. Unknown factors like these called for qualitative research into key components of sites and services to be undertaken and gave rise to further questions being identified. 1.7.3 Research Strategy As the perception and opinion around sites and services was diverse, an ontological or empirical set of hard data or facts was unlikely to emerge. Consequently, the strategy that was followed was epistemological or as Crossley and Jansen (2021: un-paginated) explain ‘[asking questions] “how” we can obtain knowledge and come to understand things’. A strategy of ‘grounded research’ (i.e. identifying ‘commonalities’) and ‘archival research’ (i.e. drawing on existing material) has enabled qualitative correlations to be identified from the responses without the constraints of fitting into the ‘pre-existing theory’ (ibid). It was also important to objectively or impartially assess the respondents’ answers as their understanding of the topic and not to impose my own subjective views when considering the answers. 1.7.4. Research Choices The answers to the research questions were open for interpretation, meaning that an element of subjectivity would come out in the conclusion. When formulating the approach, my expectation was that the study would confirm sites and services as a viable option, thereby making it likely that my explanation of the findings would reinforce the hypothesis. Yet, because the research investigated a major policy shift on the part of government, considered here as a ‘black swan’ or paradigm shift, it was critical to find common threads when considering qualitative data. Without quantitative data, the development of the theory in this report can therefore be understood as partly ‘abductive’ i.e. ‘[t]o find the most likely explanation’, ‘deductive’ i.e. testing the theory of sites and services to confirm or reject the hypothesis that it is a 5 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final viable option and ‘inductive’, whereby the theory is formed from observations and analysis of data (Melnikovas, 2018: 34). Elements of ‘abduction’ or finding correlations or explanations from the available evidence ‘[to come up with] a best guess or conclusion based on available evidence’ (ibid: 34) thus steered the research along a continuum of mixed method approaches. 1.7.5 Research Time Horizon As the proposed change was announced late in 2020, the short-term housing strategy of the Department of Human Settlements’ 2021/2022 financial years formed the time horizon for the study. Analysis was thus taken from a ‘cross-sectional’ collection of data from information available in this period (Crossley and Jansen, 2021: un-paginated). In view of the time constraints, a long-term or ‘longitudinal time horizon’ was not possible (ibid). 1.7.6 Research Techniques and Procedures Questionnaires were formulated as a guide for the interviews with Department of Human Settlements’ officials and community members in order to obtain information on how sites and services could work in South Africa. The questions were structured to answer the main research questions, but also to get information on sub-questions. The questionnaires concluded with an open-ended question regarding the interviewee’s observations regarding the sites and services approach, which was intended to reveal how the approach is perceived. The questions did not produce a quantifiable statistical analysis and specifically avoided ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers in line with the qualitative research design. In spite of the limited number of interviews, the answers enabled patterns or themes to be discernible, with a logical chain of evidence permitting interpretation, thereby answering the research questions and developing the theory of sites and services further. Some of the theoretical and technical considerations coming out of the literature were placed into the context of the Bottom Compound case study, which was selected because it is being upgraded by way of the sites and services approach. Evaluating the policy and planning tools being used by the City of Johannesburg helped to explain the mechanics of the approach. After conducting the interviews it was possible to evaluate the respondent’s answers objectively on the basis of their understanding of the topic. In this way, the interviews with the officials and the community members revealed common threads that had also emerged from the literature. 1.7.7 Limitations of the Research In view of the wide-ranging framework of the main research question – viz. ‘what elements make it possible for self-help to be implemented effectively for the poor?’ - it was important to investigate as many applicable factors as possible. But it was also critical to be aware that arriving at an exhaustive outcome was not going to be practical. Notwithstanding the scale of the problems causing the housing backlog (which are well- documented) and the complexity of the topic, the study was limited by the number of people (viz. officials and community members) who could be interviewed. Although I 6 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final have tried to consider most of the main concerns, the extent of the topic made me realise that an all-inclusive investigation of each issue was beyond the scope of the study. While a quantitative or measured approach to obtaining numerical data might have helped to numerically determine the scale of the backlog and the level of intervention required, for example, it was not possible given the inherent limitations of the study – especially to tackle complex questions like land and whether a revised policy could meet the demand. Yet it was still necessary to ask the questions and to note the problems without the objective of the study – viz. to find out (broadly speaking) if the revised approach is workable - being compromised. A numerical approach would also not have enabled the South African context to be explored in depth, where many factors add to the lack of adequate shelter and the proliferation of informal settlements. Although many issues like low levels of affordability, poverty, scarcity of well-located land, economics, politics and the incapacity of formal subsidy housing to keep up with demand have been discussed in the report, detailed analysis of all of the issues was to some extent beyond the scope of this study. 1.8 Ethical Considerations While the ethics application for the research was approved as ‘low risk’, it was important to take the context of the research into account. By carrying out research in a poor community where living conditions are very hard, I was aware that my presence there to conduct an interview on the subject of housing could lead to an expectation (or anticipation) that upgrading was in the pipeline and could follow. I was therefore careful to explain to the community members that I spoke to that my research was for academic purposes and that prospects for their circumstances to improve depend upon the City of Johannesburg’s plan for upgrading the settlement. I also realised that the community members participated in the interview because they were eager to express their views about plans for the settlement and were optimistic that the upgrading project would start soon. While the University of the Witwatersrand’s (2021) ‘Ethics Application Form for Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC Non-Medical)’ advises that ‘[v]ulnerable categories do not necessarily include poor or marginalised communities’, I was conscious that the people at Bottom Compound live under very uncertain and unsafe conditions. As a result, it was important to show understanding for the situation and to highlight the predicament of people living in informal settlements in the research. The community’s vulnerability is largely due to poverty, but it is made worse by a lack of basic services and adequate shelter. Although they depend mainly on the support structures established within the community, it was apparent that the people living in Bottom Compound anticipate that the upgrading project will bring about an improvement to their lives. Such expectancy demonstrates how important the City of Johannesburg’s upgrading plans are to the community. 7 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final In conducting the interviews with the officials and community members from the Bottom Compound informal settlement, I was careful to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of the participants and not to identify them or to disclose their personal details. This was important for the officials who were to some extent cautious about commenting on the topic of a new site and service approach given that there is no official policy as yet. 1.9 Outline of the Research Report Chapter 1 introduces the subject and sets-out the problem statement and purpose of the study, the central arguments or rationale relating to the topic, the main and sub research questions, the research methods, ethical considerations and the limitations of the study. This chapter gives direction to the research. The Literature Review in Chapter 2 expands on the theoretical, explanatory and policy factors underlying the topic, going into depth regarding the background, academic reasoning and points of contention. The arguments found in the literature widen the problem statement and give consideration to theoretical alternatives as possible answers to the research questions. Chapter 2 includes a Conceptual Framing of the main themes (used interchangeably) that underpin ‘Assisted Self-Help’, as well as a brief discussion of the general steps followed in developing subsidy houses. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of state assisted self-help housing in post- apartheid South Africa. Chapter 3 puts the main arguments into context by giving an overview of the circumstances found in the case study. As this is a ‘context chapter’ to further explore the topic, it sets-out the conditions of the case study relevant to the research. The findings, key points and recurring themes coming out of the research are evaluated in Chapter 4. By comparing similarities and differences in the information, the analysis chapter shows how site and service is perceived and interrogates whether it is a viable alternative. The Conclusion reflects on the findings and revisits the research questions and purpose of the study. In this chapter, the evidence collected from the case study and interviews is recapped to substantiate the significance of the findings in terms of the literature review and makes recommendations consistent with the topic. 8 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The Literature Review aims to expand on the theoretical, explanatory and policy factors behind self-help and sites and services, going into depth regarding the background, academic reasoning and points of contention. The arguments found in the literature will expand on the problem statement and give consideration to theoretical alternatives as possible answers to the research questions. 2.2 What is aided self-help? Aided self-help is ‘housing built with state assistance by families for their own use’ (Harris, 1999: 281). Charlton and Kihato (2006: 255) describe ‘state-assisted self-help’ as an enabling policy whereby the state ‘supports and facilitates the delivery of housing by the private sector, or by community organisations, rather than engaging directly in shelter provision itself’. The authors note that this is ‘both market and people-driven production’. Their article on the evolution of South Africa’s subsidy housing programme gives tremendous insight into the reasons underlying the shaping of policy, noting that the state became more directly involved in low-cost housing provision over the course of the years than originally planned (ibid). Segopa (2007: 78) explains that unlike conventional housing delivery mechanisms, with self-help governments are ‘not directly involved in the production (construction) of houses’, but rather ‘facilitate home ownership’ and ‘self-reliance’ on the part of the poor. 2.3 History and origins of aided self-help housing The term was coined by Jacob L. Crane in 1945 from the Puerto Rican experience and from Spanish self-help manuals referred to by John Turner in encouraging self-help in the aftermath of a major earthquake which struck Arequipa, Peru in 1958. Crane promoted the concept to US officials and development agencies (Bromley, 2003). However, Harris (1999) advises that the acute housing shortage after World War 1 prompted the Soviet Union and several European cities, notably Vienna and Stockholm, to implement self-help housing. One of the ‘most common housing programmes in the world’, since 1918 aided self-help housing has featured prominently in state housing policy, but has also ‘slipped through the cracks’ (Harris, 1999: 281). By this he means that although the approach has been ‘endorsed from all sides of the political spectrum’, from communists in the Soviet Union, socialists in Vienna or liberal-democrats in the United States, for example, the approach is not usually supported by major political parties, with the left opposing ‘market oriented’ policies, preferring ‘publicly-owned [rental] housing‘ as the solution. As Harris 9 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final writes, ‘[a]t best this type of policy filled, at the worst it slipped through, the cracks’ (ibid: 301). Figure 2.1 A diagram from a children’s book in 1931 showing prefabricated parts being installed in a ‘Magic House’ in Stockholm. The panels remind one of the zinc sheets sold in South African informal townships. (Source: Cautley, 1931: 23) (Found in Harris, 1999: 296) Contrary to the widespread understanding that aided self-help originated in Latin America and as given preeminence by John Turner’s Freedom to Build at the peak of the Cold War, Harris (1999: 282) records that it was a ‘pragmatic, untheorised, response to severe housing shortages and political unrest after the First World War’ that saw European countries and later the US implement it in various forms. The Bolshevik Revolution and the rise of communism put political pressure on governments to solve the housing shortage, with cities like ‘Athens, Stockholm, Paris, Riga, Rome, Helsinki, Toronto and Vienna’ responding by supporting families to build their own homes. Public housing was built in Britain, while other countries like The Netherlands opted for co-ops (ibid: 283). 10 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final Figure 2.2 ‘Magic House’ owner-built house in Stockholm c. 1920. (Source: Nelson & Nelson, 1937: 18) (Found in Harris, 1999: 290) According to Harris (1999: 282) the prominence given to self-help housing has not been replicated ‘in the more advanced industrial societies’ since the post WW1 period. War seems to have been a powerful motivation for large-scale self-help housing to be put into practice, with Harris (1999) advising that under supervision from the League of Nations, the Greek government gave building sites and basic services to thousands of refugees flooding into Athens from the war between Turkey and Greece in the early 1920s. The costs of ‘privately-built [self-help] housing’ were less than half of public housing, with most dwellings being ‘small, one-storey structures made from wood’ and built using ‘sweat-equity’ by the owners (ibid: 285). In Germany, the ‘Homestead Law’ was enacted to provide a ‘home and garden to every German family’ with ‘single family homes [defined] as the ideal’ (ibid: 286). 2.4 Peru’s influence on John Turner and assisted self-help Published in 1972, John Turner and Robert Fichter’s Freedom to Build brought the ‘social and physical conditions’ of Peru’s barriadas shantytowns to the world’s attention, highlighting the optimistic aspects of ‘community development’ and ‘neighbourhood upgrading’ in Third World countries (Bromley, 2003: 289). Bromley’s (2003) account of Peru’s community-oriented approaches to development under the presidency of Fernando Belaúnde in the 1960s is significant in showing the inspiration behind Turner’s work and how self-help housing was intended to become a backbone of Peruvian policy. Like Harris (2003), he contends that it was more the ‘origins and timing’ of 11 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final Turner’s work in Peru that led to him becoming the ‘pre-eminent authority on low- income housing in developing countries’, rather than the originality of his ideas. The upgrading of barriadas by way of municipal support and communal labour was known as ‘popular cooperation’ (Coopop) and was given prominence by Belaúnde, a trained architect, to solve local problems using community resources and labour without unnecessary political intervention or bureaucratic restrictions (ibid: 283). Figure 2.3 Barriadas of Lima, Peru. (Source: Melinda Chan. Flickr.com) Turner’s vision of self-help through dweller-control of the housing process is explained by Bromley (2003) as a middle ground between the ideas of Belaúnde and Pedro Beltrán who was appointed by Javier Prado, Belaúnde’s predecessor, to address problems of rural poverty and the ‘lack of services in the rapidly expanding urban barriadas’ (ibid: 275). While the approaches ‘differed on questions of urban design’, with Belaúnde preferring ‘higher densities and apartment living’, as opposed to Beltrán’s preference for ‘lower densities and single family houses’ by way of sites and services, both rejected ‘highly subsidized low-income public housing’, but shared the view that ‘basic minimum standards comparable to those of Western Europe and North America’ should be applied (ibid: 285). Bromley (2003: 290) notes that Turner and Fichter (1972: 8) write on the first page of Freedom to Build: 12 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final ‘[T]he urgency of a basic shelter problem cannot be ignored; but neither the shelter problem nor the manifold social problems of which it is a part can be solved by bureaucratically administered, politically imposed programs’. Sadly, Bromley (2003: 285) writes that instead of becoming the ‘basis for an affordable housing strategy for the nation’s poor majority’, ‘Cooperación Popular’ (Coopop) or ‘aided self-help’ was not implemented on a large enough scale to have a significant impact, mostly because it was ‘too small, weak and rurally focused’, noting that the barriadas continued to grow in the 1960s. Suspicious of top-down control being exerted by governments over politically-charged low-income areas, he points out that ‘bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption’ have caused ‘harsh living conditions and poor housing’ to persist in Peru, in spite of innovative housing plans like ‘national aided self- help’ (ibid: 289). Figure 2.4 Latin American Favela: (Source: AFP) 2.5 US support for aided self-help in Latin America As early as the 1950s the US government saw self-help housing as a ‘relatively inexpensive’ way of ‘[ensuring] political stability and the continuity of capitalism’ in Latin American countries (Bromley, 2003: 277). The revolution in Cuba and the threat of 13 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final communism to US business interests during the Cold War triggered the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations to implement policies aimed at ‘[winning] the hearts and minds of the impoverished and marginalized masses in Latin America’ (ibid: 278). Official US policy supported ‘aided self-help housing’ and ‘private property [ownership]’ as ways of encouraging ‘social stability and economic growth’ in the populations of these countries (ibid: 278). Bromley (2003) notes that Eisenhower was particularly impressed with a self-help scheme in Santiago, Chile when he visited there in 1960, so much so that ‘aided self-help housing became the official US policy to Latin America’ (ibid: 278). Figure 2.5 Pre-occupancy sites and services in Neuquén, Argentina - where a slab, bathroom and electricity have been installed. (Source: Peter Ward, 2012: 298) 14 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final Figure 2.6 Post-occupancy additions to the original ‘core’ - Neuquén, Argentina. (Source: Peter Ward, 2012: 299) 2.6 The World Bank’s funding for sites and services and its subsequent abandonment of the model Funding by the World Bank for sites and services projects in developing countries is generally attributed to John Turner’s advocacy of self-help as an alternative to conventional approaches and his consistent belief in ‘dweller-control’ of the housing process (Harris, 2003). Writing that he ‘changed the way we think about low-cost housing’, Harris (2003: 245) shows that although ‘Turner was not the first to praise self- help’, which had been advocated by several international agencies since the 1940s, his advocacy inspired the notion that problems of informal settlements could be resolved by residents building for themselves. In the absence of consensus on how to deal with urbanisation in rapidly growing cities of the global south, Parnell (2016) observes that it was the World Bank’s views which shaped urban policy at the time, leading to extensive debate at the UN’s Habitat conference in Vancouver in 1976. She also makes the point that it was because of this ‘policy vacuum’ that ‘multi-lateral lending agencies became interested in cities as potential borrowers’, heralding the World Bank’s commitment to funding for bulk infrastructure in the sites and services era from 1974 to the mid-1980s (ibid: 531). In spite of being criticised for ‘[making] money out of lending on urban infrastructure for the poor’, the World Bank’s undertaking to reduce poverty on a large scale placed urban problems on the global agenda and ‘gave poverty a global institutional home’ (ibid: 531). 15 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final ‘Sites and Services Projects: A World Bank Paper’ published in April 1974 is detailed in setting-out critical aspects related to design, technical assistance, standards, financing, organisation and methodology and comes complete with a checklist to be followed. The introduction outlines the bank’s support for sites and services as a cost-effective way of planning for rapid urban growth by ‘providing urbanized land and supporting services for low income communities’ (World Bank, 1974: 1). The paper shows considerable understanding of the challenges and is unequivocal in its conviction regarding self-help as a viable alternative to conventional low-cost housing for which ‘even “minimum” cost standards’ are unaffordable. With more than a third of the urban population living in ‘squatter settlements’, inexpensive self-help construction is seen as ‘central’ to the supply of affordable shelter and sites and services as a way of containing unplanned growth and improving living conditions (ibid: 1, 2). Notwithstanding an investment of $14.6 billion in 100 sites and services projects across 53 countries, the approach was abandoned in the mid-1990s due to mixed results from its implementation (Owens, Gulyani and Rizvi, 2018). Regardless of its attempt to ‘harness in an orderly fashion the kind of investment which low income settlers have heretofore employed in ‘squatting’ or buying in illegal subdivisions’ (Peattie, 1982: 133, quoted in Owens, et al, 2018: 262), the sites and services model declined as quickly as it had been taken up. What had been ‘propagated globally’ as ‘an antidote to rapid slum expansion’ was criticised for failing to deliver on measureable objectives. Projects had not prevented further informal settlements from proliferating and were condemned for taking too long to complete and for low occupancy as they tended to be too far from jobs and income opportunities (ibid: 260). Owens, et al, (2018: 262) cannot ascribe ‘the demise of this once promising model’ to a ‘single cause’, but put it down to a ‘series of critiques that emerged from implementation experience’. Yet, they also reflect that as evaluations had been done on projects from a ‘wide range of countries and project designs’ it is unsurprising that the findings were ‘highly mixed’, in spite of several studies reporting positively that sites and services had indeed ‘delivered effective, affordable and well-targeted housing’ (ibid: 262). In the face of ‘growing project skepticism’, ‘limited resources’ and ‘accelerating slum development’, the abandonment of the approach in favour of ‘in-situ upgrading solutions and housing finance support’ could be expected. Problems that might have been resolved by making adjustments to the design of projects like plot sizes, providing for a variety of land uses and mixed income groups and better integration with urban networks, added to criticisms around ‘affordability and targeting [of beneficiaries]’ to bring about what was perceived as the ‘systemic [failure of the approach]’ (ibid: 264). However in spite of this criticism, the authors emphasise that no other delivery mechanism has since been able to tackle the issue of supplying land and housing to the poor and conclude that ‘there is ample evidence to support the success of sites and services approaches over the longer term’ (ibid: 272). 2.7 The opposing positions of John Turner and Rod Burgess: The ‘use value’ vs. the ‘exchange value’ Self-help is criticised by Rod Burgess, a Neo-Marxist, who sees it as exploitation of workers within the predominant capitalist system of landowners, suppliers of building 16 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final materials, the construction industry and financial institutions, etc. all with vested interests in the housing problem. Burgess submits that Turner’s notion of ‘freedom to build’ actually ‘disregarded true choice – resident autonomy and freedom to build – in favor of what was, in fact, structural constraint, namely, poverty and a lack of effective choice’ (Ward, 2012: 296, emphasis in original). Noting that ‘critics argued that Turner had glossed over some of the high social costs of living and raising a family under conditions of high insecurity, without adequate services, and in poor and hazardous dwelling conditions’, Ward (2012: 297) comments that Burgess’s Marxist views did not allow him to concede that self-help policies were not always exploitative of the working class, just as Turner’s advocacy of self-help ‘romanticized the notions of autonomy and unfettered freedom to build’. Skeptical of self-help, Burgess writes that the relaxation of standards results in ‘petty- commodification’ and an ‘exchange value’ in addition to the ‘use value’ advocated by Turner (Burgess, 1982). Burgess’s main contention is that the cost of building is manipulated by the capitalist system and replicated at the informal level by various stakeholders (Burgess, 1982). Questioning Turner’s findings that the self-help house can be built for half the cost of one built by government agencies – presumably from savings in labour and finance costs – Burgess criticises Turner for locating the concept of self-help in a heavily regulated, bureaucratic system (Burgess, 1982). According to Burgess, government assistance entrenches state control and establishes commercial markets for housing, which increases the price and makes it unaffordable for the poor. He describes as naive Turner’s rationale that the state should legislate against private interests and monopoly capital to provide land, materials and finance and proposes that the capitalist system should be done away with and production control given to workers, observing that the economic interests of self-help protagonists are contradictory to the moral tone they adopt (ibid, 1982). Ward (2012: 299) agrees with Burgess regarding increased costs to the dweller for what he calls ‘the formalization of the informal self-help process’, noting that the rate of ‘self- built consolidation’ is slower on site and service projects compared to incremental construction in informal settlements where more ‘flexibility’ is permissible. As Burgess argues, the constraints of access to finance and building costs are stacked against the poor. Whether undertaken by the state or incrementally at the informal level, there are significant costs to building. It is therefore common sense that investment in a dwelling is not undertaken only for the shelter it provides, or ‘use’ value advocated by Turner, but also the financial return for the owner - the ‘exchange’ value noted by Burgess. 2.8 The Urban Foundation and IDT’s sites and services solution in South Africa prior to 1994 A standardised approach has been the cornerstone of South Africa’s housing policy since pre-1994, with project-linked subsidy housing tending to be located on the edge of apartheid era townships where the Urban Foundation’s New Housing Company and 17 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final South African Housing Trust had acquired land prior to the democratic elections (Charlton and Kihato, 2006). Set-up by the business sector in 1976 following the student uprisings in Soweto, the Urban Foundation proposed the ‘standardized and individualized notion of sites and services with freehold title as a solution to the urban housing crisis’ (Huchzermeyer, 2002: 92), thereby shaping policy that emerged from the National Housing Forum (NHF) in the early 1990s. The market orientated approach of ‘homeownership’ through ‘individual freehold title’ advocated by the Urban Foundation is noted by Huchzermeyer (2002: 92) as having commodified ‘land and low-income housing’. The Urban Foundation’s advocacy of ‘informal housing delivery’ as an ‘unambiguous central government strategy’ is noted by Harrison (1992) in his historical analysis of informal settlements in South Africa when he writes ‘[i]nformal or “less formal” housing is now an accepted form of shelter, provided that it occurs within an officially sanctioned site-and-service scheme’ (Harrison, 1992: 19). Figure 2.7 Toilets in the Veld: Mayfield Ext. 45, Benoni. Houses have not been constructed and the toilets have been vandalised. (Source: City Press, 23 July 2019) Although prior to 1994 the apartheid government’s Independent Development Trust (IDT) had delivered approx. 100,000 serviced sites using a once-off capital subsidy of R7,500 / Stand (Huchzermeyer and Karam, 2016: 88), Tomlinson (1999: 284, quoted in Charlton and Kihato, 2006: 270) records that the ANC as the government-in-waiting dismissed self-help and sites and services at the NHF as ‘falling far short of the demand for a decently located genuine mass-housing programme’. When one considers the inadequate and neglected housing conditions for black people that had been allowed to proliferate during the colonial and apartheid periods, it is easy to understand why the so-called ‘toilets in the veld’ approach was highly contentious. Notwithstanding some considerable successes using the approach, for example at Oukasie in Brits (see Pikholz, 1997), the political compromise reached at the NHF was to include a ‘basic 18 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final starter house’ in the site and service approach, thereby distinguishing the new policy from the previous government’s (Charlton and Kihato, 2006: 272). 2.9 SA’s housing policy goes beyond sites and services at the NHF The compromise between the apartheid government’s sites and services approach and the housing policy that emerged noted by Charlton and Kihato (2006: 267) is worth highlighting: ‘[The] political need to deliver acceptable houses, was not rooted in a deeper understanding of the consequences of the service levels/location/top-structure trade-off on beneficiaries’ [but was rather] a reactive move related to the historic rejection of the notion of incrementalism – the gradual consolidation of a starter house over time by the end-user – and may again, in fact, have further contributed to the spatial marginalisation of the poor.’ Charlton and Kihato (2006: 271) recognise the ‘breadth vs. depth’ debate as ‘tension between targeting as many as possible with some form of basic housing provision versus targeting a lucky few with a complete housing package’. This crucial question was deliberated at the NHF where the once-off capital subsidy was seen as ‘simpler to implement’ for a government tasked with urgently addressing the ‘poor living conditions’ which were adding fuel to the ‘politically-related’ hostel violence rampant at the time. On-going administrative and maintenance costs associated with ‘state rental housing’ were considered too risky and uncertain, which coupled with the political priority of delivering ‘land and housing’ with ‘full freehold title’ in fulfillment of election promises, resulted in the familiar ‘RDP House’ becoming the basic requirement for meeting needs (ibid: 271). As the primary purpose of the capital subsidy is to provide sites, basic services and a starter house, it can be seen that the ‘sites and services’ approach, is firmly entrenched in housing policy, with the ‘People’s Housing Process (PHP)’ being implemented sporadically through ‘self-help groups’ or ‘Housing Support Centres’ (Marais, Ntema and Venter, un-dated, un-paginated). In view of government’s recently stated shift in approach, excluding a top-structure, the ‘underlying policy contradictions’ and ‘difficulties of tackling major areas of political sensitivity’ (Huchzermeyer 2001), referred to by Charlton and Kihato (2006: 276), are likely to be key determinants of a revised approach. 2.10 Sites and services projects achieve success over time Pikholz (1997: 379) validates the success achieved by the IDT prior to 1994 in ‘both speedy delivery and reaching a large number of households’ through the delivery of serviced sites. Describing the in situ upgrading of Oukasie, on the outskirts of Brits, the author attests to a well-organised, highly-political community using powerful political 19 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final engagement to successfully upgrade the area. She advises that in ‘resource-scarce communities’ power is linked to those who ‘have control over resources’ and that by ‘[minimising] destructive conflict between competing interests’ projects have a better chance of succeeding (ibid: 384). In spite of criticism from ‘civics organisations, NGOs and liberation movements’ for providing only a serviced site, Pikholz (1997) makes the point that beneficiaries of the IDT’s ‘massive upgrading programme’ were ‘happy to have taps and toilets as it would have made them a lot better off than they were’ (ibid: 379, 380). The large number of serviced sites delivered by the capital subsidy of the IDT is also noted by Gusler (2000: 27) who writes that it ‘became one of the largest NGO housing delivery initiatives in the world’, surpassing 100,000 serviced sites before being replaced by the new housing subsidy scheme. Retrospective research by Owens, Gulyani and Rizvi (2018) into sites and services projects built in the late 1970s in Chennai and Mumbai demonstrates that the development of small plots for low-income households increased access to housing (see Figure 2.8 below). The successful outcome is attributed to various plot sizes for mixed-income households and connections to transport and employment networks. Figure 2.8 Site Plan of Charkop in Mumbai. (Source: Alain Bertaud, World Bank 1985, IBRD Map No. 17587) (Found in Owens, Gulyani and Rizvi, 2018: 270) The authors show that while the Mumbai and Chennai projects achieved the goals of ‘(a.) demonstrating the concept of incremental housing; (b.) reaching a targeted number of beneficiaries; and (c.) achieving cost recovery’ (ibid: 264), there was an uncertain 20 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final period after the services had been installed and the plots had been purchased with full cost recovery, as to whether houses would be built. More than 20 years later a variety of mixed-income houses have been built (as can be seen in Figure 2.9 below) and the authors describe these projects as successful, recommending that ‘governments and private firms can increase the supply of affordable housing by scaling up delivery of small housing plots’ (ibid: 272). Figure 2.9 Chennai sites and services project 20 years later. (Source: Sumila Gulyani, Linkedin) 2.11 Drawbacks of sites and services As most governments could not afford to subsidise housing, full cost recovery for sub- divided land and services has been the basis for sites and services in many countries since the approach was adopted by the World Bank in 1972. In spite of reduced standards, sites and services models based on full cost recovery are still unaffordable for about 20 percent of urban dwellers (Choguill, 2007). Remoteness of locations and problems in assembling land are also recurrent criticisms of sites and services (Owens, Gulyani and Rizvi, 2018). The difficulties of cost recovery and its inability to deliver at the scale that was needed caused the World Bank to change their approach in the mid-1980s from sites and services and direct funding to an ‘enabling environment’ through ‘economic, financial, legal and institutional’ support for the housing sector (ibid: 146). The age and employment status of beneficiaries are also limiting factors with self-help as Dansoh, Stilwell and Leach (2007: 260) point out from their research into the Tamboville Low-Cost Housing Project in Pietermaritzburg where 21 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final Housing Support Centres set-up to provide technical and legal advice on aspects of home ownership and construction experienced problems of an ‘aging’ target market and high unemployment, with older beneficiaries not being in a position to earn enough to improve the starter house that was provided. Administrative difficulties and default in the repayment of loans to micro-finance lenders, cooperatives or government self-help agencies have also presented stumbling blocks in other countries where self-help programmes have been implemented. In terms of Botswana’s Self-Help Housing Agency (SHHA) model, repayments are not made regularly and the recovery of outstanding debt has met with little success, with arrears rising as the limits of the available loans increased (Segopa, 2007). The requirement for prospective beneficiaries to purchase plots also puts self-help out of reach of the poor, with Segopa (2007: 73) noting that the ‘SHHA now focuses on the “rich poor” that can afford the plot prices and the interest rates charged for the repayment of the SHHA loan’. Although Segopa’s research highlights the tremendous ‘use value’ of the SHHA scheme to beneficiaries, in monetary terms the properties do not fetch high prices on the ‘open market’, largely due to their peripheral locations (ibid: 76). A trade-off between ‘government’s commitment to cost-recovery’ and its ‘social obligation’ is recognised by Segopa (2007: 87) in the Botswana SHHA case, for which low interest rates and lengthy repayment periods improved the prospects for self-help beneficiaries. The main concerns identified by Segopa are ‘access to housing finance, access to affordable land and the restrictive legislative instruments governing housing development’ (ibid: 83). Just as administrative difficulties and on-going financial uncertainty were the main reasons against publicly owned and managed rental housing from being adopted in South Africa, Segopa (2007: 75) reports that default in the repayment of loans for plots and building packages and difficulties in managing loan books for Botswana’s Self-Help Housing Agency (SHHA) programme saw the government consider ‘shifting the management of SHHA loans from Local Councils to better equipped financial institutions’. The main limitation of sites and services internationally seems to be the inability of the very poor to purchase the site in terms of the full cost recovery model (Choguill, 2007; Srinivas, 2020), with higher income groups displacing the people for whom the projects were intended. However, in the proposed South African approach where serviced sites are to be given to beneficiaries, affordability relates more to the high costs of building a top-structure as opposed to paying for a stand. Time consuming ‘bureaucratic procedures, institutional requirements and political problems’ in identifying beneficiaries, allocating stands and for applicants to meet eligibility criteria make sites and services schemes ‘unaffordable or inaccessible for the lowest income groups’ and are also susceptible to corruption (Srinivas, 2020: un-paginated). Difficulties in assembling land, remote locations and problems with connecting bulk infrastructure on and off site, sometimes due to a lack of coordination between implementing agencies, can cause delays in stands being serviced even after the beneficiaries have been allocated. High building standards and restrictions imposed on the use of land for small-scale industry or income generating activities such as renting of rooms further reduce sustainability for the end-user (ibid). 22 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 2.12 Problems experienced with sites and services in Nigeria ‘Negligence and corruption’ are cited by Bello, Oladokun and Adegunle (2013: 4) as the main cause behind the Nigerian government failing to install adequate infrastructure to ‘increase the supply of land for housing’. The proliferation of slums is a result of dwellings being built before infrastructure is installed, poor integration of services ‘into the city-wide networks’ and non-adherence to regulations (ibid: 4). Though investment in infrastructure serves as a stimulus for housing development, poor management of sites and services schemes has resulted in several projects turning out to be non- functional with sites being laid-out but not provided with infrastructure. Delays in allocating stands and deferred occupation causes infrastructure to be vandalised and survey beacons to be removed, resulting in plots becoming ‘derelict’, overgrown and unused (ibid: 7). Impractical plot sizes is a further problem that gives rise to densification from sub-letting of plots, wasted expenditure on infrastructure and prime sites not being developed (ibid: 7). Taking into account that communities have diverse social and cultural values and distinctive ‘environmental settings’ is therefore crucial to the planning and management of sites and services areas where a ‘universal approach’ is ‘[unlikely] to be suitable for all communities’ (ibid: 9). 2.13 Conceptual Framing The following themes form the Conceptual Framework for the research and help to explain self-help housing and site and service (Figure 2.10). Figure 2.10 Conceptual Framework showing key components of Assisted Self-Help Housing ASSISTED SELF-HELP (Land, Services, Subsidies, Technical Support & Relaxed Standards) Site & Service / Informal Settlement Upgrading Rapid Land Release / Regularisation / Secure Tenure Incremental Housing / Gradual Improvement Sweat Equity / Dweller Control / Bottom-Up Process 23 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 2.13.1 Rapid Land Release In the face of ‘[a] lack of affordable housing options’, rapid land release is the concept of making land available for settlement to improve access to affordable housing opportunities and to ‘combat illegal land invasion and promote regulated land use’ (CoJ, 2021a: 35). The programme is designed to formalise informal settlements and ‘follows a ‘site and service’ model, where beneficiaries get a plot with basic services so they can build houses’ (Kumar, Royston and Clark, 2020: un-paginated). The idea of releasing land has been given prominence since the Covid-19 pandemic and follows from constraints on the national budget, which has made the continued delivery of top- structures by the conventional RDP/BNG model unsustainable. ‘[The] programme has the potential to reach the millions of people who do not have adequate housing or equitable access to land’ (Kumar, et al, 2020: un-paginated). Rapid land release emanates from John Turner’s conviction that ‘self-help restore[s] power and control back to people’ and the idea that providing access to land ‘[will] spur property markets, leading ultimately to “beneficiaries” ascending a ladder out of poverty’ (ibid: un-paginated). Kumar, et al (2020: un-paginated) estimate that ‘it takes an average of 11 years to implement a housing project’ and are therefore skeptical that the Rapid Land Release Programme ‘will be exempt from the inefficacy of the underlying processes and instruments that have plagued housing delivery to-date’. 2.13.2 Site and Service Housing Site and service housing schemes are explained by Norwood (1973: 359) as a strategy to ‘[provide] a planned framework within which … people themselves build their own houses as their resources permit’. Formulated in response to the explosion of urban populations, he notes that failing to adequately plan for migration to cities results in the propagation of ‘completely unplanned [informal settlements]’ on the periphery of urban areas. Planning of site and service schemes provides for basic services and is intended to improve the circumstances and respectability for people living in informal settlements. Although the parameter is to ‘facilitate the provision of as many houses as possible, as quickly as possible, and as cheaply as possible’, the author also advises that ‘the implementation of a successful site and service scheme requires just as much analysis, appraisal and planning as does any other type of housing scheme’ (ibid: 359). The fundamental concept of self-help and site and services is explained very well by Marais, Ntema and Venter (un-dated: un-paginated) as follows: ‘[T]he practical implication of Turner’s work is that governments should not provide those aspects of housing which people can provide for themselves. Consequently, Turner was a proponent of site-and-service schemes (referred to as “aided self- help” schemes) in terms of which governments had to take responsibility for the provision of basic services, and individual households were responsible for the construction of the housing unit’. 24 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 2.13.3 Self-Help Against the backdrop of ‘enormous and on-going urban growth’, self-help is recognised as an important way for individual households to provide housing for themselves through a ‘step-by-step [progressive] construction process’ (Bredenoord, 2016: 1). Given the extensive demand for low-income housing, especially in developing countries, self-help or ‘self-managed’ housing is described by Bredenoord as ‘a phenomenon of great importance … [that] … should be facilitated by formal housing policies’ to improve ‘sub-standard’ conditions. Seen as having capacity to meet wide-ranging housing needs, self-help can be distinguished from ‘social or public housing’ by its ‘bottom-up’ approach, whereby ‘individual households determine the building quality and construction pace’, the notion of ‘dweller control’ advocated by John Turner. ‘Institutional’ housing on the other hand is supplied in a ‘top-down manner’ by the state or private developers with limited participation by the end-user. Often necessitated by poverty, self-help is typically undertaken informally, but can be implemented on a more formalised basis with varying degrees of technical and financial assistance from NGOs, housing cooperatives or the state. (Ibid: 1) 2.13.4 Sweat-Equity The connection between self-help and sweat-equity is differentiated by Harris (2003: 248 quoted in Marais, Ntema and Venter, un-dated, un-paginated) as follows: ‘[B]y self-help Turner has always meant not only the investment of sweat equity by owners in their homes but also the processes of owner design and management’. This clarification shows that the concept of sweat-equity comprises more than the physical ‘self-construction’ of a dwelling by the owner, but a wider meaning that incorporates Turners advocacy of ‘dweller control’ as regards the management of the process. Marais, et al also note the observation by Harris (2003) that Turner’s belief in ‘dweller control’ ‘[h]as received the least recognition in policy development’. In unpacking the concept of ‘sweat-equity’, Marais, et al advise that it is taken to mean ‘self-construction’, which implies that beneficiaries will be able to contribute labour to reduce costs and build better quality, larger houses than those produced by a ‘top- down’, contractor-driven approach. Although the term ‘sweat-equity’ is to some extent synonymous with self-help, the authors make the point that ‘[upholding] the emphasis … on the ‘end product (size, quality) and not on the process’ has resulted in ‘[increased] … state control (rather than dweller control)’. Huchzermeyer (2006b, cited in Marais et al, un-dated, un-paginated) refers to the emphasis on the end-product as ‘paternalistic’ and ‘delivery-orientated’. While giving emphasis to the ‘end-product’ and not the ‘process’ is understandable from an official or technocratic perspective in conventional projects, in self-help (or PHP) projects it is contrary to Turner’s principle of a step-by-step process toward meeting the needs of the dweller. In spite of the policy’s commitment to true PHP as a grassroots initiative (to be driven from the bottom-up), Marais, et al show that the ‘[g]uidelines provided … [are] … almost similar to those of the normal contractor-driven approach’. 25 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final Reluctance to let go of rigid guidelines in the pursuit of delivery objectives therefore ‘[limits] beneficiary choice to unpaid labour (sweat-equity)’ and goes against the underlying philosophy of PHP. (Ibid) 2.13.5 Incremental Housing ‘Incremental housing’ is a progressive, step-by-step process of gradual home improvement undertaken by poor households over time using the resources available to them and stems from the inability of conventional delivery mechanisms to supply adequate low-income housing. A lack of institutional or official capacity has seen ‘(the growth of) informal self-help settlements’ and results in the poor having no alternative but to ‘build, expand and improve’ their houses themselves (Bredenoord, 2016: 7). This is called ‘self-managed incremental housing’ and is the norm in developing countries, gaining recognition ‘[as] an important housing production method of the urban poor’ that can be undertaken either individually or on a collective basis (ibid: 7). The focus recently has been ‘sustainable and durable building materials and building techniques’ (ibid: 7). Incremental housing has been part of the post-apartheid subsidy programme, with so- called ‘starter pack’ top-structures being built on serviced sites for on-going upgrading and finishing by the residents. Basic houses included essential components like foundations, concrete slabs and roofs, with some walls being left out and windows, doors and finishes, etc. being added later. A wet-core, viz. a flushing toilet, running water and a basin, were provided from the outset for sanitation. Electricity was connected afterwards depending upon the capacity of bulk supply to the area. The strategy was to provide as many basic shelters as possible (to a lower specification) so that more beneficiaries could be assisted. Nonetheless, minimum norms and standards have been adapted to be more energy efficient and sustainable as required by the Breaking New Ground (BNG) policy introduced in 2004. 2.13.6 Differences (and similarities) between site and service and informal settlement upgrading Site and service differs from informal settlement upgrading in that it is a proactive / preemptive strategy to provide land and basic services for urban settlement, as opposed to a reactive / obligatory response to the need to upgrade and formalise existing informal settlements. By increasing the supply of building plots, the site and service approach allows for land to be planned and occupied in an organised and orderly way, in the process ‘[containing] the growth of unplanned [informal settlements]’ and delivering ‘[an] efficient urban development pattern … [that] cannot readily be supplied on an unorganized basis’ (World Bank, 1974: 2). The objective is to enable communities to settle on land without the threat of eviction or relocation and to facilitate self-help building of houses. In this way, the approach makes more economical use of resources and ‘[achieves] much better physical living conditions than are available in unplanned [informal settlements]’ (ibid: 2). Although ‘similar benefits’ can be accomplished by upgrading, the paper advises that it is more difficult and costly to ‘reconstruct … [than by establishing] … better patterns of development in the first place’ (ibid: 2). 26 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final The Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) is comparable to site and services in that it is similarly intended to supply essential services and secure tenure ‘in a structured manner’, with the main distinction being that it is undertaken in situ for existing informal settlements ‘situated on land suitable for permanent residential development’ (DoHS, 2009: 9, 14). The programme applies to settlements that are characterised by ‘[i]llegality and informality, inappropriate locations, restricted public and private sector investment, poverty and vulnerability, and social stress’ (ibid: 16). Like site and service, the programme encourages self-help by ‘the empowerment of residents … to take control of housing development’, but also recognises that ‘possible relocation and resettlement … [may be necessary] … as a last resort’ … in exceptional circumstances’ (ibid: 9). 2.13.7 Security of tenure Underlying self-help is the concept that secure tenure provides reassurance for people to invest in their own houses. Urban LandMark (2010: 3) shows that there are two approaches to tenure: ‘regularisation’, which refers to ‘legal recognition [and] individual ownership’ and ‘tenure security’, which provides for administrative and legal mechanisms against evictions. Tenure security for informal settlements is regarded as the ‘first step towards official recognition’ (ibid: 5). The following four steps advocated by Urban LandMark (2010: 14, 15) combine elements of the ‘regularisation’ and ‘tenure security’ approaches to achieve incremental security of tenure: 1) ‘[A]dministrative recognition’ requires a ‘basic site plan’, a ‘database of occupants’ and ‘letters of occupation’ to be prepared and confers ‘blanket legal recognition [for] the settlement’; 2) ‘[L]egal recognition’ calls for a ‘detailed layout plan’ and a ‘full register of all occupants [linked to] a property description’ to allow the ‘area [to be] acknowledged in legal terms’ and to permit the municipality to upgrade ‘without contravening their own laws’; 3) ‘[D]evelopmental recognition’ follows-on from ‘legal recognition’ and provides for ‘[increased] tenure rights’ and ‘more formal tenure options (such as leases)’; and 4) ‘[T]ownship establishment’ requires the township register to be opened at the Deeds Office so that ‘individual ownership’ can be transferred. The ‘incremental tenure approach’ is a way of ‘opening up more officially recognised channels of land supply’ and ‘improving the pro-poor functioning of urban land markets’ (Urban LandMark, 2010: 5). Despite ‘individual ownership’ forming the basis for South African housing policy, ‘property ownership and the protection of property rights’ can result in ‘gentrification’ and ‘downward raiding’ on land designated for the poor, while higher costs for the beneficiary from ‘taxation [and] services charges’ also ‘make it difficult for people to remain on the land’. Placing emphasis on ‘blanket, settlement rights … rather than individual rights’, the tenure security approach does not require ownership to achieve legal recognition for informal settlements (ibid: 9). 27 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 2.13.8 Self-help and sites and services as ‘pro-poor’ housing strategies Most of the literature around assisted self-help housing reinforces the view that it is a way of helping the poor to provide housing themselves. Bredenoord and van Lindert (2010: 286), for example, make it clear that the results achieved by ‘self-help builders’ are ‘living proof of the power of self-help’ and the effectiveness of ‘pro-poor’ government strategies. They note that the ‘pressing housing needs of the urban poor have always primarily been satisfied by the poor themselves’ and make a strong case for housing policies ‘that support the self-help efforts of the poor’. Likewise, Bello, Oladokun and Adegunle (2013: 14) are in full support of ‘a more urban poor friendly’ approach, but warn of the need for ‘functionality and proper maintenance’ for sites and services schemes to have an impact. Choguill (2007: 147) highlights the role governments have in developing good quality housing and backs a return to the ‘self-help phase of housing policy’. 2.13.9 Incremental housing as a workable solution In developing countries, incremental housing by way of serviced sites is a practical way of supplying the demand and according to the UN should be given ‘much more attention’ by governments (UN, 2005: 166, cited in Bredenoord and van Lindert, 2010: 282). As access to formal shelter is out of reach for the poor, they have no alternative but to ‘resort to unconventional or informal modes of housing provision’ and self-help housing is in reality the only possibility (Bredenoord and van Lindert, 2010: 279). Following their court battle to win the right to be upgraded in terms of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP), Tissington (2011: 57) advises that the Slovo Park community in the south of Johannesburg came to realise that the ‘[incremental], phased approach to development … is the only way the government will be able to improve the lives of millions of residents living in informal settlements’ and strongly recommends that government compromises on standards for self-help housing. Faced with the enormous challenge of accommodating the urban poor, governments in many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America urgently need to find workable solutions to address the deficit, one of which is undoubtedly self-help (Bredenoord and van Lindert, 2010). The UN estimates that by 2030 approximately ‘5 billion people’ or ‘around 60% of the world’s population’ will be living in urban areas, which means that considerable numbers of houses will have to be constructed each year to catch-up (ibid: 279). The UN’s point of view that ‘assisted self-help housing is the most affordable and intelligent way of providing sustainable shelter’ (UN, 2005: 166, cited in Bredenoord and van Lindert, 2010: 278) is corroborated by Schermbrucker, Patel and Keijzer (2016: 84) who advise that Slum Dwellers International (SDI) distinguish ‘incremental housing provision [as] more accessible and practical for the poor’. 2.13.10 Prospects for incremental housing In view of their insecure incomes, changes in family cycles and the in/ability of households to save, the advantages of the incremental approach over conventional housing for the poor are considerable. Yet, the sites and services projects undertaken in 28 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final the 1970s and 1980s were unable to deal with the scale of housing required due to rapid urbanisation (Bredenoord and van Lindert, 2010). The shift away from self-help to broader comprehensive strategies ‘distracted attention’ away from the significant need for basic services, land for housing and the upgrading of informal settlements, thereby compromising self-help prospects for the poor (ibid: 280). Because sites and services open-up the possibility for people to build for themselves, it is evident that the ‘use value’ of the house is advanced by this approach and should therefore form a central part of overall, differentiated housing strategies (ibid). Incremental construction can be seen in the diagram below (Figure 2.11), which shows that a small shack is gradually converted over time into a double-storey house, in the process improving the usability for the owner. Figure 2.11 Stages of construction: From a shack to a double-storey house. (Source: NZDL.ORG) In South Africa, the People’s Housing Process (PHP) has not delivered significant numbers of ‘formal, aided-self-help housing’ due to the predominant delivery of conventional RDP/BNG Houses and to a lesser extent Social Housing by the state, which has increased the expectation of a ‘fully subsidised and completed house’ by prospective beneficiaries (Landman and Napier, 2010: 5). In 2005/2006 when the PHP was redefined in terms of Breaking New Ground’s renewed attention on community participation, developer-driven, project-linked subsidies accounted for ’70 per cent’ of the approx. 2.4 million subsidies approved between 1994 and 2004 (National Treasury, 2004: 124). Referring to the same number of subsidies for the same period, Himlin (2005: un-paginated) advises that PHP projects represented eleven percent of the total subsidies approved, with ‘272,165 households’ having been approved for PHP out of ‘2,436,404 total subsidies’. Efficient delivery by the state in South Africa has thus constrained the uptake or resurgence of self-help, ‘[unlike] in other countries … [where] … less state intervention 29 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final allows self-help to be the main source of formal low-income housing production’ (Landman and Napier, 2010: 6). For households that do not qualify for a subsidy the ‘only alternative’ is ‘unaided self-help housing’ in informal settlements and backyard shacks (ibid: 7). The acceptability and ‘scale of implementation’ of self-help, especially in terms of the proposed sites and services approach, therefore depends upon the extent to which a wide range of housing delivery mechanisms are supported (ibid: 7). 2.13.11 Standards for self-help housing Higher standards in planning, engineering and building add to the overall quality and technical aspects of a project, but like so many things, it comes down to affordability. Bredenoord and van Lindert (2010: 281) observe that security of tenure plays an important part in the construction of a ‘durable house’ as the owners of a plot with formal title tend to invest in improving their dwelling over time as the diagram of incremental self-help construction in El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz, indicates (Figure 2.12). Figure 2.12 Incremental self-help construction, sub-division and densification in El Alto, Bolivia. (Source: Bredenoord and van Lindert, 2010: 284) The literature shows that less formal standards are the underlying rationale for dwellers to make affordable incremental improvements according to their finance, timeframe, capabilities and design preferences. A flexible approach to standards and materials could be applied to ensure minimum health, safety and performance standards are followed. A good example is the use of fire-retardant materials in re-constructing shacks when Mshini Wam informal settlement in Cape Town was re-blocked, with the community happy to ‘move from wooden shacks to safer structures’ but nevertheless still aspiring to one-day upgrade to ‘permanent, brick houses’ (Schermbrucker, Patel and Keijzer, 2016: 88). The experience of Slum Dwellers International is that although ‘professional expertise is often necessary’, it must be applied in terms of the ‘experience-based knowledge of slum-dweller communities’ who in developing their own solutions sometimes ‘also challenge traditional planning standards’ (ibid: 87). Bredenoord and van Lindert (2010: 281) remark that ‘what finally counts is the ability of the family to improve their housing and living conditions throughout the years’. 30 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final 2.14 General steps in the subsidised housing development process This section briefly discusses general steps to be followed from inception through to concept design and construction when site and service and/or conventional subsidy projects are undertaken: 2.14.1 Project Inception: Pre-feasibility, integration of development objectives and applying for funding Project inception is based on the priorities set by the municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP), which coordinates development between local authorities and other spheres of government. This is referred to by National Treasury’s Cities Support Programme Toolkit (2017: 50) as ‘vertical integration’ between national, provincial and local government objectives, as well as those of communities at a city-wide or local level. As housing projects are expected to deliver on wide-ranging developmental goals, e.g. job creation during construction, they are also required to incorporate the objectives of other programmes or departments. This is known as ‘horizontal integration’ (ibid: 50). At inception stage a project is approved (by the MEC) if it meets the criteria of ‘[t]echnical feasibility, national priorities, … capacity of the municipality to undertake the project, alignment with the IDP, suitability and cost of the land … [and] … the number of households who will benefit’ (DoHS, 2009: 56, 57). Funding for bulk infrastructure and internal services is allocated (to provincial government and municipalities) by Treasury in the form of the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) or Informal Settlement Development Grant (ISDG), which was introduced in 2021 specifically for upgrading. The construction of houses is financed from the Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG). The subsidies enable work to be undertaken in a particular financial year and are applied for according to the municipality’s ‘multiyear strategic plan’ and the provincial government’s ‘Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)’ (DoHS, 2009: 17). In order to determine the ‘socio-economic and demographic profile of the settlement’, the application / inception stage requires a community survey, beneficiary registration and public participation to be undertaken (DoHS, 2009: 43). The pre-planning stage also sets out to identify and secure the land through negotiation or expropriation. Rudimentary services may be supplied on an interim basis prior to the project commencing or the settlement being formalised (ibid: 43). In order to provide technical assistance and to supply materials, housing support centres are established ‘at an early stage’ for owner-driven (PHP) projects (ibid: 57). 2.14.2 Concept Design: Identifying, acquiring and planning the land In addition to its location to metropolitan centres, social networks, transportation hubs and economic opportunities, probably the most important factor to be considered in evaluating a site for low-income residential purposes is whether it can be acquired and developed feasibly. Unless state-owned land has been specifically earmarked for low- cost housing, selecting a new site is difficult, with the process being prolonged by environmental impact assessments, lengthy township approval procedures and 31 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final complications related to obtaining the land such as current ownership, lease agreements, expropriation, rates and taxes and the cost. This makes programming, budgeting and determining the cash-flow very complicated. Other significant aspects to be taken into account are the geo-technical conditions, the availability and proximity of bulk services and the area’s capacity to provide sufficient housing for the recipient community. In determining these characteristics, the concept is expanded further so that ‘[d]etailed town planning, land surveying and pegging … [and] … contour survey’ can be completed (DoHS, 2009: 18, 29). When upgrading informal settlements, careful consideration must be given to the existing layout, taking into account established support structures and the investment made by residents in their dwellings. Town planners must therefore consult extensively with the community to develop a plan that is acceptable to them and that is least disruptive of the existing pattern, but that also makes good use of available space and can be serviced economically. Choices influencing the type of housing e.g. detached (stand-alone) houses vs. semi-detached (row-housing), building density, topography, flood-lines, the presence of groundwater, rocks and large trees, the size and configuration of stands, engineering and building specifications, a mix of land uses, the widths of primary and secondary roads, traffic impact and storm-water attenuation all need to be made during the town planning process. 2.14.3 Detailed Design: Tender and construction: Self-Help (PHP) vs. Project- Linked Aspects like the form of tenure for the end-user, the choice of materials and a suitable construction methodology, as well as the appointment of sub-contractors, all have a direct bearing on the project’s framework. For self-help (PHP) or site and service projects, when owners or community cooperatives are undertaking construction themselves, the detailed design stage should make allowance for a degree of flexibility in standards. With project-linked housing there is very little input into the end-product from the beneficiaries as the stand size of 250m² is stipulated and houses need to comply with minimum specifications to get building plan approval, quality assurance certification and enrolment with the NHBRC. The RDP/BNG house size in Gauteng is 40m² and must include two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen area. The placement of the house should be orientated to the north for thermal efficiency and ought to make allowance to be extended in the future. For PHP projects, a more adaptable approach will encourage the process to be driven from the ‘bottom-up’ to empower individual owners to take control of the process according to their circumstances. Risks associated with funding and the high cost of land, expertise, materials and labour must be taken into account. The expenses of paying for the land, developing the site and building the house have a direct bearing on whether there are any shortfalls or surpluses left over from the available subsidy. The primary incentive for developers is to make a profit, whereas with self-help, assistance from housing support centres, family and local builders should reduce costs, in theory helping to improve the size and quality of the house. The appointment of sub-contractors, labour rates for the various trades and the choice of materials, etc. thus apply to both developer-driven and owner-build 32 Ward - Research Report ARPL7053A Final projects. For contractor-driven projects the requirement to employ eighty percent of local contractors and twenty percent externals affects viability further, with local contractors often insisting on a profit-share. It is worth noting that if the required skills are not present in the community, then external contractors should not be prevented from doing the work. Similarly, planners, project managers and contractors need to be aware that delivery can be deliberately disrupted or stopped outright by ‘construction mafia’, disgruntled workers or disaffected parties who may attempt to gain control by extortion, unreasonable demands for higher rates and even violence. Drawdowns of funding and the payment of claims for work completed must be reliable and consistent to facilitate a positive cash-flow and to prevent construction from being interrupted or delayed unnecessarily. 2.15 Brief overview of the evolution of state-assisted self-help housing in the post-apartheid era To understand the unexpected about-turn in approach announced in 2020 towards an incremental, site and service strategy, it is important to recognise that South Africa’s housing policy will almost certainly continue to change as the requirement for adequate shelter, informal settlement upgrading and the fulfilment of wider societal needs become even more pressing. This section briefly discusses some of the history of policy evolution and the rationale behind self-help