Upgrading? : a realistic option for the Ntchaweni squatter settlement.
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Date
1992
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Abstract
This thesis recognises that quantitative research distances the
researcher from the people who form part and parcel of squatter
settlements. Therefore, in the course of analysing whether
upgrading is a realistic option for the Ntchaweni squatter
settlement, this qualitative study has not concerned itself with
the activities of the inhabitants alone, or only with the
buildings which house squatters, but investigates those units of
experience within which physical form, activities and the degree
of attachment that squatters have for the settlement of Ntchaweni
are amalgamated to form place.
A contention of this thesis if we are to plan successfully for
squatter areas, it is necessary to understand that squatters have
the potential to think and plan ahead for themselves. Squatter
settlements are not necessarily the domain of criminals and
unemployed people. The Ntchaweni squatter settlement is a
complex place in which the inhabitants exhibit a strong attachment to the place.This validates the methodological emphasis on a people-place study of the squatter settlement, as does the acknowledged importance of community participation in upgrading schemes.
In contrast, the "top-down" re-organising of squatter settlements
into idealistic settlements conforming rigidly to some grand
theory developed by technocrats cannot possibly help to alleviate
the severe physical and social problems experienced in squatter
areas. It is therefore necessary to arrive at a realistic option
for the improvement of the Ntchaweni squatter settlement by
analysing what the squatters perceive to be a suitable living
environment. Any upgrading option for the Ntchaweni squatter
settlement must also take into account the system which
perpetrated the poor conditions evident in the study area.
Within this context, the areal expansion of the Ntchaweni
squatter settlement into its present size qualifies the notion
that this place has an important function from a social, cultural and economic perspective. The historical development and the
present political situation in the study area are both important
considerations in a study which aims at investigating the
betterment options for the area, be it site and service schemes
or in situ upgrading. In order to gain a better understanding of
squatter settlements, we must record both objective and
subjective aspects of place. Together, these investigations put
us into a position to discuss the possibilities for generating
realistic options for designing and producing places suitable for
human habitation in Ntchaweni.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.
Keywords
Theses--Geography., Squatter settlements--Kwazulu-Natal--Ntchaweni., Housing--Kwazulu-Natal--Ntchaweni., Ntchaweni (Kwazulu-Natal)--Social conditions., Squatter settlements--Kwazulu-Natal.