The implications of backyard housing for spatial planning policy in Johannesburg
CSIR Policy Brief
01 January 2017
English
Policy brief
Spatial Temporal Evidence for Planning South Africa (stepSA)
Africa
This policy brief focuses on a specific form of informal housing in South Africa. Backyard Housing – also referred to as backyard dwellings or backyard ‘shacks’ - provide small scale affordable rental housing opportunities to a spectrum of people in the country in a context where affordable housing alternatives are few and far between. Although the South African government has tried its best to address a low-income housing ‘crisis’ in the post-apartheid period through its Housing Programme, informal housing continues to characterise South African settlements, especially within metropolitan regions. Within this informal housing umbrella, backyard housing fulfils a crucial housing function: it provides flexible, affordable accommodation (generally built by tenants) with the comfort of better access to services such as electricity, water and sanitation. Backyard housing is thus a natural and preferred progression from the often congested and unsanitary living conditions of informal settlements. The South African Institute of Race Relations (2008:1) confirms this trend stating that during the period from 1996 to 2007 ‘backyard informal structures as a proportion of total informal dwellings grew by 18%’.
This policy brief reports findings from a case study of Johannesburg’s backyard housing footprint, emanating from the Integrated Planning and Development Modelling (IPDM) project (see http://stepsa.org) – specifically from the Urban Simulation project component.
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